Interview with Barima Owusu-Nyantekyi

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April 24, 2013 by Ville Raivio

‘I’m somewhere between 28 and 32, presently working in the architectural world as a project administrator, whilst beginning to train as an interior designer. I’m a History graduate, but my true passion was always English, as well as Painting/Drawing, which was more than manifest in a great deal of my school reports. Ironically, my nous for historicism and research is more developed now that I’m not yoked to the foibles of higher learning. I’m essentially free of [familial] complications.

Products from Pukimo Raivio

Kiton, grey sports jacket, size 50EU
Ralph Lauren, Black Label suit, size 52EU

My parents tended to be amused, bemused or appreciative, as regards my presentation; sometimes a particular outfit could elicit that trifecta all at once. My father has long adored tailoring, and being a little taller than him, I’ve received a good deal of his clothes, which I tend to have adjusted. This allows him to joke about “stealing [his] look,” or “not doing justice” to old pieces. Occasionally, he forgets that he has handed something down, which is a different discussion entirely. [My knowledge comes] predominantly from books, the internet, my father and my friends. Fun socks are a poor investment.

I’ve had a lifelong interest, since my parents were very generous in acquiring clothes for me throughout childhood and so I came to understand the fundamentals of staple garments, diversity and adaptation. It was important to them that when I accompanied them to grownup occasions, I should appear complementary and appropriate; indeed, I was 4 when I first recall donning black tie. Moreover, they are both aesthetes with a highly developed appreciation of art, design and general splendour. Aside from the social aspect, I grew up in the age where Michael Jackson was taken completely seriously and in turn repaid this emotional investment tenfold, so as a fan, I found it alluring how he could present such unique slants on the traditions and precisions of evening and militarywear, in particular. He embodied The Showman in a way that is quite lost today, wherein one personalises formality to enhance a performance, as his forebears James Brown and Fred Astaire did. I would say that sort of tailored flamboyance definitely made a lasting impression.

I always keep an eye on fashion, especially for the dialogues it opens and the coherent, attractive ideas that occasionally arise. Certainly, I chased some trends as a teenager with the usual adolescent mix of insecurity, tribalism and a desire to appear unfamiliar to authority figures, but finding my way back to the classics has never precluded noticing what else is around me. I may only be competent at assembling tailored looks rather than creating an intrinsically more challenging and potentially interesting dressed-down mode, but fashion-as-design connects to my capacity for expressiveness and communication. And as some designers produce wares that I find suitable, I’ll happily purchase a “fashion piece” if I think it’s saying the same thing I am. Call it a form of xenomania.

Despite being a Ghanaian Britisher, I’m usually drawn to the Continental makers, thriving or defunct, like Angelo Roma, Francesco Smalto and Yves Saint Laurent. In the made to measure and bespoke realms, I’ve a very lightweight suit from Graham Browne Tailors in the City of London and a mid weight cotton one from the haberdashers Pokit in Soho. I also tend to supplement with designer and high street pieces, as well as other finds from the 1930s to the 1990s. [My style is] introverted.

I started Mode Parade to have a consistent writing outlet; it’s as much a diary as it has ever been a column. Although I’ve formed some relationships through it, the site was never intended to be more than that. I just focused it on the subjects in which I felt most knowledgeable. I draw, both for pleasure and for study; at some point, I’d like to return to painting. I read, albeit not as often as I’d like; fiction, photography, architecture, design, diaries and biographies are my main topics. I’m taking an amateur interest in photography and cameras. I have a music collection that would take an age to categorise and organise exactly. I know a small amount about food and drink, or at least their consumption, but I particularly enjoy cocktails and am starting to learn cooking recipes in my off hours. I adore film and television. I’m a spectacle on a dancefloor. I like to visit the theatre and opera, whenever possible. And I adore redheads.

I doubt my effect [on your readers] would be as powerful as the legacy of, say, Sasha Grey on young men, but I advise developing aesthetic notions and then ruthlessly editing them – the old “Find out what works for you alone” advice, really. A full time commitment to tradition is already somewhat anomalous, not to mention ostensibly trendy, to the world at large in these grab-bag days, so don’t make it self-consciously fussy for its own sake and don’t fret over whether it’s more or less attractive to whatever gender or species one seeks to bed down with – it’s always possible to adapt to the occasion. Gimmickry will almost always be apparent to keen observers; worse, you’ll notice it, too. And don’t only look for gospel truths – that’s how tyrannies get started.’

http://barimavox.blogspot.com

Picture credits:

  1. Alex Wilson
  2. Alex Wilson
  3. London Ethnic
  4. Barima
  5. Barima
  6. Barima
  7. Alex Wilson
  8. Barima
  9. Barima
  10. Jamie Archer
  11. Daniel Barnett
  12. Barima
  13. Alex Wilson
  14. Rose Callahan
  15. Anthony Lycett

 


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