For those of you who care about tailoring (hopefully, that is all of you), the name Ozwald Boateng is as synonymous with British sartorial excellence as Liverpool is with The Beatles. With an eponymous flagship store planted on London’s iconic Saville Row, and a career spanning several decades (he’s tailored cinematic wardrobes for everyone from Spike Lee joints to the James Bond films), it’s safe to say Boateng knows his way around a needle and thread. So, how does a legendary designer keep himself stimulated? By collaborating with one of the most renowned, opulent furniture companies on the planet, Poltrona Frau, of course.
Esquire Middle East sits down for an exclusive interview with the lauded British tailor to talk creative inspirations, crafting suits for Hollywood, and the importance of in-person shopping.
Esquire: How did this collaboration come about?
Ozwald Boateng: I was turned on to Poltrona by a friend, and when I went to their studio in Italy, the craftsmanship and attention to detail immediately stuck out, because that’s what I breathe with my suits on Saville Row. The textiles, the fabrics, the meticulousness. Plus, I’m always sitting on a chair that’s not dissimilar to what Poltrona Frau creates, so a piece of furniture has always just been apart of my aesthetic language. And what’s so fascinating with design, is that you can take something people know so well, and create something wholly different.
Esquire: So a luxury chair is kind of like a luxury suit, just a different skeleton.
OB: Exactly. My language is textiles, and I can apply that so many different layers of design, even cars and architecture. But there are two types of designers: product driven and concept driven. I’m all about concept. When you really focus on products, it’s hard to switch product to product because all your attention is focused on one thing, whereas concept translates to so many different mediums.
Esquire: What’s the most difficult part about partnering on a collaboration with someone new?
OB: Understanding how your partner works in terms of construction. Before we even started this collaboration, I had to see how everything was made, the technicalities, the restrictions. One of the thing about Poltrano that is mindboggling is they have a machine that impersonates impressions of you sitting on a chair, which it does over 100,000 times. That’s their quality check, which let me know I was in safe hands.
Esquire: Do you prefer creative challenges as such?
OB: Always. Designers are making new collections all year round, and that’s how you stay interested. My creativity goes way beyond tailored suits, there’s always something new to embark on.
Esquire: How does creating furniture compare to fashion, especially when it comes to revealing it to the public, like on a runway?
OB: Everything is much more relaxed with furniture. Fashion is on steroids 24/7, there’s no breathing room, no chill time. Furniture you can relax a bit, and really take my time with every inch of detail.
Esquire: When creating a suit for a big film, is there any additional pressure? Especially for the best dressed spy of all time, James Bond.
OB: I’ve been making clothes for movies since the ’80s. I created the clothes for Spike Lee’s Mo’ Better Blues and he actually discovered me in my tiny studio on Portobello Road. But now, once I know what the drive of the film is and what the character is about, it becomes very clear what I need to do.
Esquire: In the digital age, how important is it to have an in-person experience for customers when buying clothes?
OB: It’s important to keep stores alive, because they provide an emotional connection between the tailor, the store, and the customer. When people buy a suit from me at my store on Saville Row, they’re stepping into our world, and I want them to feel something and to remember that experience. And that intimacy is lost when resorting to entirely online shopping. I don’t know what the future looks like, but physical interaction is so incredibly important to all aspects of life, and we just can’t lose that.
Check out the indelible collection here, and if you’re in London and have the penny for it, suits don’t get much better than Ozwald Boateng
