IB Kamara, pronounced I.B. (born 1990) is a Sierra Leone-born, London-based creative who is a Stylist, Journalist, Musician, Model and Creative Director. In January 2021, he was named Editor-in-Chief of Dazed magazine and in 2024 was announced as Creative Director for Off-White following the death of Virgil Abloh in November 2021.
Born Ibrahim Kamara in Sierra Leone in 1990, Kamara and his parents took refuge with relatives in The Gambia after civil war broke out, before settling in London when Kamara was sixteen years old. [1]
Kamara attributes his turbulent early years and growing up watching world affairs develop via CNN and BBC news programmes with inspiring his focus on current affairs. [1] Before coming to London, he spent three years studying sciences with the intention of becoming a doctor, but ultimately decided to pursue fashion as a career option. [1] After enrolling on an art & design course at Westminster Kingsway College, Kamara studied fashion and communication at Central Saint Martins. [1]
Kamara's approach is based upon gender identity, fluidity and exploration, queerness and also upon Blackness and African identity and beauty. [1] He attributes his early studies of science with helping him develop his focus and attention to detail. [1] While he originally thought he might become a designer, Kamara became an assistant to the stylist Barry Kamen which established his early career as a stylist. [1] His inspirations include the composer Hans Zimmer, the film director Quentin Tarantino and the American fashion journalist Diana Vreeland, who Kamara admires for their ability to create instantly identifiable worlds. [1]
Kamara was first noticed in 2016 when he curated an exhibition in London titled "2026" which focused upon Black African masculinity. [1] [2] The models, recruited off the street of Soweto, dressed in outfits made using second-hand clothing, and photographed by Kristin-Lee Moolman, helped Kamara address and challenge conventional ideas of race, gender and sexuality in fashion while also aiming to suggest what menswear would look like a decade later. [1] [2] The exhibition was shown at Somerset House, which led to him being introduced by Jamie Morgan to Robbie Spencer of Dazed who gave Kamara his first fashion editorial. [3]
As a stylist, Kamara was popular with the late Virgil Abloh of Louis Vuitton menswear and Off-White, and also styled catwalks and advertising campaigns for Riccardo Tisci of Burberry and Erdem. [1] Other clients include Chanel, Stella McCartney, Dior, [1] Kenneth Ize and Lorenzo Serafini. [2] Comme des Garçons invited him to design hats for their show, and H&M signed him up to direct their first circularly-designed (zero-waste) collection. [2] He worked with Rihanna, both for her label Fenty, and as her personal stylist when she was featured on the cover of Dazed. [1] Abloh described Kamara as a prime example of how "diversity can bring out the best of the fashion industry". [1] For his work as a stylist, Kamara was awarded the Isabella Blow Award by the British Fashion Council on 29 November 2021. [2] Following the passing of Virgil Abloh, Kamara was appointed Art & Image Director for Off-White on 30 April 2022. [4]
In 2021, Iain R. Webb was asked by the Fashion Museum, Bath to choose garments representing 2020 for their Dress of the Year collection. Among the outfits he chose to represent 2020 was a unique dress called "A Dress of Hope", designed by Dazed's art director, Gareth Wrighton and styled by Kamara out of vintage table-linens and doilies collected by Webb. [5]
Kamara worked as a senior editor-at-large for i-D magazine from 2019 to 2021, [3] and has also worked for Vogue British Vogue, Vogue Italia , System , and W . In January 2021 he became editor in chief for Dazed. [1]
His first issue of Dazed celebrated the National Health Service and people working together for change, and Kamara's aim is for the magazine to be globally relevant to readers from a wide range of backgrounds and cultures. [6] When he received the Isabella Blow award in 2021, he said he was proud to be a beneficiary of the WWD awards' new focus on individual change-makers rather than companies and brands. [6] As part of his approach to running Dazed, Kamara tries to secure contributors from all around the world, especially from underrepresented fashion centres such as those in Africa and the Middle East. [6]
In addition to having their collaborative design chosen as a look for 2020, [5] Kamara and Wrighton were the journalists chosen by the Fashion Museum, Bath to select the Dress of the Year for 2021. They chose the Armani wrap dress worn by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex for her and her husband's interview with Oprah Winfrey. [7] Kamara and Wrighton argued that because Oprah with Meghan and Harry became an "iconic" and "definitive anti-establishment moment" that would endure in the British collective memory, it made sense to consider the dress worn by the pregnant Duchess as part of this story. [7]
Kim Niklas Jones is an English fashion designer.
Women's Wear Daily is a fashion-industry trade journal often referred to as the "Bible of fashion". It provides information and intelligence on changing trends and breaking news in the men's and women's fashion, beauty, and retail industries. Its readership is made up largely of retailers, designers, manufacturers, marketers, financiers, media executives, advertising agencies, socialites, and trend makers.
