00:00How is everyday life reflected in streetwear fashion in Ghana?
00:06Let's explore how Christopher Akpo, a local creator, gets inspired by the energy of the street
00:12and the environment around him into making statements of style with his clothes.
00:16My parents and the environment influenced me a lot to become a creative now
00:22because growing up, my mom was a tailor. She used to sew for schools.
00:28My dad also used to trade with traditional homes to sell chief regalias for chiefs
00:34and I used to go to these festivals and visit these chiefs with him.
00:39Our church was very brutalist jungle, like uncompleted.
00:43We had to be there and my whole environment, there was not a lot to play around with.
00:48Christopher began his journey in streetwear fashion in 2018 and is now working on his fourth collection.
00:55But what drove him to choose a career as a streetwear fashion designer?
00:59The way I communicate the clothes and my choice of models,
01:04now I wouldn't classify the brand as a streetwear but a ready-to-wear brand.
01:09My journey into fashion began during high school.
01:13We used to go to streetwear parties, art shows and a whole lot of things.
01:21I used to have a group of friends who danced in high school.
01:24So that was how my love for fashion grew up.
01:28I had to just expand it more as a business in general.
01:35Streetwear fashion emerged in Ghana in the 1980s,
01:39significantly influenced by the global rise of hip-hop culture.
01:43Today, streetwear in Ghana is particularly popular among youth and urban populations
01:49representing a fusion of local culture and global fashion trends.
01:53But how does Christopher's brand manage to strike a chord with young Ghanaians?
01:59My creative process for it in particular started from researching to sketching
02:07to brainstorming on how to find good quality fabrics.
02:13After making samples with our tailor,
02:16I bring them to the studio to actually try them on somebody
02:21because we always make samples according to our model sizing.
02:27Sometimes we don't find a large quantity of fabric with that piece,
02:31so we have to make just a few exclusively for our audience.
02:36The end of the process with releasing our collection,
02:40we shoot the lookbook, we shoot e-comments for our websites,
02:44the looks from 1 to 10 or 1 to 20.
02:47That is what we are going to use to market or to actually broadcast the collection to our audience.
02:56Christopher is on a journey to launch his new collection, themed F,
03:00accompanied by a lookbook.
03:02But what elements from his environment inspired him this time?
03:07I have different tailors with specialized designs that they are really good at,
03:13so I know what to take to who.
03:15I mostly just move to one store to another to find what exactly fits into the aesthetic of the collection
03:24or what piece I'm trying to produce.
03:27The unique thing about our Ramped Earth collection is mainly the cuts, the shapes,
03:35the color palettes of the pieces.
03:38So I paid attention to these things more than the graphics or the logos.
03:45With a touch of Ghanaian culture, Christopher has celebrated clients like Jules,
03:50Kojo Radical, Gabriel Moses, among others,
03:53and what really motivates him to continue creating and innovating in the fashion industry?
04:00I want to keep telling stories that I found around my community.
04:05People are really looking to Africa to buy or to invest or to encourage brands here.
04:12So my motivation to keep creating collections from time to time is
04:18because of me collaborating with these artisans or these creatives in my community
04:26to keep empowering them and also improving the awareness for local craftsmanship.
04:34From the bustling streets of Accra to the creative studios of Christopher,
04:38we've seen how local stories, culture and global influences come together to create a unique fashion sense.
04:48For more stories, visit nyseagrant.org
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