Ghana Rising’s The Most Stylish Men of Ghanaian Origin 2012

1
Joshua Kissi -Fashion Icon & Connoisseur /Blogger/ Designer (http://streetetiquette.com/)

2
Justin Akomiah -Founder / Editor-in-Chief of Pickmix magazine (http://pickmixmagazine.com/)

3
Manifest -Musician (http://www.manifestmc.com/)

4
Kwame D Brimpong -Photographer / Stylist (http://www.kwamedwumahbrimpong.com/ & http://kwamebrimpongphoto.tumblr.com/)

5
Samini -Musician ( http://www.myspace.com/samini1)

6
Allen Coleman -Fashion Connoisseur & Blogger /Photographer (http://freshwallstreet.com/ & allencoleman.tumblr.com)

7
Adrien Sauvage -Fashion designer / Photographer ( http://asauvage.com/ & http://thisisnotasuit.tumblr.com/)

8
Reggie Yates -TV & Radio Presenter (http://www.reggieyates.com/)

9
Cobbie Yates -Stylist & Blogger (http://cobbieyates.wordpress.com/)

10
Joseph Ackon -Model (http://www.myspace.com/josephackon)

11
Joe and Charlie Casely-Hayford -Fashion Designers (http://www.casely-hayford.com/profile)

12
Ozwald Boateng -Fashion Designer (http://www.ozwaldboateng.co.uk/)

13
Jay Ghartey -Musician (http://www.jayghartey.com/ & https://www.facebook.com/JayGhartey)

14
Mario Balotelli -Footballer (http://www.mariobalotelli.it/home/)

15
Edward Enninful -Uber Stylist and Fashion Director of W Magazine (http://twitter.com/#!/@EdwardEnninful & http://www.wmagazine.com/)

16
Boris Kodjoe -Actor ( http://www.boris-world.com/)

17
Melvin Odoom -TV & Radio Presenter (http://twitter.com/#!/melvinodoom)

18
David Yano -Actor / Model/ Musician / TV Presenter (http://enijeproject.com/message_en?lang=en)

19
Kwasi Kyei Darkwah aka KKD -TV Producer & Presenter / Communications Director & trainer (http://kkdwisewords.blogspot.com/)

20
Dizzee Rascal -Rapper (http://www.dizzeerascal.co.uk/)

21
Arteh Odjidja -Photographer (http://artehcreativeblog.blogspot.com/)

Arteh Odjidja [right] with a model at the Ozwald Boateng A/W 11 Presentation..

22

David Adjaye - (http://www.adjaye.com/)

23
Kwasi-Gyasi -Entrepreneur /Fashion Business Consultant & Blogger (http://myuberlife.com/)

24
Richard Ampaw -Model (http://www.selectmodel.com/)

25
Idris Elba -Actor/Musician/DJ (http://www.driis.com/)

26
Kwasi Osei -Actor (http://www.kwasiosei.com/ & http://kwasiosei.blogspot.com/)



27
Peter Mensah -Actor (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Peter-Mensah/109553922404503)

28
David Mensah -Musician (http://www.davidmensah.co.uk/ & https://www.facebook.com/pages/David-Mensah/74877604707 )

29
Lazee -Musician (http://www.lazeeonline.com/ )

30
Wanlov Kubolor -Musician (https://www.facebook.com/wanlov)

31
Pappy Kojo -Rapper (http://twitter.com/#!/pappykojo & https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pappykojo/218304814873680)





32
Papa Dee (Daniel Wahlgren) -Musican http://www.myspace.com/theoriginalpapadee)

33
King Ayisoba-Musician (http://www.kingayisobamusic.com/global/)

34
Adam Afriyie -Politician (http://www.adamafriyie.org/)

35
Terry Baddoo -Sports & News Broadcaster (http://edition.cnn.com/CNN/anchors_reporters/baddoo.terry.html)

36
Jojo Abban -Fashion Aficionado/Teacher (https://www.facebook.com/jojobaban#!/jojo.abban)

37
Blitz De Ambassador -Musician (http://blitz.mvmt.com/ & https://www.facebook.com/BlitzAmbassador)

38
Larry Ossei-Mensah -Culturalist & Blogger/ TV Presenter (http://www.myglobalhustle.com/)

39
His Excellency; John Dramani Mahama-Vice President of Ghana (https://www.facebook.com/pages/John-Dramani-Mahama/113278515352471 )

40
Mensa -Musician (http://facebook.com/M3NSA)

41
Kofi Annan -Former United Nations Secretary General, now the United Nations Arab League Special Envoy to Syria(http://kofiannanfoundation.org/)

42
Michael Essien -Footballer (http://www.michaelessiengh.com/home.html)

43
Kwame Brako Adu -Fashion & Shoe Designer (http://www.kwamebrako.com/)

44
Kevin Prince Boateng -Footballer (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kevin-Prince-Boateng/258433101433 )

45
Reggie Ansah Editor-in-Chief of Luxure Magazine /Photographer (http://www.luxuremagazine.com/ & http://reggieansah.com/)

