Ozwald Boateng

Ozwald Boateng is the richest Ghanaian fashion designer, with an estimated net worth of $10 million (estimated).

Ozwald Boateng, the London-born son of Ghanaian parents, was the first tailor to stage a catwalk show at Paris Fashion Week, in 1994. His shop at 30 Savile Row, designed with David Adjaye, has been the only Black-owned store on the street.

Early life

He was born in Muswell Hill on 28 February 1967. His father's sharp suits inspired him, and his mother gave him his first suit, in purple mohair, at eight. At 14 he had a summer job sewing linings, and at 16, while studying computing at Southwark College, a girlfriend introduced him to cutting and design. He switched courses, sold clothes to fellow students on his mother's old machine, and sold a first collection to a Covent Garden menswear shop.

Savile Row

He opened a Portobello Road studio in 1991 and, mentored by Tommy Nutter, a boutique on Vigo Street at the end of Savile Row in 1995, moving fully onto the Row in 2002. His modern take on tailoring drew younger customers to the street. The Victoria and Albert Museum held a 20-year retrospective of his work in 2005, and he opened his flagship at No. 30 in 2008. He launched a women's fragrance, Bespoke, in 2003 and has been appointed OBE.