Unveiling The Face Behind ABRANTIE …Where African Tradition And Style Meet

Oheneba Yaw Boamah,  aka 'Abranie'
One of the fastest growing Ghanaian fashion brands making waves on the international fashion market is 'Abrantie The Gentleman'.

NEWS-ONE caught up with the founder and creative designer, Oheneba Yaw Boamah, popularly known as 'Abrantie', to talk about the brand and Ghana's fashion industry. Abrantie is a product of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.

 
Why the name Abrantie?
Abrantie is an Akan word for 'gentleman'.  Right after university, I started working in a textile company where I actually designed the prints. I started dressing in a particular style and people often said I had become an 'Abrantie'. The name caught on and I said why not, I can make it a brand name. But thinking globally, I decided to add 'the gentleman' to make the full name, 'Abrantie The Gentleman'.

 
What did you study at the university?

I studied Industrial Art and majored in Textiles.  That's how come I was working with a textile firm. I can say I have worked with almost all the textile firms in Ghana. I design prints and some of the popular prints in the country are my handiwork.  It was from there that I started Abrantie. I designed my own stuff and when I wore them, I had encouraging feedback. Some hated it; I did not really mind.

I was inspired and I had passion for the arts so I designed some more stuff and I did a photo shoot. I also have a little media background so I did a little write up for it and one thing led to another. God has been good; and with support from the media and stakeholders, I am here and still climbing.

 
Many in Ghana have a perception fashion designing is for school dropouts yet a university graduate was inspired to start such a venture?

I have heard people talk that way. But it means they do not understand what it entails when it comes to the fashion world. I did Visual Arts in secondary school then went to the university to do Industrial Art.  When you talk about industry, it is all about chemistry and one of my courses was chemistry; I mean serious chemistry with the wildest calculations and all that.

Trust me; it is not a course for dumb minds.  Even operating the machines, wear and tear, and everything is pure calculation. How can this be for school dropouts? It is sad people still think this way about those of us who do handiwork.  Even in the secondary schools, Visual Arts is a department where school heads often push students who aren't having the best grades. It means we still do not get it that arts is a complex area not for dull minds.  People think it is just about painting and drawing and carving.

 
But why take such a risk in a country where people prefer foreign designers and very few Ghanaian designers are making it, except maybe Kofi Ansah, MKOGH and just a handful?

My motivation was passion; pure passion for what I do. I love what I do.

 
Your passion overrides your economic interest?

Yes. And loving what I am doing is what has turned commercial and now meeting an economic interest. At the start, I was doing stuffs for people for free. And those stuffs caught the eyes of others and I had a lot of recommendations.  And I kept working hard. Whilst in the university, I used to chat with all the big designers you mentioned and they encouraged me.

 
Is our fashion industry growing or dying?

Our fashion industry is growing.  Ghanaians love wearing what they see people wear outside in the western world.  The so-called western brands are now inculcating print designs into their lines.  Print designs are in vogue now internationally and have encouraged Ghanaians to start patronising them and push our fashion industry. Foreign celebrities are now rocking print, and Ghanaians who want to be like those celebs are also now wearing print.

What I do is to design it in a way they would love—give it a modern foreign look with an African touch.

I see a lot of glamour celebrities and big corporate people wearing your brand. I also see the youth wearing same brand. What exactly does Abrantie represent?

Abrantie cuts across all social ladders and our products are in grades depending on your purse. You may see a big boy rocking an all-white Abrantie and another low income earner also wearing a white Abrantie but the difference is in the fabric. Fabrics have different levels of quality and we factor that into our pricing and our target market.

We believe the fashion out there can be done right here but with a unique African look. And we target anyone who believes in this vision and wants to support the African fashion industry.

No one seems to know where to find your showrooms. We only see celebrities wearing your stuff.

Our products are made upon order. We don't do the 'one size fits all, ready to wear' kind of clothes. When we used to design Polo Shirts, we had the general standard sizes but now we tailor-make our products to fit the body shape and taste of the client. That is why we do not have showrooms with already made stuff.

Fortunately, we take a maximum of five working days after order; and as I said, it is designed and cut having the particular wearer in mind. It is working fine and our works are so far our loudest advert. In this era of social media, you just type 'Abrantie The Gentleman' and our website and all our social network pages with our contact details would appear. Our contact lines and social sites work 24/7 and anyone can testify to that.

What are the prospects for your brand?

We are looking at rubbing shoulders with the international brands. We are looking at a Ghanaian clothe line that can compete globally with any in the world. You pick foreign products and they have excellent finishing, with their brands on the zippers, buttons, hooks and all that.

This is what we want to do: make clothes from the best quality fabrics and have a flawless finishing with all the elements and requirements of what is trending on the global market.

When we go for road shows outside, we have stuffs as good as theirs. But the little details and features they add to their finishing are what make the difference and we are determined in marching them boot for boot in that area and even doing better.

(To be continued in our next edition where Abrantie complains about challenges in Ghana's textiles industry, talks about his new clothe line for women and compares fashion shows in Ghana to what pertains in other parts of the world.)

By Halifax Ansah-Addo