Suit & accessories

Ozwald Boateng was born in London in 1967, the son of Ghanaian immigrant parents. While he was studying IT at college at the age of 16, a girlfriend taught him how to make clothes and at 23 he opened his first shop on Portobello Road.

In 1990 Boateng began making bespoke suits, setting up his business in the traditional home of men's tailoring, Savile Row, with a store on Vigo Street at the end of the Row. Bespoke derives from bespeak or 'to speak for' and in this context stands for ordering something to be made. If a client orderes a bespoke suit, a pattern is made from scratch. For 'made-to-measure' suits an already existing pattern is modified.

Boateng also designs two ready-to-wear collections a year and in 2002 was named Top Menswear Designer at the British Fashion Awards. Since 2002 his flagship store and headquarters are at 30 Savile Row.

Ozwald Boateng is particularly known for the use of vibrant colours in his suits and linings. In an article in The Independent on 19 January 2008, Boateng recalled: ‘I remember having my first suit made for me at five years old; it was a dark purple double-breasted BB1 mohair number designed by my mother. This is pretty amazing, as it's that style that I'm now known for. It seems that at this age I was being sent signals – if you want to call it that – of what would happen in my life later on.’