Latest news with #Boateng
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The 'peacock of Savile Row' on dressing stars for the Met Gala
Ozwald Boateng, celebrating four decades of making his indelible mark on the fashion industry, got his chance to stamp his style on the Met Gala in New York earlier this month. The esteemed British-Ghanaian designer for the first time dressed celebrities - including three of Africa's biggest musicians, Tems, Burna Boy and Arya Starr, as well as actors Ncuti Gatwa and Jaden Smith - at what is seen as his industry's biggest night of the year. The theme - Superfine: Tailoring Black Style - was "completely in my wheelhouse", he says, as it looked at the way that style formed black identities. Given that he already has a robust legacy in the design world, the 58-year-old saw the opportunity to find fresh adherents to the Boateng look. "I think it's, in a way, communicating to a new audience," he tells the BBC a few days after the showcase. Throughout his 40 years in fashion, the designer has built a reputation for challenging the norms of men's tailoring. His eponymous brand sells form-fitting, stylish suits, often accented with bold colours and West African-inspired patterns. The son of Ghanaian immigrants, Boateng reimagined the country's iconic kente cloth to produce his signature "tribal" pattern. "It's all about having a strong concept, having a thorough idea of what you want to achieve from the textiles," he says. The Met Gala perfectly matched his outlook. "Being a theme about black culture and black cultural influence, I mean, how can you do that without Africa?" he asks. Considering the link to Ghana, Boateng explains: "When we were colonised by the Europeans or the Brits, we kept our traditional dress, but tailoring was a big part of how we dressed to look more... effectively more European. "My father always wore tailored suits. You had to be smart at all times, that was something I was taught." As if producing outfits for 16 celebrities for fashion's premier event was not stressful enough, Boateng switched up Burna Boy's outfit less than 24 hours before the event. "We did his fitting quite literally the night before the Met Gala," Boateng says, adding that everyone in the room got "really excited" when they saw the Grammy-award winning musician in the finished product. The look - a red suit paired with a buttercup yellow shirt and eel-skin cape - was partly inspired by Burna Boy's Nigerian roots. The musician told Vogue: "As a waterside pikin [Pidgin for "child"] from the Niger Delta, the eel and fish in general are the lifeblood of my people - they symbolise survival, spirit and the flow of tradition through generations." The Met Gala was "not unusual", Boateng says, explaining that Africa has been part of his "message" throughout his career. Back in 1995, Boateng was the first black designer to open a shop on Savile Row, a London street famed for fine tailoring. "When I first started as a designer, Savile as a street was a dying street," Boateng recalls. "The concept, it was dying. I effectively moved there in the early 90s and breathed new life into it." Boateng was dubbed the "peacock of Savile Row" - with his flamboyance, 6ft-something frame and modelesque facial features, he stood out among his neighbours. Colour and flair had long been part of Boateng's psyche. At five years old his favourite outfit was a purple, mohair suit made by his mother, who was a seamstress. Young Boateng commandeered his mother's sewing machine and although he initially chose to study computing at college, he switched to fashion after realising menswear was his future. As a teenager, Boateng was greatly inspired by tailoring titan Giorgio Armani - and decades later, Armani would praise the London designer for his "elegance" and "cutting edge" designs. Boateng opened his first studio in his early 20s, dressing the likes of Mick Jagger, Jimmy Paige and Spike Lee. He then opened his Savile Row store - at the age of 28 he was the youngest to ever do so. The burgeoning designer captivated London's fashion scene initially, but in 1998 he went bankrupt when an economic downturn in east Asia scuppered a major order. Both his professional and personal life descended into disarray - in just 12 months an entire collection was stolen from his studio and his marriage broke down. But the peacock strutted his way back. Boateng gradually rebuilt his business and in 2002 moved into bigger premises on Savile Row. Since then, he has served as Givency's creative director for menswear, been awarded an OBE, designed staff uniforms for British Airways and branched out into womenswear. While racking up professional and charitable commitments, Boateng was raising two children. Now adults, Oscar and Emilia Boateng accompanied their father to the Met Gala, dressed in