KENNETH IZE
Few young designers have
captured global attention with
such dramatic immediacy as
Kenneth Ize: the young Nigerian
who has brought the saturated
palette and traditional techniques
of his heritage to the world stage.
Born in Lagos but raised in Austria
(where his family sought refuge
after his father left the Nigerian
government), much of Ize’s
childhood was spent dressing up
in the hybrid of African designs
and Italian luxury that comprised
his mother’s wardrobe – but
“nobody told me there were black
people working in fashion, so I
didn’t think I had any chance of
getting a design job,” he explains.
Consequently, in 2015, he moved
back to Lagos determined to
establish his own brand, and
immediately set up a GoFundMe
page, raised ¤650 and started
looking for local weavers to
manufacture the textiles that have
since become his calling card:
aso-oke fabrics developed with
a modern touch. As his renown- and his business – has grown,
thanks in part to the endorsement
of high-profile fans such as Naomi
Campbell and Donald Glover,
he has harnessed the opportunity
to train a new generation of
artisans and invest in his local
communities (in fact, he will be
opening his first school in Ilorin
next year). “I feel like we’re all in
this mess in Nigeria – you know,
our government is so bad – but
we need to find a solution. For me,
that was creating this brand. It’s
a positive way to see the future of
Africa, and to see that there is a
dynamic new way we can think.”
OFF-THE-SHOULDER TOP,
FROM £500. FRINGED TROUSERS,
FROM £575. BOTH KENNETH IZE,
AT BROWNS AND MACHINE-A.
SATIN SLINGBACKS, £750,
MANOLO BLAHNIK
09-19-WellWales.indd 269 01/07/2019 08:57