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“Tradition has to evolve or it dies” says Ozwald Boateng

October 11, 2023
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British fashion designer Ozwald Boateng says there is “definitely an opportunity” to disrupt the furniture industry in the same way he shook up the tailoring traditions of London’s Savile Row in this interview.
Boateng has worked with Italian brand Poltrona Frau on his first-ever furniture collection, which includes a rework of the traditional Chesterfield sofa.
The London-based designer told Dezeen there was “a lot of space” for a more diverse cultural aesthetic in the market.
“There is a creative language that needs to express more in this space,” Boateng said.
“I have a cultural aesthetic, in terms of my African roots, from being born in the UK and from my experience on Savile Row,” he added. “There is definitely an opportunity to express this aesthetic in furniture.”
Ozwald Boateng has worked with Poltrona Frau on a rework of the Chesterfield
Boateng was born in 1967 to parents who immigrated from Ghana in the 1950s.
He made history in 1995 when, at the age of 28, he became the youngest and first Black tailor to open a store on Savile Row, the heartland of bespoke suit-making.
The designer quickly earned renown for his fresh take on classic menswear silhouettes, which attracted a much younger and more diverse demographic to Mayfair.
“Starting on a traditional base is always the key for me,” Boateng said.
“It’s about taking something traditional and finding a modern language in which to express it.”
Boateng unveiled the designs at his Savile Row store during London Design Festival
When Poltrona Frau invited Boateng to collaborate, he saw it as an opportunity to demonstrate how the same thinking could be applied to furniture, he recalled.
The Chesterfield is one of the most iconic British furniture designs of all time, with almost as much history as the three-piece suit.
Characterised by quilted leather upholstery and a low back, this couch was first developed in the mid-1700s for Lord Philip Stanhope, the fourth Earl of Chesterfield, to seat gentlemen guests without creasing their suits.
The project features an embossed leather that took six months to develop
Poltrona Frau has produced its own version, Chester, ever since the company was established in 1912.
“I have been sitting on a version of this chair for as long as I can remember; it represents so much historically,” said Boateng.
“I knew that if I could find a modern way to interpret it, it would be a win.”
The embossed pattern is one of Boateng’s signature textile designs, Tribal
Boateng unveiled new versions of the Chester sofa, armchair, daybed and ottoman as part of a capsule collection presented during London Design Festival.
The designs are upholstered in a unique embossed leather that incorporates a highly intricate pattern.
This article is orginally available at www.dezeen.com