the suits that made their surname one of the most famous in contemporary British tailoring. They are not, however, keen to follow their father into fashion design. "I'm trying to slowly but surely seduce them into the fashion business," Boateng jokes. "It is ultimately their decision to decide what they want from their life. If they find something they're passionate about in a way I have, I am happy." And what is next for his own passion? Boateng might have a brain brimming with concepts, but he has a clear vision of where he wants his brand to go next. "The future is expansion," he says, "raising capital to really, really push the brand globally". "I think it's the moment in time - and it's the right moment." Kente - the Ghanaian cloth that's on the catwalk How luxury African fashion has wowed Europe's catwalks Grandma with chunky sunglasses becomes unlikely fashion icon Turning the iconic Ghana Must Go bag into high fashion Go to for more news from the African continent. Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica Africa Daily Focus on Africa
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Yahoo
Prison officer avoids jail after ‘fairytale relationship' with inmate
A senior prison officer who had a 'fairytale' relationship with an inmate has avoided jail. Tracy Boateng, 27, from Dagenham, admitted misconduct in a public office after engaging in an inappropriate relationship with Vincent Ojo, 34, at HMP Pentonville between Feb 25 and April 19 last year. On Monday, she was sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for 24 months. The court heard that body-worn camera footage captured the pair hugging and kissing, while messages on Boateng's phone revealed she had discussed the relationship with a colleague, who replied: 'This guy really believes you are his fairytale ending.' The couple were filmed taking a selfie together during which Boateng made a V sign and asked Ojo to 'say cheese', prosecutor Laura Kenyon said. Ojo, 34, is serving a sentence for possession of heroin with intent to supply and has been held on the same wing since 2020. Ojo reportedly accompanied Boateng to an office 'multiple times' where she had appeared to 'reveal details' of organisational information and permitted him to look at her computer screen, the prosecutor added. Her behaviour, which became known to other inmates, risked undermining prison discipline, the court was told. Boateng originally joined the Prison Service in 2020 through a graduate scheme immediately after she left university, and passed an exam on 'anti-corruption', the prosecutor said. She was therefore aware she could 'avoid corruption by being friendly but not friends' with inmates, Ms Kenyon added. During mitigation, Ioana Nedelcu, defending, said Boateng's daughter, of whom Ojo is not the father, was three months old and still breastfeeding. Boateng was 'remorseful' and now a single mother after her relationship with her daughter's father broke down after he found out about her interactions with Ojo, the barrister added. 'She understands her actions were wrong and that she makes no excuses for it,' Ms Nedelcu added. Sentencing, Judge Caroline English said Boateng had avoided prison because of the impact it could have on her three-month-old baby. Addressing the defendant, Judge English said: 'This offence is so serious that nothing other than a custodial sentence can be justified. 'There is however, an exceptional feature in this case, that is your child. 'One thing is for certain, your child is a total innocent and the impact on such a young baby would be significant.' She added that 'for that reason and that reason alone', she was 'persuaded to suspend the sentence'. Earlier this year, former HMP Wandsworth prison officer Linda De Sousa Abreu, 30, was jailed for 15 months after having sex with an inmate in a cell. Footage of the act was widely shared on social media. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Business of Fashion
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Business of Fashion
At the Met Gala, Dandies Owned the Night
The night before the 2019 Met Gala, British menswear designer Ozwald Boateng hosted a fashion show at Harlem's Apollo theater to celebrate Black people's contributions to fashion. But Boateng, whose namesake brand is known for its Savile Row tailoring in bold hues inspired by the designer's West African heritage, was not invited to the Super Bowl of fashion. Six years later, he landed a much-coveted seat at the table: for the first time Boateng dressed nearly 20 guests for the Met Gala, seven of whom — including Jaden Smith (in a black and white cape), musician Burna Boy (in a burgundy suit with accompanying cape) and actor Omar Sy (in a green suit with yellow button-up)— sat with the designer at a table his brand purchased. Boateng's robust presence