Yeboah: A Phoenix from the Ashes

Reece Yeboah, the visionary behind the fashion brands Saint London and Yeboah, brings a deeply personal and authentic touch to his creative endeavours. Transitioning from one successful venture to the next, Yeboah's journey into fashion was fueled by a desire to defy stereotypes and chart his own path. Influenced by the high-fashion aesthetics of his childhood and his formative years in Ghana, he developed both a passion and a knack for creating some truly standout pieces.

Yeboah’s foray into fashion began with the launch of Saint London in 2015. Despite initial hurdles, his relentless passion and strategic networking paid off, landing his designs on high-profile figures like Lewis Hamilton and earning a coveted spot in Selfridges. A legal tussle with the NFL over his brand's logo became a pivotal moment, prompting a reinvention that birthed the ‘Yeboah’ brand during the pandemic.

Yeboah’s creations are marked by a daring duality, seamlessly blending streetwear with luxury fashion. This bold approach mirrors his fearless spirit and commitment to authenticity. Each collection is a tapestry woven from the threads of his personal experiences and cultural roots, rich with storytelling and emotional resonance. His designs stand as a testament to the power of resilience and the beauty of individuality, challenging the norms of the fashion industry.

Looking ahead, Yeboah hints at significant upcoming projects that promise to elevate his brand further. Judging by his illustrious career so far, what's on the horizon is sure to be groundbreaking and unmissable, positioning Yeboah as a name to watch in the global fashion industry.

NW: Can you tell us about yourself, your background and also the brand's background, how you found your way into fashion, what inspired your love of fashion?

RY: So, my name is Reece Yeboah. I used to call myself a fashion designer, but I'm growing out of it  a bit now, like, I'm still into fashion, but I'm more of a creative. You know, I'm more of a creative director and artistic director, I would say I’m a director, if that makes sense. 

But I started my journey into fashion by just analysing my surroundings as a kid. I said to myself, most of my friends are up to no good or, you know, they want to be footballers and I wanted to challenge myself and do something that wasn't attached to statistical stereotypes. I have always loved fashion, my mom's always dressed me in high fashion and whenever I stepped out of my house as a kid, all of the people that I looked up to, were always wearing really high end brands and just put things together really cleanly. 

Everyone I looked up to just looked so great, even just seeing my older brothers when they were going out in like the Moschino era, that really inspired me to want to just be flamboyant, flashy and stylish. 

But then my mom sent me to Ghana. Like around year eight, I was misbehaving in school. When I was out there I was with one of my uncles. He was a tailor for maybe 32 years, so he used to sew around me. And I didn't think I was coming back at the time but he really influenced me as did my time there in general. 

Anyway, I had been sent on a one way ticket and thought I would never be back but I finally did come  back. So I went when I was around 11 or 12 and came back when I was 15. Then my mom wanted me to do plumbing. I did plumbing for a bit and dropped out and she was like, listen, get a job or you're out; so I got a job. 

While I was working, I started to go on little courses here and there. So I found a course that was at London College of Fashion. I did a few short courses. Then I did six months of a three year course but dropped out. That was when I made the move to start my brand. 

I met a few people through my studies and launched the brand in 2015. That was my first brand Saint London. Then after that… I don't know if you want me to go into the Saint London bit or just Yeboah.

“I wanted to challenge myself and do something that wasn't attached to statistical stereotypes”

NW: Definitely go into that. We want to hear it all.

RY: Okay, cool. Yeah. So in 2015 I started my brand. That was Saint London. And it was tough, but that was partly because I didn't know what I was doing. I just loved the process of it anyway, but I made a promise to myself that even if it wouldn't grow fast, financially, I want to make sure that I get as much exposure as I could. 

So I used to just write names down in a notepad that I bought from WH Smith. Every day, I'd just attack emailing, DMs, etc. to try and find someone that knew someone and tried to get through to people to send them clothes or to raise awareness for the brand. 

