September 9, 2024 |
Leave it to Ib Kamara to transform Brooklyn Bridge Park’s basketball courts into a catwalk. But that’s what he did for Off-White’s New York Fashion Week debut. Dubbed the Duty Free show, Kamara found his point of departure in a recent trip to Ghana, the place where the brand’s late founder Virgil Abloh was from. Kamara grew up in Sierra Leone, but their experiences of the ‘American Dream’ were similar. “I have vivid memories of what America, and New York in particular, represented in the collective imagination of Africans: a dreamland of utopias made real, a place of opportunities,” he wrote in the show notes. “The lotteries in which the main prize would be a possibility to enter the States were major events for us.” With this understanding in his back pocket, Kamara fashioned a fusion between both cultures for SS25, subverting classic, Americana sportswear through the lens of first-generation African immigrants.
Standout looks included ultra-thin, rhinestone-ribbed hoodies, bead-embellished vests and star-shaped skirts, all in an African colour palette. Many of the looks were worn with ‘sex’ belts, while distorted or shredded denim and leather heavy with zippers were a key feature throughout. Utilitarian lines were sharp and architectural across men’s and womenswear, with a prevailing sense of athletic Afro-futurism in every look. Shoulders were padded, transparencies were seductive, and prints included camouflage and orange plaid while a new ‘arrows’ motif and hand-painted graphics were created by Ghanaian contemporary artist Nana Danso.
Through an autobiographical take on Off-White’s design language, Kamara wanted to make something emotional, to create clothing that “can convey narratives and be infused with soul.” And he did it beautifully.
Photography by Bella Macgregor.