at the event copacetically reflected the theme of this year's Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibit: Superfine: Tailoring Black Style. It's the Met's first exhibit in 20 years centred on menswear, with a focus on the Black dandy — an elastic term that generally refers to a man displaying a colourful and ostentatious sense of style. The exhibit is also a tacit acknowledgement and celebration of Black people's outsized influence on tailoring and luxury fashion. Boateng, whose archival pieces are included in the exhibit, became the first Black creative director at a major French fashion house when he was appointed as men's creative director for Givenchy in 2003. The exhibit featured work from a range of Black designers, some of whom directly followed in Boateng's footsteps: there was the kente-style blanket from Louis Vuitton menswear by Virgil Abloh, who became the luxury giant's menswear director in 2018, succeeded by musician Pharrell Williams (a co-chair at this year's gala); and a military-inspired black and gold coat designed by Olivier Rousteing for Balmain. 'I've been doing this for 40 years,' Boateng said. 'This Met Gala for me is communicating this is what I did five minutes ago, this is what I'm about to do in the next five, but I'd really like to let you know what I've done in the last 40.' The red carpet's dress code was the broader 'Tailored for You,' which emphasised self-expression through suiting across cultures, leaving room for wider interpretation beyond the exhibit's focus on Black style. Still, many of the night's standout looks emphasised Black culture: Doechii wore a cream monogrammed Louis Vuitton suit with a burgundy pussy bow, matching shoes and a teased-out Afro; Teyana Taylor arrived in burgundy cape and a matching du-rag, designed by two-time Academy Award-winning costume designer Ruth Carter. Teyana Taylor (John Shearer/WireImage) Though the Costume Institute announced the theme last October, months before President Donald Trump returned to the White House, the focus on Black style felt particularly impactful given the current political climate, where companies are under pressure to roll back their diversity, equity and inclusion programmes. There was routine backlash at the notion of an event highlighting rich celebrities in priceless couture — Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of President John F. Kennedy and former Vogue contributor, for example, announced his plans to boycott the event on social media. While displaying exorbitantly-priced garments in a museum does not change the current political reality, highlighting Black creativity on fashion's biggest night is something of a rebellion. It's one that paid off — this year's gala raised a record-breaking $31 million, the Met's chief executive, Max Hollein, said at a press preview on Monday. 'We're living in an interesting time in our political history. Anything we can do at the museum to stand behind the Black community is of utmost focus,' Anna Wintour, Met Gala co-chair and Vogue editor-in-chief, said on Monday night. Respecting Cultural Boundaries Heading into the Met Gala this year, the biggest question was whether the many non-Black guests would veer into culturally insensitive territory. The fashion industry has a long history of exclusion — still today, most of the creative directors of major luxury houses are white men — and cultural appropriation. Would the looks that graced the steps at the Met mirror the arguably parasitic relationship between high fashion and Black culture? This year's red carpet theme 'Tailored for You,' however, felt loose enough to accommodate the many non-Black attendees who peacocked for photographers on the famous stairs. Those participants had a choice of how much they wanted to play into the social politics underlining the exhibit. Many wore a variation of a suit, including Zendaya, Sabrina Carpenter and Kylie and Kendall Jenner. Some played with the masculine and feminine divide: Emma Chamberlain wore a body-hugging, backless pinstripe suit dress with a peak lapel while Charli XCX was in a feathered backless waistcoat. Others embraced the theatricality of the dandy: Madonna, for example, showed up in a cream tuxedo by Haider Ackermann for Tom Ford, smoking a cigar. Haider Ackermann and Madonna (Dimitrios Kambouris) The approach was reminiscent of the 2015 Met Gala, focused on Chinese influence in fashion. Similarly, there were prior worries over potential cultural appropriation, but it ended up being more celebratory as guests like Sarah Jessica Parker, Lady Gaga and Rihanna turned up in tastefully crafted headdresses and looks from Chinese designers. Many of the night's biggest stars stuck to the established brands: Rihanna revealed her baby bump in a tailoring-inspired Miu Miu dress; Cynthia Erivo wore a red, silver