Our Man Crush Monday is the renaissance man Kelechi Odu – fashion designer,
architect, film producer, and all-round creative.
In an interview in Pride Magazine Nigeria‘s Digital Speaks Issue, he opened up about different aspects of creativity and the human experience.
DEPENDING on who one speaks to, you are an architect, a fashion designer or a film producer. How would you describe what you do?
Depending on who is listening, I would either say I am a manifester of ideas or simply a multi- disciplinary designer. I am interested in creating spaces, objects and experiences that enhance and enrich the human condition.
How are you able to do all these different things?
Well, at root they are all fundamentally about creating solutions to problems. To me, they only differ in the way the solutions are applied and in the amount of involvement other people have in the creation or experience of the thing. Each discipline feeds a different part of my design impetus, where architecture is necessarily cocreative during the making process, it ensures complete control over the user experience. Fashion design on the other hand can be a solitary exercise during the making process, but allows the user creative flexibility with the finished object. I work in partnership with great practitioners in the various fields and am also fortunate enough now to only take on a few projects at a time that are meaningful for me.
How would you say fashion enhances the human experience?
In three key ways I can think of at the moment. First, fashion creates a means for self-expression. Clothes are great tools for identifying with a group, expressing one’s individuality and indicating one’s aspirations. The second is that human beings respond deeply to beauty and awe, and fashion affords people the opportunity to bring both to each other every day. In places where people take it as a civic duty to create beauty around themselves, the experience of day-to-day life is more delightful, I mean, why do people love Paris? Fashion designers today are probably the most prolific creators. Designers must produce numerous permutations of essentially, shirts, skirts, trousers and dresses many times a year, for an audience that demands inspiration with each new collection. As a result, the third reason fashion enhances the human experience is that designers now mine all aspects of the human experience as inspiration for their collections consequently deepening their knowledge of the world and sometimes translating this knowledge in ways that captivate and educate the consumer.
Your clothing line is called Kelechi Odu Collection and you create primarily menswear. What kind of man do you design for?
Each collection is designed around a concept which is reflected in each item of clothing. Different people respond to different items. Our suits for example tend to be popular with a more fashion-forward man, but our shoes, particularly a pair we call the Otunba, are enjoyed by older men. We are more interested in the way men
interpret and use the clothes we create than in clothing a particular kind of man.
Any advice on how men should dress?
I think people should be more deliberate about the choices they make. Each item we wear and how it is worn sends a signal, whether one likes it or not, that will determine how one is perceived and treated. It is always best to be appropriately dressed unless one has a particular message to send.
Tell us about the spaces and experiences you create?
The motto at AxisDIA, the architecture firm I practice with, is ‘creating great places’.
It is with this ethos that we have designed city master plans, buildings and interiors all over the world. Movies can be thought of as architecture in two dimensions. As the Head of Production Design at The Audrey Silva Company, I facilitate the creation of the worlds envisioned by the director on film and television. Through my ongoing collaboration with the Bloom gallery, we enhance the experience of art through the spatial design of their booth at the ART X fair each year.
Do you have any upcoming projects you can share?
I started a design cooperative called the Oparanze Collective which connects young men interested in craftwork, at the moment carpentry, metalwork and leatherwork, to masters in those fields in a sort of apprenticeship. Together we create sustainable, high-quality design objects. Each year we hold a presentation of the works produced. We were showcased at the London Design Festival in 2018.
As a creative, what challenges do you face in the Nigerian space?
Mostly the same as any other business in Nigeria, such as the high cost of production, lack of skilled labour, and reliance on importation for many tools and
raw materials. One issue however, that is unique to the creative industries, is the reluctance of Nigerians to pay properly for quality local design or creative
services.
How do you balance work and family life?
Though I share the deep interest in design with my wife, I try to keep work only in the studio or at the office.
What do you take pride in?
I take pride in being able to make a living from the things I enjoy doing, with people I respect in a country where I can make a difference.
Read the 2020 Digital Speaks Issue here. Remember to #TakePrideDaily in who you are and what you do.