Get to know Kenneth Ize, the designer telling modern tales from Africa through his technicolor clothing
The designer’s Austrian upbringing and African heritage have combined to give him a unique perspective not only of his craft, but the way in which it is produced, as GRACE COOK discovers
For many young designers, college is where they discover, develop and nurture their own unique vision. But Kenneth Ize’s journey to self-discovery came not from class, but from his mother’s closet. As a child, Ize, who was born in Nigeria but grew up in Austria, had looked with fascination upon the richness and tactility of the textiles within his mother’s wardrobe. Yet it was only after completing his studies and realizing he hadn’t found his own narrative that he sought to reopen those doors. “It was a hunger for my own interpretation of my culture and my identity,” he says. “I needed that nourishment… all my searching has led me here.”
Established in 2013, today, Ize’s label is known for its technicolor tailoring and hand-woven pieces created in Nigeria – a seamless blend of African craftsmanship and tradition, updated through his contemporary lens. Pieces include sharp-shouldered blazer-dresses in shocking pinks with asymmetric buttoning, stripy tank tops trimmed with long, diaphanous fringing, and coordinating high-waisted pants – best paired together for full chromatic effect. Color, he says, makes him feel “vibrant and vivacious… Sometimes, I get my nails done and paint them red, and my friends say I’ve become a whole new person,” he jokes. “I want my customers to feel bold and seen and electric.”
Within the fashion industry, Ize is one of the rising stars generating excitement for his irresistibly original designs that are loved by Naomi Campbell and Adwoa Aboah, among others. In 2019, he was nominated for the LVMH prize, and in 2020, he was honored at the Fashion Awards in London for his commitment to community, creativity and the environment. This year, he’s a finalist in the International Woolmark Prize, the prestigious award once won by Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent that promotes technical innovation in wool and sustainable development.
“There’s a romance to it, the thought that someone has hand-woven your trousers or jacket. It’s almost like eating a home-cooked meal as opposed to something store-bought
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Not bad for a brand that began with a GoFundMe page. But the Woolmark nomination is fitting for Ize, who has committed himself to slow-batch production and artisanal craft since his label began. After graduating, he interned at Edun, the New York-based brand that works with artisans across Africa to sustainably produce its clothing. Ize left his stint there inspired. He returned to Nigeria in pursuit of the textiles his mother wore, hitting up local market stalls to source fabrics not found in Austria. He debuted at Nigeria’s Arise Fashion Week to such acclaim that he won its 30 Under 30 prize. The $100,000 cash prize was used to fund his factory in Ilorin, in the west of the country. “Economic development of African countries is important to me,” he says. His studio now employs a team of nine women, and some fabrics take days to produce. “I work closely with our weavers; I see the impact our choosing to produce in Nigeria has made on their standard of living.”
The factory, and indeed the brand, also allows Ize to push the perceptions of African craft forward, both on the continent and to the wider world. His aim, he says, is to “uncover an Africa that was never colonized… what would we have worn? How would we have modernized our traditional style if time never stood still for us, in that sense?” Moving to Austria aged four has given him an unexpectedly unique vantage point: he describes himself as a “student” of his own culture, allowing him to see this localized, traditional craft as luxury, but with a perspective that celebrates authentic African identity. “It’s a celebration of African culture,” he says.
Many young designers on the continent look to the west for inspiration, but Ize hopes the buzz around his brand and his factory encourages greater innovation from home-grown talent and promotes fashion as a viable career path. “The youth in Nigeria are so creative,” he says. “But they’re starved of opportunities at home.”
Ize’s ethos chimes with a shift in the wider fashion industry for the artisanal. Today, garments and objects made with the hands of a craftsperson have become a modern definition of luxury; an antidote to mass production and identical, machine-made clothing. The nature of Ize’s hand-loomed fabrics means that each resulting garment is entirely unique – everything from the weft of the weave to the stitch in the seam is distinct. “No two are exactly the same,” he says. “There’s a romance to it, the thought that someone has hand-woven your trousers or jacket. It’s almost like eating a home-cooked meal as opposed to something store-bought. It’s storytelling. It’s intimate. It’s art.”