and gold-embellished Givenchy by Sarah Burton gown; and Tracee Ellis Ross ascended the Met steps in an oversized purple and pink suit, replete with a pink cumberbow, by Marc Jacobs. Several major brands, however, appeared to be absent from the red carpet, including Loewe, Gucci, Fendi and Bottega Veneta (though that could be explained by their current period of creative transition). Rihanna (Theo Wargo/FilmMagic) But Black designers were more present on the carpet than they had ever been before. Halle Berry wore a mesh and black LaQuan Smith gown, while Lewis Hamilton (a co-chair) wore a cream top coat and embellished beret by Grace Wales Bonner and Diana Ross made an appearance in a trailing white feathered cape by emerging designer Ugo Mozie. Nick Jonas wore a cream embellished top with black trousers by British designer Bianca Saunders, who blended structural tailoring and draping as a nod to the late André Leon Talley, Vogue's former editor-at-large. Saunders, who made her Met Gala debut in 2023, said putting a look together for guests across races and ethnicities shows the universal reach of independent Black brands. For 'Black designers, anyone can tap into their brand … people think that certain cultures or certain communities only make for a small amount and we're not global,' Saunders said. 'We know a lot about being able to dress multiple cultures and make them feel the way that we feel when we wear our clothes.' Bringing the Text to Life In both the exhibit and on the Met's stairs, designers' interpretations of the Black Dandy traversed centuries of Black style across the diaspora — from British designer Nicholas Daley's take on the Jamaican Kariba safari-style suit displayed in the exhibit to American menswear designer Davidson Petit-Frère's nods to Harlem Renaissance and the 1989 comedy 'Harlem Nights' starring Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy in a top coat and cane worn by Russell Wilson. Accessories also tied the historical with the modern: stars like Taraji P. Henson, musician Shaboozey and supermodel Anok Yai mixed tail coats, canes and grillz. In her book and source text for the exhibit, 'Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity', guest curator Monica L. Miller traces the evolution of the Black dandy from American slavery, where some male slaves were forced to wear fine tailoring, to the irreverent flashiness of Black pop cultural icons like hip-hop stars A$AP Rocky (a co-chair this year) and André 3000 (a member of this year's gala host committee) as well as Talley, whose regalia is omnipresent in the exhibit from the Louis Vuitton trunks that bore his initials to a bespoke caftan rendered in a black, orange and yellow tribal print. Superfine: Tailoring Black Style (Courtesy Met Museum) Superfine: Tailoring Black Style is broken up into 12 sections that home in on core elements of Black dandyism, inspired by a 1934 essay by Zora Neale Hurston, including ownership (19th century velvet livery coats); respectability (a black brushed wool tailcoat worn by Frederick Douglass); beauty (a white polyester jacquard ruffle shirt worn by Prince); and cool (a mink-collared leather jacket in LV prints by Dapper Dan). The exhibit also put a spotlight on independent Black designers past and present, including Dapper Dan, Wales Bonner and Telfar Clemens, who have operated in and outside of the mainstream fashion system. On the carpet, a new generation of Black brands made their mark — from Sergio Hudson dressing 20 guests including fashion tech entrepreneur John Imah to Who Decides War dressing Academy Award winner Regina King and musician Jazmine Sullivan for her first Met Gala appearance. The outsized presence of independent brands at the Met Gala was particularly notable as the fate of luxury upstarts are threatened by the ubiquity of conglomerates, a sector-wide slowdown and the imposition of higher tariffs. Against that tumultuous backdrop, Ozwald Boateng's ability to buy a table (with a starting price of $350,000) with the help of a few of his A-list clientele, is a victory in and of itself. Doechii () For Black designers, 'we're not independent by choice. We're independent because we have to be, because a lot of times we're not [seen as] investible by backers,' said Sergio Hudson. But Hudson believes that the indie designers will leave a mark as resonant as the fashion giants. 