One of Savile Row’s most celebrated menswear designers has teamed up with a renowned Italian furniture brand to create a line that blends the world of fashion and design.
Ozwald Boateng breathed new life into the tailoring profession when he opened his first shop in London in 1995 at the tender age of 28. After stints as director of menswear for Givenchy and a costume designer for films such as Black Panther and Oceans 13, he is making his first foray into furniture design with a new collection of seating, lifestyle accessories, textiles, and wallpapers developed with Poltrona Frau.
The brand’s CEO, Nicola Coropulis, sees the partnership as a way for Poltrona Frau to expand its horizons. “We welcome the mastery, talent, and unique perspective of Boateng,” he says, “who has beautifully melded his expertise in English tailoring and exploration of African patterns with our own tradition of Made in Italy design.”
For Boateng, the collaboration was a no-brainer. The brand boasts a long legacy of luxury craftsmanship; it was appointed in 1926 as the official furniture supplier of the Italian Royal Family. “I am extremely particular about quality and execution,” says Boateng. “When the opportunity arose with Poltrona Frau, and I saw how they worked, it was an easy yes.”
The creative alliance has given rise to a Culture and Craft collection that encapsulates Boateng’s Ghanaian heritage through design. It took more than six months to perfect a unique hand-embossed leather that draws inspiration from the vibrant Kente cloth of Boateng’s native Ghana. This novel embossing technique applied to Nubuck leather endows the material with a three-dimensional texture that echoes the intricate weave of Kente designs.
The pattern is a narrative thread that runs through the entire collection, including Boateng’s interpretations of classic Poltrona Frau designs like the Chester sofa and the Vanity Fair chair. “The Chester is a very traditional piece of furniture, so for me, being able to take that and interpret it through a new language around the existing frame that everyone knows, that’s really what design is about,” he says. “Because if tradition doesn’t evolve, it dies.”
Rounding out the collection are lifestyle accessories from Poltrona Frau’s Beautilities range such as cushions, wallpapers, and even a Mancala board game, all adorned with the same attention to detail and storytelling that characterizes the larger furniture pieces.
The collaboration was officially presented at Poltrona Frau's flagship store on Fulham Road, Ozwald Boateng's boutique on Savile Row, and Harrods department stores during London Design Week 2023.
