Meet David Kusi Boye-Doe, The First LVMH Prize Semi-Finalist From Ghana

The first time David Kusi Boye-Doe, founder of the eponymous Afroluxurious heritage brand Boyedoe, applied for the LVMH prize, he knew he wouldn't get it. "Not because I didn't have faith, but I knew the brand was not ready," Boye-Doe tells OkayAfrica. "There are a host of things you are supposed to put in place beyond just the clothes - in terms of marketing, where we stock and where we show continuously. We've since tried to position ourselves so that when an opportunity [like this] comes along, we would be ready for it."

Boye-Doe eventually got in on his second attempt, becoming the first Ghanaian designer to make the list of semi-finalists and one of only four African designers selected. It's a monumental accomplishment for Boyedoe, a relatively young brand that launched in 2020 and has only been in business for less than five years. The LVMH Prize is a transformative opportunity for emerging designers across the world. Only South African designerThebe Magugu has emerged as the overall winner from Africa, receiving €300,000 in funding alongside a one-year mentorship program with the LVMH teams tailored to the brand's needs.

"We've envisioned it for a long time. So when it finally came, it was joy," says Boye-Doe. "It's so much excitement, and beyond the excitement, it has dawned on us that it's a huge responsibility because the whole continent is watching, and you have to deliver and [hopefully] inspire the next generation."

While his brand may be young, Boye-Doe has worked in the fashion industry for over a decade. The 31-year-old Ghanaian designer began his career in fashion as a personal shopper at a time when personal shopping wasn't especially popular or lucrative in Ghana. Sensitive to style, Boye-Doe realized his clients weren't styling their outfits the way he would have envisioned. So he decided to pivot to styling, where he found his footing before building his brand with a focus on four key elements: sustainability, sophistication, silhouette, and sunsum (an Akan word for soul).

The young designer thinks of fashion as an outlet for service. "I'm meeting a need. To me, fashion is a tool that can provide confidence to people, giving them the boldness they need to move and own their style."

With Ghana being a center for significant textile waste, Boye-Doe is also particular about transforming that waste into tasteful, carefully crafted garments while employing slow garment-making processes like hand weaving.

"There's a big challenge in how mass production has affected our continent, so to me, it's not just about creating clothes. I always say that when you buy something from me, you are not just an extension of my vision; you are part of values that I cherish, and so when you wear a BO piece, it's more of the values I share and not just an extension of my creativity," he says.

On the style front, Boyedoe pieces feature strong, contemporary cuts and silhouettes: long coats made from stitches of repurposed denim and black denim suit pieces with deconstructed tops and exaggerated lapels. The core and distinction in Boyedoe's designs are in his willingness to play with form within the confines of tradition. The brand finds strength in thoughtful minimalism and brilliant detailing that catches the eye with each new look.

"When we see African brands, people perceive that there has to be a certain kind of fabric that you're supposed to use, and when they don't see that, there's a big question," he says. "I wanted to build an African brand that would be global while still having the African heritage embedded in it; African craftsmanship in our handwoven fabric has always been a treasure."

It's this singularity that has made Boyedoe something of a prodigious brand. The brand's first fashion show, less than a year after it launched, was at the prestigious Arise Fashion Week, where they showed alongside industry heavyweights and fellow LVMH Semi-Finalist Kenneth Ize. Boye-Doe admits that in light of the brand's rapid growth, it sometimes gets overwhelming to manage and pace himself.

Being an LVMH semi-finalist for a brand like Boyedoe is already becoming transformative. "It's been super amazing. A lot of networking has come out of it. Above all, we now have a level of trust," says Boye-Doe. This stamp of approval has opened up opportunities for the brand, connecting them with buyers, creating pathways to stockists, and pulling Boyedoe out of relative obscurity to spotlight all it has to offer.

For the young designer, the goal is to build a legacy brand that will exist even if he decides to pursue other projects, such as heading a different fashion house apart from his. "The future is to grow the brand and our production. I've always wanted to own our space where we can have production outside and all that, but at least we need to be able to build a strong team. My vision has always been getting the chance or the opportunity to head other fashion houses, and I know that one day it will happen."