'What you will definitely see from me is my heart and soul in every garment that walks the carpet … and I believe all of my contemporaries are going to step up to the plate as well.' The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" - Arrivals Teyana Taylor (John Shearer/WireImage) The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" - Arrivals Sabrina Carpenter (Dimitrios Kambouris) The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" - Arrivals Bad Bunny () The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" - Arrivals Colman Domingo (John Shearer/WireImage) The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" - Arrivals Kim Kardashian (Theo Wargo/FilmMagic) The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" - Arrivals Haider Ackermann and Madonna (Dimitrios Kambouris) The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" - Arrivals Kendall Jenner () The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" - Arrivals Rihanna (Theo Wargo/FilmMagic) The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" - Arrivals Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra Jonas (Dimitrios Kambouris) The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" - Arrivals Walton Goggins () The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" - Arrivals Tramell Tillman () The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" - Arrivals Zendaya (John Shearer/WireImage) The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" - Arrivals A$AP Rocky (John Shearer/WireImage) The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" - Arrivals Alessandro Michele and Lana Del Rey (for The Met Museum/) The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" - Arrivals Doechii () The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" - Arrivals Kim Kardashian (Theo Wargo/FilmMagic) The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" - Arrivals Ayo Edebiri (John Shearer/WireImage)
Vogue
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Vogue
Tems's Met Gala 2025 Look by Ozwald Boateng Is a Powerful Homage to Black Dandyism
Tems's Met Gala debut in 2023 immediately cemented her reputation as one of the foremost headturners at fashion's biggest night out. Back then, she opted for a subtly avant-garde gown by London-based couturier Robert Wun, complete with elbow-length opera gloves and a trademark extravagant headdress made of quivering coque plumes. Having set the bar so high back then–and having sat out last year's event–expectations for her appearance at the 2025 Met Gala were always high. True to form, though, the Nigerian singer-songwriter more than fulfilled them, delivering a look that's as spellbindingly elegant as it is bang on theme. Tems wearing Ozwald Boateng at the 2025 Met year, Tems was among a coterie of attendees who sported custom looks by Ozwald Boateng, the British designer of Ghanaian heritage whose suiting-forward designs feature prominently in 'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style'–as well as on the current cover of American Vogue, where A$AP Rocky can be seen in one of Boateng's immaculately-cut suits. Other stars that opted for a custom look by the designer for the red carpet include fellow Nigerian recording artists Burna Boy and Ayra Starr. Tems's look–a deep blue shirt dress with a subtle green print echoed in her neck tie, hair ribbon and umbrella–harked back to a milestone moment for Boateng: the unveiling of his first full womenswear collection at New York's Apollo Theater in 2019, to mark the 100th anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance. The birthplace of many a legendary career, the Apollo played host to the likes of Duke Ellington, Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin. 'I wanted to celebrate this amazing place because a big chunk of African-American history sits on this stage,' Boateng told Vogue at the time. 'To be a part of that for even a nanosecond is deeply profound.' See All of the Celebrity Looks From the Met Gala 2025 Red Carpet:
BBC News
22-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Other results reprieved Boro
Former Middlesbrough hero George Boateng says other results in the play-off battle reprieved his former club after their disappointing loss at Sheffield Bristol City and Coventry City, the two sides above them, both losing as well, the gap remains at three points following the Hillsborough are away to the Sky Blues on the final day of nthe regular season and know that on Saturday, they must at least match the result of Frank Lampard's sideto take it to that last match."Because everybody lost, they all did each other a favour," Boateng told BBC Radio Tees. "Everything is now prolonged for another week." Michael Carrick's team host managerless Norwich City on Saturday, while Coventry go to relegation-threatened Luton midfielder Boateng, a member of the Boro side that won the League Cup in 2004 and reached the Uefa Cup final two years later, knows that nothing less than three points at The Riverside will suffice."I don't know how the game against Coventry away will go," he said."They are quite in form and very strong at home, so I can see a victory for them, so Middlesbrough really need to perform and beat Norwich to have a foothold in the play-offs."
