As four weeks of hurricane-like sartorial activity start waning and billions of dollars, pounds and euros finish being exchanged between the bank accounts of buyers, designers, promoters, press and fashion aficionados in New York, London, Milan and Paris, it is time to ponder on the grand gestures that made the Spring/Summer 2011 fashion shows the global talk of the town.
In London, one of the most important events was undoubtedly Ozwald Boateng’s show, celebrating 25 years of the designer’s work. Boateng’s reputation and undisputable status in the British sartorial world made this event the most appropriate choice to close London Fashion Week on 23 September.
Born and raised in the British capital, Ozwald Boateng remembers being inspired, as a child, by the colours and patterns of the suits that his Ghanaian father wore and recalls receiving his first suit (double-breasted, purple mohair) at the age of five. Boateng saw his creative talent come to fruition after helping a friend to make clothes for a fashion show and receiving praise for his work. He sold his first collection to a menswear shop in Covent Garden and opened his first studio on the Portobello Road in 1991, where he worked on garments with characteristics that would become his trademark: refined tailoring with vibrant colours and strong textures.
Recognizing the potential that English tailoring could have on the world’s fashion scene, Boateng staged his first runway show during Paris Fashion Week in 1994 and, following his mounting success, he opened his own boutique on Vigo Street in 1995, at the south end of Savile Row, London’s tailoring heart. In 1996, he was elected Best Male Designer at the Trophees de la Mode, in Paris, and in 2000 he was Top Menswear Designer at the British Fashion Awards. In 2003 he was appointed the first Creative Director at Givenchy Homme, and in 2007 he relocated its flagship store and headquarters to a prominent location: 30 Savile Row. In 2006, Boateng received the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the clothing industry.
In 2010, and after achieving success on a global scale, Boateng decided to demonstrate his appreciation for London by choosing London Fashion Week to throw a lavish event to celebrate his 25th anniversary in fashion. His show drew a crowd of 1,500 admirers to a red-carpet event at the Odeon Leicester Square in central London where champagne flowed for every single guest, while a fragrance produced exclusively for the show by Roja Dove was piped into the auditorium. Instead of featuring the usual 20 to 30 models in 10 to 15 minutes, Boateng resorted to 100 male models that did not change clothes throughout an elaborate show that lasted half an hour. Instead, each model presented a unique outfit and more and more models kept coming on to the runway. At the end, the 100 models filled the venue and walked out onto the London streets in a procession to 30 Savile Row.
If some pieces clearly acknowledged the importance to acquiesce to commercial pressures, Boateng showed his talent in garments that embody what he does best: brave choices of elegant colours, stylised cutaway collars, and overall impeccable tailoring. Despite a nod to ubiquitous trends such as military overcoats and boots, tweed and quilted jackets, cropped blazers, desert boots and chukkas, and chunky scarves, Boateng showed tremendous command of fashion design in unique pieces that could only be his.
The most admirable garments were typical Boateng and included jackets that buttoned at high waist line (forcing silhouettes to elongate the shape of the torso discreetly and elegantly), and shorts that stopped below the knee with a stylishly flattering and almost unnoticeable flare. His original use of leather and high-waist pleated trousers that tapered below the knee were also very successful and proved that Boateng still has what it takes to bring originality to the heritage of British tailoring.
However, what made Boateng more than welcome to London was the confirmation of his seductive command of colour. In addition to the bright hues that the designer familiarised his audience to over the years, the display of suits in shades of green and turquoise for Spring/Summer 2011 contributed to a very successful return to the city that inspired Boateng and now welcomed him again with open arms. At the end of the show, the audience could not help but stand up to join Boateng in celebrating 25 years and wish for many happy returns of tailoring mastery.
Photographs courtesy of Ozwald Boateng