I got Lewis Hamilton in the second year of the brand launching to wear some clothes after meeting one of his team in a hotel, but it was like a spontaneous one. Then it just grew up from there. It was crazy. My hunger grew and grew because I started to realise that everything that I wanted to do was materialising as a result of me actually putting the man hours in and putting all my power into it. That all bought it all into action.

So then my confidence just grew stronger. I started to get more clients, I started to produce more clothes, send out more clothes, get pictures of celebrities wearing them. And it was really good. I think 2018, I got approached by a few people from Selfridges. And I was the first. I was like the first of two, I would say, UK brands in this room that they launched, which has now got the skate room, I launched in that room. I was one of the first British designers in there. 

Then 2019. I got a cease and desist from the NFL because they said the fleur-de-lis, which was the Saint London symbol, was too similar to the New Orleans Saints logo. It was crazy, mad depressing. It was just a shock, to be honest but it was an eye opener as well, because I knew that whatever I did moving forward would be bigger than that. 

So then after that I went into depression around 2020. Which wasn’t helped by the pandemic happening. As I was getting out of it, I started a business plan, a 10 year business plan for Yeboah. I came up with a name because it's just something that I feel like no one could take away from me, because it was me. I just wanted to put to bed the stigma of the Saint London stuff and just move forward. So yeah, it was born through the pandemic.

“My hunger grew and grew because I started to realise that everything that I wanted to do was materialising”

NW: How different is Yeboah to Saint London? Is the design style very different? Or is it building on what you started with St London?

RY: So what I did, which was risky, but I now really appreciate the fact that I was so fearless, was to split the brand into two segments, which was streetwear, and luxury. I wanted to start off with this first element as a farewell to Saint London but at the same time, it's kind of like a rebirth for the new brand. 

I explained to friends and family that this is the last that you will get of the raw streetwear from me. The collection that I did, it marked a real paradigm shift, had just streetwear and I explained to everybody that moving on it was just luxury, but luxury with hints of what I did before. It was a  way of giving back to friends, family, people that loved Saint London and had supported it previously. I literally just created a collection for them, if that makes sense. Then my later collections with Yeboah began to become more tailored and sophisticated. 

NW: You've touched on it slightly talking about your time in Ghana with your uncle, but who/what would you say your main inspirations are for your work?

RY: I would say maybe my mom, my childhood memories and where I'm from. So I was raised in West London, but I was also raised in Reading and Ghana. So those elements help me to create. I think about childhood memories and places that have been and it reflects in the work. It keeps it varied but also personal. 

Every time I release a collection, every time I have a concept it is based on a story or a situation from my past. If it’s negative, I find a way that it can be turned into positive but I also work from memories that are already positive. So that's just kind of how I built everything at Yeboah. It is a story of life. It gave everything I was doing meaning and a sense of purpose to it. It makes it so the work is always something fulfilling and memorable. I basically take inspiration from family, environment and my passion for just being able to tell my story through clothes.

“It is a story of life. It gave everything I was doing meaning and a sense of purpose to it.”

NW: Is there anything specific inspiring what you're working on at the moment?

RY: So what I've put out recently has been a reflection of that time of transition from Saint London to Yeboah so that's why I have described it as a paradigm shift. Then moving forward collections will be based on emotions evoked from a specific time or scenario, from a specific event in my life. 

So it could be the year that I was born, it could be a near death experience and so on. It could be whatever. I take a negative or positive and create a concept from it. So, like I envisioned the brand's colours as red, yellow, green and black for the Ghanaian flag, I wanted to release a collection in those colours simultaneously. But then I don’t want it to become uniform, I want it to be very varied and mysterious, I don’t want to be predictable.

