After nearly four decades of being shot alongside his most beloved piece of furniture – the armchair – the British-Ghanaian fashion designer has finally created his own... And then some. Crafted in collaboration with Poltrana Frau, the ‘Vanity Fair’ (above, £5,930) is part of ‘Culture & Craft’, a furniture and accessories collection unveiled at London Design Festival.
According to Boateng OBE, even though this is his debut range, his interest in interior design goes back to the 1990s when he opened his eponymous site on Portobello Road. ‘My design studio used to get a lot of coverage in interiors magazines,’ he says via video call from a sunny family holiday in the Dominican Republic. In a way, it’s a surprise that he hasn’t released a furniture series before. ‘It was always something I’d thought about pursuing but I wanted to find the right partner to do it with,’ he explains. ‘Finding the right executor of your work is essential.’
His collaboration with Poltrona Frau, which includes seating, lifestyle accessories, textiles and wallpapers, all comes in the rich, jewel-like colour palette associated with Boateng, who was born in north London in 1968 to Ghanaian immigrants. The ‘Chester’ line – the brand’s classic, buttoned furniture range – for example, has been given a Boateng makeover and now comes in golden yellow, emerald green, regal purple and deep blue options. ‘We started by combining my design with Poltrona Frau’s original shapes,’ he recalls. Each leather seat has been embossed by hand with the designer’s ‘Tribal’ pattern, which has also graced Boateng suits worn by the likes of celebrities Will Smith, John Boyega and Jamie Foxx.
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Elsewhere in the series, on many of the larger pieces, customary Kente cloth material makes a welcome appearance. ‘Textiles and fabrication is a part of my language,’ he asserts. ‘The cloth is a handwoven fabric that was worn by monarchs in Ghana – each chief would have his own version, almost like a coat of arms in an English context, so it’s rooted in tradition.’
The appropriate interplay between tradition and innovation is a question that Boateng grapples with throughout the collection. ‘Tradition is central to my relationship with Savile Row. But how do you take something so traditional and find a modern slant on it?’ he asks. ‘I’ve always achieved that through my fabrication and attention to detail.’
Did the fashion designer feel limited by working within the more traditional conventions of the Italian furniture manufacturer? Quite the opposite. ‘It’s really a combination of the Italian execution of craftsmanship, which will always stand the test of time, my British attention to detail, and then my ethnic roots. I think that being able to harmonise all those different cultures is pretty profound.’
With the release of ‘Culture & Craft’, it seems that the designer is entering a new era, one that pushes the scope of his creativity. ‘I think, for sure, this will be one of many collaborations,’ he muses. We’re waiting on tenterhooks. ozwaldboateng.co.uk; poltronafrau.com
