Ozwald Boateng

LVMH President Bernard Arnault appointed Boateng Creative Director of Menswear at French Fashion house Givenchy. In a 2019 interview with Icon Mann," Boateng reveals that back then his "challenge [had been] to reinvent the French gentleman," and that "he [had] succeeded in doing so." His first collection was shown in July 2004 in Paris, at Hotel de Ville. Boateng parted with Givenchy after the Spring 2007 collection.

Boateng's mantra is "If you flow with history and don’t fight with it, eventually it becomes a dance."

In September 2018 British Airways confirmed that Boateng had been chosen as the designer for its new uniform, to be launched in 2019 as part of the organisation's centenary celebrations. This appointment was a matter of controversy amongst customers of the airline and staff alike, who had come to believe that the new uniform would be designed in partnership with the British brand Burberry.

Featured as a 2018 special guest panelist at the London Business School African summit, addressing business on the continent, Boateng took part initialing a massive art collaboration Remember To Rise.

Divorced from his first wife Pascale, Boateng then married Azerbaijani model and former student of the London College of Fashion, Gyunel Taylor. The couple had two children, Emilia" and Oscar, before divorcing in 2009.

In 2008, Boateng's new flagship store and headquarters are launched at No. 30 Savile Row, on the corner of Savile Row and Clifford Street. The largest store on this Mayfair street (as of November 2019), its signage and interiors were co-designed with British-Ghanaian Architect David Adjaye. It remains the only Black-owned store on Savile Row (as of November 2019), and has since 2010 been managed by Moroccan-born Bespoke Manager, Khalid Fakhour.

In 2008, Boateng was appointed to the REACH committee, as part of an independent panel to identify and recruit national role models who work to help raise aspirations of black boys.

In 2007, Boateng merged the corporate headquarters of his company with his redesigned flagship store on Savile Row. Today, in addition to a bespoke service, Boateng also produces two ready-to-wear collections a year, produced at the former Chester Barrie factory in Crewe, Cheshire.

Boateng was commissioned by John Agyekum Kufuor, President of the Republic of Ghana, to design and orchestrate a show at the 9th Annual African Union summit in 2007. Held in Accra, it coincided with 200 years since the cessation of the transatlantic slave trade, and 50 years of independence for Ghana.

On 22 June 2006, the Sundance Channel and Reveille LLC released an eight-part real life documentary series called House of Boateng, tracking the journey of Boateng as he embarks on the expansion of his brand in the United States. The series was produced by Robert Redford and Ben Silverman.

In 2005, Boateng was honoured with a major 20-year retrospective event at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

In 2004, Coutts approached Boateng to design a new Super-Premium credit card. The Coutts 'World Credit Card' appears in Boateng's trademark imperial purple, designed to communicate a new modernity and supreme elegance.

In 2004, Boateng designed new amenity kits for Virgin Atlantic's Upper Class. Critically claimed to be the most stylish first class kits available to travellers on any airline, the design increased pick rate fivefold.

In 2003, Boateng launched a new gimmick in fragrances for women. Bespoke comprises two different vials of fragrance within an elongated, jewel-like bottle.

Boateng's contemporary approach to menswear design helped to forge a new appreciation for Savile Row, and draw in a younger demographic. Boateng's moved fully into Savile Row in June 2002.

Director Varon Bonicos filmed Boateng between 1998 and 2010 for fly-on-the-wall feature documentary, A Man's Story, released in March 2012.

Mentored by Tommy Nutter, the success of the Paris show in 1994 enabled Boateng to open his boutique on Vigo Street, the south end of Savile Row, in 1995.

Boateng helped a friend to make clothes for a fashion show, and after receiving praise for his work, sold his first collection to a menswear shop in Covent Garden. Some of his first pieces were also sold in Academy, Newburgh Street, in about 1987. This enabled him to open his first studio in Portobello Road in 1991. In 1994, Boateng staged his first catwalk presentation during Paris Fashion Week, the first tailor to stage a catwalk show in Paris.

Ozwald Boateng, OBE (/ˈ ɒ z w ə l d ˈ b oʊ t ɛ ŋ / ) (born 28 February 1967) is a British fashion designer of Ghanaian descent, known for his trademark twist on classic British tailoring and bespoke style.

Boateng, whose parents emigrated from Ghana in the 1950s, was born in February 28 1967 in Muswell Hill, North London.