UCLA

Kente Gentlemen is one of several influential contemporary African fashion brands contributing to the expanding landscape of global Black Diaspora fashion. Founded by Aristide Loua in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (2017), the brand’s contributions demonstrate a distinctive creative statement in fashion while also advancing new concepts of African image and its future economic growth. Deep examination of both the brand and its creative director support methods for determining long-term value and unique cultural contributions of emerging Black designers across the globe in relation to the broader fashion industry and supporting trade networks. This thesis explores the style aesthetic and cultural impact of Kente Gentlemen and utilizes several methodological frameworks of Black scholars, including Carol Tulloch’s style-fashion-dress narrative of the Black diaspora (Tulloch, 2016). Further analysis aims to incorporate the life journey and design practices of the Loua, who plays a significant role in expanding the style range of African fashion across the continent and in the broader global fashion industry.

The clothing itself plays one part. Music, history, entertainment and popular culture intertwine to inform the way people of the African diaspora can come to know and style themselves to assert a particular brand of agency. Through the exploration of the designer’s vision, inspiration and styling, this paper surveys untold social histories inspired by Kente Gentlemen’s collections, namely the Fall/Winter 2022-23 Collection entitled The Birth of Cool. By examining these unique contributions to global fashion, the inherent and long-term value of the brand is illuminated, supporting the cause for further development of economic and organizational infrastructure necessary for the continued success for global fashion brands like Kente Gentlemen to thrive for generations to come.