I also don't want to follow how fashion brands normally drop. So I'd rather have a collection that lasts for two years. In essence, I think that works better for me, because then I could tell the story for longer periods of time and explore it more deeply. Most fashion brands release, what, four times a year or three times a year, whatever it is, you know, for me, it doesn't have that much substance to it, because it's more for profit. Mine's more for the people to understand where I'm coming from and really buying into it.

NW: That plays in very nicely to the next question, for our last print release, the theme was resistance. What does resistance in fashion mean to you? In what ways does resistance work its way into your work and into the brand?

RY: So for me personally, as a designer I am very resistant because no matter what obstacles are thrown at me I am able to fight back, pop up and show people that an actually 100% independent, individual and brand is able to have hard times, pick themselves back up and get back to grinding and I don’t think that is shown enough. 

A lot of independent designers that are given the spotlight, like what you guys are doing for people now, are also hooked up and not actually what they are seen to be, you know. They are  not just one person with a small team, working diligently towards their goal. There is always a big investor, this person, this machine, six or seven people working on this and that and I feel like it's important to highlight the resilience of young, independent designers. They should be pushed to the forefront. 

The brand is resistant in that it speaks up and shows that no matter where you come from, do whatever you need to do, and do it how you want to do it. With hope, from your people, and faith in your work, you can do anything.

NW: You spoke briefly about it earlier but could you expand on what things you've done that you're most proud of in your career?

RY: For me, I'm really proud of myself and I'm happy at what I have achieved. I'm one of the only, potentially the only, black designer that's had a show at Tate Modern. I'm the only designer to have a collaboration with COS, so I'm very proud of that. I did Forbes by myself, that was a hugely proud moment for myself, Selfridges as well.

I feel like in this day and age, the younger generation, their attention span is so short, that they don't really get to reflect on things that they have done or things that they've achieved. When you look back on it, I’ve been doing this for ten years and all of these things that I've done, these milestones have led me to where I'm about to go. 

I'm super happy and proud of everyone who has supported me and everyone who has been able to witness it. I can see myself in a few years probably being similar to Virgil having my own brand and being at a label as well. 

Once the experience is there I think I'll definitely be up for one of those jobs. I would love to run it concurrently with whatever I'm doing. I think all those things I have achieved are leading up to a moment like that.

“With hope, from your people, and faith in your work, you can do anything.”

NW: What do you really feel sets your brand apart from other brands?

RY: To be honest, I'm not really into comparison, but I would say what's different for this brand is that it's organic, it's authentic and it's just real. Like I said to you before, I use my own personal issues and circumstances and experiences to create realities, within fashion.

I tackle issues and will be tackling issues such as mental health and Grenfell, I live right next to it so I’ll be doing a tribute to that and a few friends that are lost in that, alongside other life lessons that I've had and it’s something that I can't wait for people to see. 

I’m excited to launch with a big brand, for my first ever collaboration. You don't even know where you're in for. You know, there's so much stuff that's ready in the pipeline, a post, I've taken a little break, only because I do a lot by myself. You know, I've got a two man team. Then once I’m back there are the pillars there ready so we can launch the brand to the next level.

I'm in it for the legacy. You know, this is something that I want to be here to be left with the next generation. It's not just something that I'm doing to be trendy. It will be at some point but I don't want that's not my main focus. It's more for the legacy, a slow burner like a marathon.

“I'm in it for the legacy… this is something that I want to be here to be left with the next generation.”

NW: From what you were saying it sounds like, even though you're in the building stages, there already are a lot of things that are going to have left a legacy. Having your work in Selfridges, the Tate Modern show, being in Forbes. All very exciting stuff. Speaking of exciting stuff, to finish up ss there anything on the way in the near future that you could let us know about any big future plans?

RY: There’s something huge. I can't even say because of NDA but you guys will be the first to know once everything is sorted. Let's just say I’m going global again. This is going to be very very big. This is going to smash the market. I think he's going to surprise a lot of people. Like the COS thing was cool but it went over a lot of people's heads, this is unmissable. Sorry to leave you on a cliffhanger!