Interview with Mr. Matthew Mensah, the man who makes giving fashionable
1. Tell us a bit about yourself
My Name is Matthew Mensah and my Dad is Ghanaian and My Mum half french/half danish)
My Dad is from Kumasi (southern Ghana) and he’s a typical Ghanaian, very dark, he is probably the darkest man in west africa. Where as my Mum is the whitest woman in Europe- typical Scandinavian with blonde hair and blue eyes!
I grew up in Denmark and also lived in Stockholm before moving to London to study at London College Of Fashion where I studied Fashion Promotion and Media and then to Guildhall Uni where I studied PR and Marketing.
My interest in Fashion started in Denmark when I was signed to Elite Models Copenhagen at 17 which led me to study Fashion at a design school in Denmark before moving to London!
After studies I worked as PR Director For Karen Millen in Scandinavia where I launched Karen Millen in Stockholm and Copenhagen! After that I worked with different record companies organising PR tours for their artists in UK and Scandinavia. I worked with artists like Alicia Keys, Usher and Depeche Mode before becoming disillusioned with the whole party scene and wanting some more fullfilness in my life- which was at a time where most of my friends where moving back to Nigeria and Ghana so I felt it was a good time for me to change the direction in my life! I chose Nigeria compared to Ghana as all my closest friends have always been Nigerians and I had very strong contacts there! That's 8 years ago now and Lagos is my home!
2. You are involved in numerous international charities and projects, tell us about Catwalk the World-what does it aim to achieve and why did you choose to use fashion as a platform for campaigning?
I started working with UN when I was asked to come up with a concept for a peace campaign in Liberia at the end of the civil war there and I did the Peace and Reconcilliation campaign where with Genevieve Nnaji (a successful Nigerian actress). It was a success and I continued working with UN WFP who asked me to come up with a concept that would create awareness to fight child hunger and also raise funds, so I came up with Catwalk The World - Fashion For Food where I wanted to use Fashion as a platform to create awareness and funds for Unicef- Stop Child Hunger. Music have been used a lot but Fashion is like Music something that we all are effected by and fashion and fashion shows does attract a massive media attention so I thought it was a perfect combination plus I love fashion myself too!
The aim is to support United Nations projects, and in the past we have supported the World Food Program. We now support UNICEF, having changed agencies so that we can be involved in more causes than child hunger alone.
The others that make the core management of Catwalk The World are Obaro Ibru and Femi Amure, who was with the UN WFP (world food program) when we started and now heads the Bill Gates Foundation in Africa.
In 2007 we won an award for best New Humanitarian campaign in Paris at the World Quality Awards, which was quite amazing to feel the appreciation of something that had grown from some scribbles on a paper to reality and helping people! Our best show I think was in Ghana 2 years ago featuring Ozwald Boateng, Deola Sagoe, Kofi Ansah and many more!
3. What are your other current projects?
I have recently been appointed PR and Campaign Director for the Nigerian National Breast Cancer Campaign which is the first National Breast Cancer Campaign in Africa. I created the concept and I also have a new Orphanage campaign to be launched in Feb.
4. What else have you been doing lately?
I have been travelling a lot to Ghana and been working on some other concepts and preparing for another Breast Cancer Campaign which will be in Jamaica!
5. What was it like working for one of Africa’s finest and most renowned fashion designers, Deola Sagoe?
Working with Deola was a big experience which taught me a lot, she is with out a doubt the best designer to emerge from Africa in decades and we did shows together with Givenchy, Versarce, Donna Karan and more, plus we also had our own shows. It goes to show that you can do everything if you put your mind to it- as Deola really had no training in fashion and a was educaed as an accountant!
6. As Creative Director, was your role?
My role was to support with ideas for collections, go through the collections and pick outfits for shows. I also designed a Mens line and would attend all the shows across the globe where our clothes would be featured plus I would take care of the branding and which media we would be in.
7. You travel so much around Africa, what is the fashion scene like there?
The fashion scene in Africa is big, but there is still a big gap between the African and European fashion industries. In Europe it’s a multi-billion industry and well organised, whereas in Africa its unfortuanately still the opposite. Only Southj Africa has a Fashion Week which is of international standards at all levels and in all deparatments. However there are so many amazing designers coming through and the fashion on the streets is very inspiring, especailly in Nigeria where Nigerian women hands down are the best dressed women in Africa-from their traditional Gele (headtie) and dress to the way that they adapt Western fashion!
When you are involved in fashion and life in Africa you really notice how much of our trends are being lifted and suddenly are on the catwalks in Paris and around the world- becoming popular trends in themselves!
The Fashion Weeks at Jo’burg and Capetown are fantastic. Mozambique Fashion Week and Kenya Fashion weeks are also really good. And, I know its not Africa, but Caribbean Fashion Week in Kingston is also amazing and I'm there every year as we are partners with them!
You can buy fashionable clothes but you can't buy style, you either have it or you don't and in Africa a lot of young people, especially students who might not have the same disposal income as their western counterparts make up for it by having a great creative mind that really is fantastic to be around.
8. There has been much debate about the prospect of a Vogue Africa, would you like to see this vision materialised?
If it was in South Africa I think it would be a great idea as they have Conditions and experience that would be able to deliver a magazine with African Fashion content on a level U would expect from a Vogue. But Vogue Africa would be Fantastic!
9. What are your plans for the future?
We have a hectic schedule for Catwalk The World and I'm working with Designer Simon Parchment who created that special Barack Obama converse shoe for him when Obama was innuragated. Simon is creating a special Catwalk The World Shoe to go to the shops next year.. I'm also looking forward to be working with Uk/Jamaican Designer Gavin Douglas on Catwalk The World. I'm also opening my first orphanage next year which is a dream of mine coming through then I hope to get married within the next few years. Have my suit and found the perfect place for Honeymoon, just need to find a wife! Loool
10. How would you define your style?
I would define it as trendy but alternative, I like to tweak what I'm wearing so it always has my own touch and identity.
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