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Last month, Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing collaborated with Ghanaian visual artist and photographer Prince Gyasi for his first full menswear show since the pandemic. As part of the collaboration, some of Gyasi’s images were printed onto the brand’s Autumn/Winter 2024 ready-to-wear and accessories.
“I never thought I’d have the opportunity to express myself in that way,” Gyasi says.
Gyasi is part of a new wave of African creatives shaping luxury fashion in and around the continent, which includes South Africa’s Trevor Stuurman, Nigeria’s Stephen Tayo, Kenya’s Barbara Minishi, British-Ghanaian Campbell Addy and Senegal’s Malick Bodian. From collaborations to campaigns, this new generation is working with local brands as well as major luxury houses to broaden people’s perception of African fashion, tap into the diaspora and allow brands to authentically draw inspiration from the continent without causing offence.
After previously collaborating with Balmain for its autumn 2022 campaign, Gyasi saw an opportunity to deepen his relationship with the fashion house beyond shooting content. It was unknown how this second collaboration would manifest, but Gyasi was keen to partner with Balmain and create “wearable art” — what that looked like exactly, he wasn’t initially sure. “I was like if I’m ever going to work with this brand again, I don’t want to just do campaigns because that is what’s expected of me. I wanted to go into fashion, like wearable art. I wanted to create collectibles,” he says.
Gyasi was heavily involved in the making of this collection for Balmain, Rousteing tells Vogue Business. “We truly created these pieces together. From day one when we were sketching, to the day of the show. He was there to witness his work come to life and see how we were honouring his art,” he says. “He is as much a part of this collection as me.”
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