Jidenna, Boris Kodjoe and Kwaku Bediako
As Africa’s fashion industry is expanding, Ghana’s fashion designers seem to be leading the pack on the continent.
One of such Ghanaian luxury brands leading the way is Chocolate by Kwaku Bediako.
The brand draws its inspiration from the rich African culture, lifestyle, taste and preferences. The ideal ‘Chocolate’ man is the person who takes pride in looking, feeling, thinking and generally being different.
The brand identifies its personality with such individuals and thus committed to developing concepts which are thrilling, addictive, exciting and most importantly custom-made for each client.
Last week, Kwaku Bediako was featured on BBC together with Phil & Joe ? a bespoke and custom shoemaking company in Accra? as some of the major brands that are leading the popularity of men’s fashions in Ghana and beyond.
According to the BBC, a market research firm Euromonitor, men’s wear is predicted to outsell women’s wear globally.
Ghanaian designers are, therefore, capitalising on increasing popularity of African-inspired luxury fashion and dressing their male celebrities.
“Ghanaians have always liked to look good and I think the question was; was it packaged well? And I believe strongly that now we are just getting it right. Africa is so rich and now the world sees it,” Kweku Bediako told the BBC.
Kwaku’s designs are African with an exotic feel. He has designed for a number of Hollywood stars, including Jussie Smollett, Boris Kodjoe, Michael Jai White, Idris Elba, Jidenna and a host of others.
“We really look forward to working with more and more celebrities and individuals,” Kwaku added.
Phil Adjapong, co-founder of Phil & Joe, also told the BBC that there is now a huge market for men’s fashion in terms of what they do and they have been tapping into it.
Culturally, Ghanaian men have always taken pride in looking good and home-grown labels are, indeed, rising up to meet that demand.
By Francis Addo