Papa Oppong is the fashion illustrator to watch out for

 

Papa Oppong is a fashion illustrator and designer from Ghana. We met at last year’s Heineken Lagos Fashion and Design Week where he presented designs he worked on under Accra based label, Studio 189. With aspirations of launching his own label too, Papa Oppong is always hard at work, creating illustrations that many identify with. His latest illustration series, Bloggers be like is just one of several aesthetic projects he has produced. Here is what he had to say about illustrating with technology and Nigerian designers he would love to collaborate with.

With presentations and collaborations for the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art in DC and Vlisco, where is your favorite space to create from and why?

I don’t think I have a favorite when it comes to where I create. I’m very spontaneous and as such, tend to create as and when I feel like. Inspiration, for me, can come from any angle. I’ve been inspired by death, graffiti, war and many others in the past and I like that about myself. I don’t like to confine myself in any one space. Recently, I’ve sketched out collections in art galleries, at restaurants and even in bed (the best LOL).I also think this is so because I carry my iPad around everywhere I go and it’s my favorite device to draw on with it being so mobile, I get to draw anywhere, anytime, any day. I never run out of color and can easily undo my mistakes. Technology has definitely made things easier for a creator like myself.

How do you fuse fashion, designing, sketching, and digitizing your illustrations?

Fusing fashion design with digital illustration and sketching is very easy for me because there’s a very obvious harmony with these different tasks. I design garments by sketching digitally and my studio is literally my iPad on my lap. I produce cleaner, more accurate work through digital illustration. My lines are finer, colors are more vibrant and my illustrations generally feel and look more alive in this way. Apps such as Apple’s Procreate and sketchbook pro are great and highly recommended for anyone interested in digital illustration. The tools on these software are simple and like me, you can easily teach yourself and fall in love with illustration.

Your recent series of illustrated posts, Bloggers be like…on Tumblr and Instagram are hard-hitting and real, why and what was your thought process in honing in on this thriving ecosystem?

“Bloggers Be Like” is a pretty fun series. It’s my latest fashion illustration series and quite different from what I usually do/ have done in the past. It’s a satirical take on the modern day fashion blogger’s interaction on social media. In this series, I sketch out fashion figures and position them in real -life/3D settings, the captions, poses and locations are reminiscent of the modern day fashion blogger. I find it so amusing how similar fashion bloggers around the world are; their Instagram posts, their blog entries, their tastes in color, style and aesthetics. I wanted to poke fun at them but of course, not in any disrespectful way…in a very relatable, funny way which I hope, makes them laugh at themselves or at least smile.

 

We spoke briefly about hosting a show of your designs and pieces here in Lagos, is that still something you are working on? What location would you love to showcase at and do you have any specific designers in mind to collaborate with?

I definitely definitely definitely want to show my work in Lagos someday. I think Nigeria is so full of life and the creative scene is unmatched. I love everything about Lagos even though I was there for such a short while. I really enjoyed Maki Oh and Orange Culture’s presentations during fashion week. They were artistic and very inspiring. I love the Alara Concept store and I think doing something fashion/theater oriented will be mind-blowing and that’s definitely something I’ll keep working towards. I love Maki Oh, Bubu’s I AM ISIGO and RE Lagos and would live to collaborate with them someday. They produce some of the most beautiful work I’ve ever seen.

As a creative working on and exporting content from the African continent, why should investors and private companies be backing up this industry and how can they work together for the greater good?

There’s nothing more beautiful than supporting your own. Africa is a goldmine of talent, skills and resources and it’s great to see many of us starting to embrace and accept our own. It’s very important that investors and private companies back the fashion industry right here in Africa because not only does it serve as a huge confidence booster for established and upcoming designers but also helps a slow growing industry. It’s very difficult to acquire funds to start up and run fashion businesses in Africa. The hurdles young African designers have to overcome are far greater than those of the West and not because we lack skills and talent but more because our society doesn’t give the necessary respect/support to those in the fashion industry. In Africa, majority see fashion design more as some sort of hobby, pastime activity rather than the lucrative career it actually is. It is therefore important that we invest in our own to help add value to the industry and also quicken the growth rate of the African fashion industry.