With a strong love for storytelling and self-expression, Papa Oppong Bediako usually puts together pieces that turn heads on social media.
Through his work, the fast-rising US-based Ghanaian fashion designer seeks to show the world that Africa is a goldmine of talent and potential, and can be as influential in fashion as the rest of the world is.
Cut out from exceptional pieces, Papa Oppong designs his outfits with the notion that ‘fashion is an anatomical architecture’.
In his words, drawn from an earlier interview with Bella Naija, he averred:
“It’s a great and interesting task designing for the human body…I think fashion is anatomical architecture and being a designer allows me to explore the sort of bodily ‘structures’ and ‘buildings’ I want to see people occupy.”
Oppong draws his inspiration from social media apps such as Instagram, Pinterest, documentaries, style personalities, and so on.
“I get style inspiration from many different sources. One of my favourite sources is Instagram where I’m bombarded with visuals from all over the world. I follow everything from food pages to arts and crafts pages to models to documentary journalists.
“There are so many things to see on Instagram and though this can get overwhelming and a lot sometimes, it’s a really good source of style inspiration. Some of my favourite Instagram style personalities are Rihanna and Louis Rubi. I also use Pinterest a lot for when I’m building a mood board for collections and the good-old-fashioned way: exploring the city,” he stated.
Check out some of his designs below: