KWAME ADUSEI is a Once in a Lifetime Artist and Businessman, Taking on Paris as a Los Angeleno
France-based stylist and contributing MERDE editor, Eddy Soilihi sat down with Los-Angeles based designer Kwame Adusei to discuss what it means to follow heart over hype in logo-obsessed industry.
Adusi, a designer and artist, emphasizes enhancing the human experience through his designs, which adapt to modern lifestyles. He infuses contemporary needs into his creations without incorporating advanced technology literally. His brand, rooted in African heritage, aims to offer a unique perspective in fashion, accessible to all. He sources dead stock fabrics and makes patterns with a focus on innovation and necessity. Valuing local production and a circular economy, Adusei keeps costs low by owning the entire production process itself. Future plans include expanding to Paris to revive local artisanal craftsmanship - read for more of the juicy bits:
Photo credits: Kelly Anthony-koffi
Kwame: My name is Nana. Kwame, if you say I am the designer for the brand, Kwame Adusei, I like to think of myself as an artist first, and a creative, before a designer. My art is mostly about figuring out how to enhance the human experience. Okay, so what do I mean by that? For example, we're in 2025 right? The shirts that we wear nowadays don't serve us anymore, because we have a new lifestyle. We're in the age of social media, you know, the way we think, the way we process, the way we move, the way we are seen, has changed. So with that in mind, I make clothes as my art to help suit modern time, okay, and the modern person. And when I say that I'm not talking about fixing AI into a dress, that's funny. You know? Human beings are not robots. And for me, when someone says advanced technology, I do'nt think metal, I think a jellyfish could be advanced technology.
Eddy:So new technology doesn't work with your creative vibe?
Kwame: Not necessarily. The way I like to design is to infuse the modern world that we live in and the way we are now as people, I like to fuse it into the design of the clothing. Women like to move. Women are no longer stuck in the outdated framework or deemed as fragile. They go get their own groceries, and they go dance at the club. They like to walk, they like to work, and they like to fuck somebody up, too, if you fuck with them, right? I make pieces that suit the modern person. Sometimes you might not even see it because I'm not putting a computer, or I'm not putting a metal into a dress, but I use the same fabric deconstructed to fit body for the modern person, that's how I create my art.
Eddy: Where do you draw your biggest inspiration?
Kwame: We are building an African heritage brand. When I say Africa, people usually like to think about isolation or questions, 'Can I wear it if I'm not African?' Yeah, you can. Yes, you can wear it if you're not African. We wear Japanese brands all the time. We wear European brands all the time. I'm wearing tabbies. That's of Asian heritage right? That's cool. They suit my legs, right? We're trying to bring another cultural option to the proverbial fashion table, something that's different from the same representations that we see over and over again, you know. For an African heritage brand, there is a different way of thinking, there's a different way of approaching fashion, and that's what we're trying to bring to the table.
Eddy: Where in Africa are you from?
Kwame:Ghana, I've lived in Ghana my whole life and moved to the States 5 years ago..
Eddy: I'm from Comoros. I don't know if you know.
Kwame: I know, very cool! I moved to the United States five years ago. We have our store in Beverly Hills, and we. Have our own factory in downtown Los Angeles. The brand is only three years old, we've been moving really quickly, and we aim to make a superior product,
Eddy:Do you travel back to Africa often for inspiration?
Kwame:Yeah, I've traveled back a lot. I used to have a store in South Africa. I stopped it now, because South African money is only good in South Africa. When you take it out, it's not, it's not the same. We had two stores in Ghana and one in South Africa under a previous name, which was named after my mother - Charlotte Privèe. And then when I came to the US, I started the namesake brand Kwame Adusei . This is our second pop-up in Paris.
Eddy: Can you tell us about the process of making your latest collection showing here in this pop-up?
Kwame: The process is people. I like to watch a lot of people. Okay, I am sure you also love people watching, right? People watching is the most fascinating,interesting thing we have as human beings. We don't think about it because it's not something that is glamorized, but it's literally the most inspiring thing that I do before I design a collection. I go sit and watch people, the way they move, the way they hold hands, yeah,the way they go for a walk with their dogs, the way they carry their jacket.What if this jacket had a strap that he doesn't have to carry it? That's how I design, questioning, what if the shoe and the pants are one piece, you know? I design looking at people and the way they interact with their clothing. That is, that is my inspiration, then I start to sketch.
Eddy:Do you sketch a lot for designing and pattern-making the collections?
