How is everyday life reflected in streetwear fashion in Ghana?
Let's explore how Christopher Akpo, a local creator gets inspired by the energy of the streets and the environment around him into making statements of style with his clothes
"My parents and the environment influenced me a lot to become a creative now, because growing up my mum was a tailor and used to sew for schools. My Dad also used to trade with traditional homes to sell chief regalia for chiefs and I used to go to these festivals and visit these chiefs with him. Our church was like a brutalist jungle, uncompleted, and we had to be there… in my whole environment, there was not a lot to play around with" says Christopher Akpo.
And yet, or precisely because of this, Christopher has become one of Ghana's top streetwear designers with global appeal. Drawing inspiration from architecture, art and the Ghanaian landscape.
Is that the key to keep his line of fashion relevant also in his own country?
The fashion community wasn't really big when I started in 2015-2016, so there were difficulties in finding artisans who could bring my vision to life. Because, whatever we do, we want it to be exactly how we envision it to be. The quality, the fabric choices, the texture, the cuts and everything was really important to me. So, I was doing this with passion and not just to gain profit. I knew where I was taking my concepts to, so I kept on just pushing harder and being consistent," he says.
Christopher began his journey in streetwear fashion in 2018 and is now working on his fourth collection. But what drove him to choose a career as a streetwear fashion designer?
"The way I communicate the clothes and my choice of models now I wouldn't classify the brand as a street wear but a ready-to-wear brand. My journey into fashion begun during high school. We used t go to street wear parties, art shows, and a whole lot of things…I used to have a group of friends who used to dance in high school so that was how my love for fashion grew up. I had to just expand it more as a business in general," says Akpo.
Streetwear fashion emerged in Ghana in the 1980s, significantly influenced by the global rise of hip-hop culture.
Today, streetwear in Ghana is particularly popular among youth and urban populations, representing a fusion of local culture and global fashion trends.
But how does Christopher's brand manage to strike a chord with young Ghanaians?
"My creative process for 'Earth' in particular started from researching to sketching, to brainstorming
on how to find good, quality fabrics. After making samples with our tailor, I bring them to the studio to actually try them on somebody because e we always make samples according to our model sizes. Sometimes we don't find large quantity of fabric with that piece, so we have to make just a few exclusively for our audience. At the end of the process with releasing our collection, we shoot the look-book, we shoot e-commerce for our website… the looks from one to ten or one to twenty and the is what we are going to use to market or to actually broadcast the collection to our audience. "
Christopher is on a journey to launch his new collection, themed Earth, accompanied by a lookbook.
But what elements from his environment inspired him this time?
"I have different tailors with specialized designs that they are really good at. So, I know what to take to who. I mostly just move to one store to another to find what exactly fits into the aesthetics of the collection or what piece I am trying to produce. The unique thing about our rammed earth collection is mainly the cuts, the shapes, the color pallets of the pieces. So, I am paying attention to these things more that the graphics or the logos."
With a touch of Ghanaian culture, Christopher has celebrity clients like Juls, Kojey Radical, Gabriel Moses, among others and what really motivates him to continue creating and innovating in the fashion industry?
"I want to keep telling stories that I find around my community. People are really looking to Africa to buy or to invest or to encourage brands here… So, my motivation to keep creating collections from time to time is because of me collaborating with these artisans or these creatives in my community to keep empowering them and also improving the awareness for local craftmanship," he says.
From the bustling streets of Accra to the creative studios of Christopher, we've seen how local stories, culture, and global influences come together to create a unique fashion scene.