Dazed is quarterly British lifestyle magazine founded in 1991. It covers music, fashion, film, art, and literature. Dazed is published by Dazed Media, an independent media group known for producing stories across its print, digital, and video brands. The company's portfolio includes titles Another Magazine, Dazed Beauty and Nowness. The company's newest division, Dazed Studio, creates brand campaigns across the luxury and lifestyle sectors. Based in London, its founding editors are Jefferson Hack and fashion photographer Rankin.
Berluti is a French leather maker that manufactures menswear, especially the leather finishing of calfskin, kangaroo leather and alligator skin in its production of shoes and boots. It makes leather belts, bags, and wallets, as well as bespoke and ready-to-wear garments. Established in 1895 by Italian Alessandro Berluti of Marche, Berluti is based in Paris on rue Marbeuf. The brand was bought by LVMH in 1993.
Carine Roitfeld is a French fashion editor, former fashion model, and writer. She is the former editor-in-chief of Vogue Paris, a position she held from 2001 to 2011. In 2012, she became founder and editor-in-chief of CR Fashion Book, a bi-annual print magazine headquartered in New York City.
André Leon Talley was an American fashion journalist, stylist, creative director, author, and editor-at-large of Vogue magazine. He was the magazine's fashion news director from 1983 to 1987, its first African-American male creative director from 1988 to 1995, and then its editor-at-large from 1998 to 2013. Often regarded as a fashion icon, he was known for supporting emerging designers and advocating for diversity in the fashion industry; while the capes, kaftans, and robes he wore became his trademark look. Talley also served on the judging panel for America's Next Top Model.
Richard Saturnino Owens is an American fashion designer from Porterville, California. In addition to his main line, Owens has a furniture line and a number of diffusion lines.
Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin are a Dutch-American fashion photographer duo, whose work has been featured in fashion magazines and advertising campaigns. They also produce independent art work.
Davit Komakhidze known as David Koma is a Georgian fashion designer based in London, England.
Nicola Formichetti is a fashion director and fashion editor. Born in Japan, he is most widely known as the artistic director of the Italian fashion label Diesel and for being a frequent collaborator with singer-songwriter Lady Gaga. He worked two years with the French fashion house Mugler as artistic director.
Edward Kobina Enninful is a Ghanaian-born British editor and stylist who was editor-in-chief of British Vogue and European editorial director of Condé Nast.
Christopher Raeburn (born 13 August 1982), is a British fashion designer known for reworking surplus fabrics and garments to create menswear, womenswear and accessories.
VogueAustralia is the Australian edition of Vogue magazine. The magazine became the fifth edition of Vogue in 1959 following Vogue, British Vogue, Vogue Paris and Vogue New Zealand.
Virgil Abloh was an American fashion designer and entrepreneur. A trained architect, Abloh founded his own line of luxury streetwear clothing under the moniker Pyrex Vision in 2012, which he transformed into the Milan based fashion label Off-White in 2013. Abloh was appointed artistic director of Louis Vuitton's menswear collection beginning in 2018, and was given increased creative responsibilities across the LVMH brand in early 2021. Abloh worked in Chicago street fashion, before he entered the world of international fashion with an internship at Fendi in 2009, alongside American rapper Kanye West. Abloh assumed the role of creative director at Donda, West's creative agency in 2010.
Hood By Air is a fashion and streetwear brand based in New York City co-founded by designers Shayne Oliver and Raul Lopez. It was launched in 2006 and took a hiatus 2017–2019. Oliver left the brand in 2023.
Clare Waight Keller is a British stylist and fashion designer, who has served as the artistic director for a number of luxury fashion houses and brands, including Pringle of Scotland, Chloé, and Givenchy. In 2023, she launched a collection with Japanese mass-market brand Uniqlo.2024
Off-White is a fashion brand founded by American multidisciplinary designer Virgil Abloh in Milan in 2013. In September 2024, LVMH sold it to brand management company Bluestar Alliance, which owns Scotch & Soda, Hurley, bebe, and Catherine Malandrino.
Max Kibardin is an artist, fashion designer and creative director based in Lugano, Switzerland.
Samuel Ross is a British fashion designer, creative director, and artist. He is known for founding the fashion label A-COLD-WALL*, Industrial Design studio SR_A SR_A, and the Black British Artists Grants Programme. Since founding these organisations, Ross has collaborated with companies such as Apple, LVMH, Nike. Ross's output is often characterised as "social architecture for the body", captured through abstraction, brutalism, and deconstruction.
Emanuele Farneti, is an Italian journalist who is currently editor-in-chief of D la Repubblica, U la Repubblica, Door la Repubblica and deputy editor-in-chief of la Repubblica. He has also previously worked as editor-in-chief of Vogue Italia.