46
KoJo from Clement Marfo and the frontline -Musician (http://www.clementmarfo.com/)

47
Johnnie Sapong -Uber Hairstylist (http://www.johnniesapong.com/)

48
Kwaku Darko-Mensah aka Kae Sun -Musician (http://www.kaesunmusic.com/)

49
Desmond Kwesi Blackmore -aka D Black -Musician (http://www.dblackmuzik.com/bio.html )

50
Edward Armah -Bowtie Guru (http://www.edwardarmah.com/)

51
Kwesi Amoafo Yeboah - Entrepreneur/ Politican (https://www.facebook.com/people/Kwesi-Amoafo-Yeboah/629082078)

52
Kofi Okyere Darko aka KOD -Radio Presenter & Designer of NINETEEN57 by KOD (

53
Nana Wiafe Asante-Mensah, aka A.S.E.M. -Rapper (https://www.facebook.com/Asemmusic?sk=info)

When mainstream think of fashionable men, they never think of black men, never mind African men. But at a push …images of those, ‘brash -weirdly suited brothers’ from somewhere near the centre of Africa -are wheeled out before the world’s gaze -as ’fashionable African men’ -right? And why wouldn’t they? Western fashionistas have an agenda after all, and, …..heavens forbid, truly stylish African men -surly not?

With its own schema mainstream has decided fashion belongs to them, -but thankfully with the ‘global village’, a new consciousness (its growing with velocity) and PC [political correctness] hacking away at this off beam belief -tokenism (whatever do I mean) has crept in. Thus, in their pursuit to give ‘us’ some blackness (yes, I’m going to use that word) -they have elected ‘that’ group of, ‘grating, braying “look-at-us-we-have-nothing-but-we-spend-all-our-money-on-designer-clothes” brigade. And I wonder why? -I think the answer is pretty simple,  -….they have accepted these men as the face of ‘fashionable African men’ -in the same way they accepted ‘ghetto fabulous’ -as the face of ‘fashionable black celebrities’ in the early 2000’s, -because its tacky, lacks class and is desperately inferior.

Thankfully…..things are changing, -the uber elegant Ghanaian man has broken through this feint and is challenging the erroneous perception of the [fashionable] black/African man -alongside a select group of uber stylish men of colour like the ever impeccable uber journalist, Michael Roberts of Vanity Fair and rappers/style icons: Kanye West and Pharrell Williams (yippee).

There's something about the stylish Ghanaian man -isn’t there? Probably the best dressed man on the planet (I‘m entitled to my opinions), -the stylish Ghanaian man’s subtitle, innate sense of style, his elegance, individuality (he never follows the crowd but rather leads), somewhat eccentric (our British colonial masters left an indelible mark), the obsession with neatness, his never ending hunt for the ‘perfect’ shirt/shoe/t-shirt/trainers/watch et al, the creativity (not all of them are loaded -you know) and restraint -all fuses together to create a sexy modish something, something, I can’t quiet put my finger one…… plus he very rarely misses the mark!!!

Unlike some of their fellow African brothers, the Ghanaian man has nothing to prove and you’ll get none of that ‘I-have-money-I-have-house-I-can-afford’ desperation. What you see is what you get with the Ghanaian man. The quiet confidence, a subtle sexiness, an eccentric swagger and a stylish-in-and-out thing that’s -all his own, -its their birthright…..

Preppy, street, dapper old school, dapper new school, headmaster, colo-inspired, traditional king, Tamale soldier, Accra gangster, Kumasi gypsy, Cape Coast rock star, Sunyani gentleman, northern native gone Hollywood, Nzema loin tamer, Nungua artist, Kromanti tightrope walker, -whatever his style, the Ghanaian peacock is a wonder to behold and the world is taking notice. -Unbeknownst to them, -most of the worlds celebrated black male fashionistas; think the world‘s most successful fashion stylist, Edward Enninful, think the first black man to design for a major fashion house, Ozwald Boateng for Givenchy, think the worlds most successful black hairstylist, Johnnie Sapong, think the undisputed must-watch fashionista -right now, Joshua Kissi, -and you start to get an idea of the colossal role the Ghanaian man is playing in the (killer, cutthroat) world of Style…

The above list, ‘The Most Stylish Men of Ghanaian Origin 2012’ hasn’t been easy kraaaaa, -there are tooo many stylish men of Ghanaian ancestry to choose from; also, many of the stylish men I wanted to include are not famous or in the public eye -making it impossible to find images of them, -so they were left out (but that didn’t make things any easier!!!). With over 100 plus men to put into some sort of order -and limited time (I lie, its taken me three months to compile this list alone, my Jojo got bored after I left out Asamoah Gyan. Not that Mr Gyan is not stylish, he is, ….but there are some seriously stylish cats ahead of him). In the end I decided to choose only 53 (random -really?).  I’ve enjoyed every minute of this compilation, and hope you enjoy it tooo….. 


Paulina Opoku-Gyimah
xoxoxo