Kwame:Yes, I highlight all the information that I collect from people. Then I start to sketch the collections, and then we have our own factory in downtown Los Angeles, that's where they start making the prototype. They make the prototype sample from Muslin? Then we do fittings, sometimes we do 3, 4, or 5 fittings. I don't like to do fitting with just a fit model, I do fittings with regular people. Once the fit is right, we make the first sample, because we have our own store, we take it to our store directly, and we sell directly.
Eddy: In your last collection, I see a lot of oversized clothes and no color. It's mostely black, what is your intention behind this color choice, or lack of color choice.
Kwame: We don't manufacture our own fabric. We use deadstock fabric from Los Angeles. I like to work with what I have, because I feel like that's like the true definition of innovation. I can sit here and say, Oh, I wish I had a leather printing machine. I don't have it. We're an independent brand, so the most genius thing you can do is to work with what you have and make the best out of it. That will stand the test of time, because that was designed not on trend, it was designed based on necessity and love for the craft. I'm often inspired by the material. Instead of matching the sketch by selecting the fabric, I'll manipulate the fabric we have. We're really passionate about, not just our community, but the circular economy of wherever we are.
Eddy: Is it very expensive to manufacture in Los Angeles?
Kwame:Los Angeles is very expensive. But because we own our production and we own every part of the process, we don't have any middlemen. We can do the type of experimenting that we do, because we own our production and because I can do everything from A to Z. I make the pattern and design. We couldn't exist if we didn't do that, but we can only do that because I have the technical skills to lead the process. Let me give you an example, who is your favorite brand, or designer right now, who's alive?
Eddy: Heliot Emil, it's a niche brand.
Kwame: Very cool. Ok let's use a big brand, like Louis Vuitton, right? If Pharrel is making music, it's not expensive for him to make, because he will make his own beats, because he's a producer. He knows how to make his own beats. So he can sit in his apartment with a computer.
Eddy:Right, he has his own material for making his art.
Kwame: So it wouldn't be expensive, and then he would be successful, right? But now Pharrell's art is very expensive because he's a designer who needs a pattern maker. He needs someone to sew, he needs all the people around him, and he needs a designer, yeah? It's expensive if you don't make the thing yourself and you're hiring other people to make it. While it may be expensive in LA, because we make our own things, it's not that expensive.
Eddy: For me, creating a brand is really hard because put a lot of money in into the initial development.
Kwame: It is a lot of cost, but also, I tell people, if you're not ready, don't even start it, and don't do it alone. Business is an integral aspect of design. Your product can't exist or be sellable if it hasn't been structured from a business standpoint. A new designer has to be a stagier for a long time to learn the business. Even to get to the point where you can do it with somebody, without wasting their time, you have to know what you're doing. So you have to learn, and be like a statue for a long time. Intern for a long time. Learn every aspect of it before you can even say, "Okay, I'm ready to go." Just think about it, Christian Dior started his brand when he was 40, you know?Now you find, like, a 20 year old saying, "Oh, yeah. Like, I'm a designer of my own brand." The truth is, when you're creative enough there are ways around having an extremely expensive production. There are ways to decrease waste, there's ways to use more from what you have, and there's ways to build on top, instead of investing in a bunch of products at once. For us, we started small and we built, continuing to invest in things that cut out the middleman so that our process is more controlled and has less not just material waste, but cost waste. So there are ways to be creative where you don't need an incredible amount of investment, but you have to be really good. You have to understand the process, you have to understand business, and you have to understand where you're going. It's not for everyone, it's very hard but it's possible. True creativity is to know how to make something out of nothing, that requires skill.
Eddy: Do you want to open a shop in France?
Kwame: We're working on having a presence in Paris. I feel that with the skillset that I have, I feel like Paris needs that sort of craftsmanship. We haven't seen much great tailoring, since we've been here and other times we've visitied.We would actually want to work with local artisans, to rebuild that garment manufacturing network that used to be here. The skill set is here, but I think that, like there is the lack of leadership to actually build that sort of brand, because now all of the brands are focusing on money. So, I mean, yeah, I get it, people, bills, needs to be paid, and I'm all for that. But let's not forget that before the logos, before rappers being put in the forefront there was craftsmanship. People don't come here because Paris makes a lot of money, they come here for the art. There's so much space here to find that balance between heart and hype. I'm not saying that there shouldn't be hype, I think there could be more of a balance.
Eddy: What about your next project, what comes after your pop-up here in Paris?
Kwame: Spring Summer. We may take a trip to Marseille for inspiration. The sun is there, and right now we're designing spring summer.After the pop-up, we have two weeks left in Paris, we're going to look at some spaces. And then we'll take a trip out there and see what's good.