Norm-defying stylist Ibrahim Kamara is out to redefine African male identity

18 May 2017 - 02:00 By Motlatsi Khosi
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Sierra Leonian Ibrahim Kamara’s styling has recently been featured in a Stella McCartney shoot in Nigeria.
Sierra Leonian Ibrahim Kamara’s styling has recently been featured in a Stella McCartney shoot in Nigeria.
Image: Nadine Ijewere / Stella McCartney

Stylist and artist Ibrahim Kamara is making waves in the fashion world, having recently styled a shoot in Nigeria for international clothing label Stella McCartney that was shot by photographer Nadine Ijewere.

Born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Kamara's work as a stylist has garnered worldwide praise because of its ability to repoliticise fashion images that are often dismissed as frivolous obsessions with outward appearance.

Through clothing he examines what it means to be black and a man, and at the same time deconstructs the idea that these are singular notions.

Kamara says he draws inspiration from his African heritage and youth culture.

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Last year Kamara, who is based in London, created an installation with Johannesburg photographer Kristin-Lee Moolman as part of his degree in fashion communication at Central St Martin's School of Design in London after a month-long residency in Johannesburg.

They scoured the city's dumpsters and thrift shops for fabrics, which he reworked into garments to ''reshape" self-expression for the black male body.

"I wanted to create a utopia where you can be whatever you want to be without emphasis on masculinity or sexuality," Kamara told the New York Times ahead of the exhibition.

Kamara began his career studying to become a doctor.

"I was into experimentation and had I continued I would have become a researcher," he says.

Kamara left university to become an artist, yet his love for the human body continued to be the driving force of his expression.

"I'm a people watcher," he says. ''I look at how people hold themselves."

He believes many African people go the extra mile when they dress. As a young man in Sierra Leone he would stop people to tell them they looked amazing.

"For them it was just how they dressed daily, but I thought it was incredible.

"Style is about attitude and character. It's an indication of who you want to be."

But he adds that style goes beyond the clothes.

"It's the way a man smokes his cigar. It's a personal interpretation of the world."

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Kamara was an intern with legendary stylist and model Barry Kamen, who was at the forefront of the 1980s Buffalo scene - a collective of photographers, designers and artists who wore ripped Levi's 501s and leather jackets.

Kamen became Kamara's mentor and a major influence on his work.

"Barry was the embodiment of a stylish person. There was so much detail in everything he did, he even paid attention to the lining of his pants. He was a father figure and the greatest stylist of the time.

"Styling is performance as a moving image. It's a mobile art form that's constantly adapting," he says.

His Instagram page reflects this spirit.

"I want to portray energy. Most kids grow up and relinquish their fantasies. I don't want to give up mine.

''I want to be the embodiment of the carefree black man embracing his femininity, unafraid to be sexy in front of the camera wearing stockings, silk gloves and lace panties."

Kamara rejects the conventions of how black men are supposed to look: the opposite of female - static, hard, distant and angular as opposed to fluid, curvaceous and enticing. For him these boundaries shouldn't exist.

"This is the kind of man that, growing up, I wasn't allowed to be. I want to create a platform where other people can see what's possible." - bubblegumclub.co.za.Additional words by Andrea Nagel

This article was originally published in the Times.

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