Ricci Ossei

Ricci Ossei, also spelled Ricci Osei and known through his label St Ossei, was a Ghanaian fashion designer. He is credited with establishing one of the first modern fashion studios in Africa in the early 1970s, and his labels St Ossei and BRASS treated clothing as an expression of personality and contemporary African identity, linking fashion with art and music.

Career

Ossei was part of the revival of African designer fashion in the 1980s. He retired from fashion for a period and also founded Colour Chart Designs, a publishing company. He was planning a return to fashion when he died.

Family

He was the father of Reggie Rockstone, the musician widely called the godfather of hiplife.

Death and legacy

Ossei died in August 2001 at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, after reportedly choking on food at a restaurant. On 7 November 2026 he was honoured posthumously as one of seven fashion pioneers at the inaugural Black Star Fashion Week in Akosombo.