Ozwald Boateng has designs on TV success
Ozwald Boateng is the most famous designer you’ve never heard of. So goes the tag line for a documentary series about the British bespoke tailor debuting Thursday on the Sundance Channel. It’s true; with his credentials, he should be a household name.
An imposing 6-foot-4 figure, he has a movie star aura, a former model for a wife and a celebrity clientele other designers would kill for. But if you know him at all, it’s probably from the billboards now scattered around L.A., where he’s in a natty orange suit in front of a blue Union Jack, to promote the show.
Boateng, 38, is known for his use of bright colors such as purple and robin’s egg blue, and for his slim, peg-legged and waist-tracing silhouette. In Europe, he has garnered attention for designing his own label as well as the Givenchy menswear collection. His famous fans include Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Laurence Fishburne, Will Smith and Samuel L. Jackson. He has even designed suits for films, for Jude Law in “Alfie” and for Jamie Foxx in the upcoming “Miami Vice.”
And yet, he hasn’t been able to crack the American market. But he’s hoping the exposure from the Sundance series will change all that.
“I feel I’ve reached a crossroads,” Boateng said Tuesday at his bungalow at the Chateau Marmont. “I have achieved everything I can in England.”
The fashion business isn’t easy, especially the men’s fashion business, with its fickle customers and long tradition of dominance by heavyweights such as Giorgio Armani, Gucci, Prada and Ralph Lauren.
Boateng tried coming to America once before in the late 1990s, showing his collection on the runway in New York, but it didn’t take. So now he’s approaching the continent from the other coast, realizing rightly where his bread is buttered.
The eight-part TV series follows him as he meets with potential business partners, shops for retail space with Realtor Chuck Dembo on Melrose Place and fits celebrity clients such as Ryan Seacrest. The footage is at times dry, and the choice of expert commentators curious. (Jay McCarroll of “Project Runway”?) But for those truly interested in the nitty-gritty of the industry, it’s informative. And as an added point of intrigue, the last episode hasn’t been completed yet. (I only hope they filmed Boateng when he accepted the Order of the British Empire at Buckingham Palace two weeks ago, when he said to the Queen of England, “I want to make you a suit.”)
Born in Ghana, Boateng immigrated to England as a child and learned to sew as a teenager when he had a summer job stitching jackets in an East London factory. At age 16, he began selling suits out of a stall on Portabello Road. Tailor-to-the-Beatles Tommy Nutter took him under his wing, helping to get his clothes to the Paris runway and onto Mick Jagger. Then, in 1997, Boateng landed a shop on Savile Row, where he continues to sell his suits with their exacting seams and button placement. Six years later, he was hired to design the men’s line for Givenchy much to the surprise of international fashion watchers, and his work for the luxury label has mostly been uneven.
The door really opened to America, Boateng said, after he caught the attention of Robert Redford last year. Indeed, the stars seemed aligned for Tuesday night’s party to celebrate the series at the Museum of Television & Radio. GQ magazine’s West Coast editor Chris Huvane was hosting, a crowd of super-agents had been invited and Miller Genuine Draft had signed on as a sponsor (Boateng is designing a bottle for the company).
But at 9 that night, the party was still a sea of who-are-theys, and the red carpet outside had yet to light up. Finally, Gavin Rossdale arrived, though not in a Boateng suit. Fishburne was running late because he was performing in a play at the Taper downtown and Foxx because he was filming a scene with weapons all day. (So he was -- getting counseling?) Both actors did stop by later, though well after many partygoers had already made off with their gift bags.
All the while, Boateng played it cool. How could he not? In a crimson and blue shadow striped suit, he was the best-dressed man there.
A jewel of a store
Thursday night, Georg Jensen, the long-dead Danish jeweler and artist, managed to rope in a host of stylistas to celebrate the new Rodeo Drive store designed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando. The closet of a space is stunning, like walking into a cathode tube, with horizontal bands of blue light drawing the eye to the back, and jewelry displayed in glass cube cases.
Although Jensen was famous for his naturalistic work in sterling silver, the brand is now focusing more on gold, platinum and stones, according to CEO Hans Kristian-Hoejsgaard, including a $195,000 white gold necklace with cascading diamonds made especially for the Beverly Hills store.
The collection looks right at home positioned next to Tiffany & Co., where Frank Gehry’s jewelry is now prominently displayed. It made me wonder if bold, sculptural jewelry might soon make a comeback in fashion. It would look so great with fall’s basic black.
Later, the party moved to the Chateau Marmont, where Rachel Zoe, Brooke Shields, Dita Von Teese, Rebecca DeMornay, Shiva Rose, Dylan McDermott, Donovan Leitch, Kristy Hume, Margherita Missoni, Tatiana von Furstenberg and others sipped champagne poolside while listening to the musical stylings of an Apple laptop. The event was also a benefit for PS Arts.
Still, it was quite a turnout for a brand that hasn’t been on the radar for some time. Then again, you can’t underestimate what women will do for baubles.
