IB Kamara Creates a Collage of Culture, Emotion, and Realism for Off-White’s Next Chapter

When news of Virgil Abloh’s untimely death shocked the world on November 28, 2021, the future of his brand, Off-White, was unclear to the public. Many wondered if it would continue, and if so, who would be at its helm. Behind the scenes, though, decisions were made to ensure Abloh’s brand and legacy would continue—and by those who helped him build it. An integral part of the company’s success since its founding in 2013 was always its image—its ability to reflect culture through aesthetics styled in campaigns, fashion shows, advertisements, editorials, and more—and in 2021, just months before his death, Abloh hired IB Kamara to begin styling Off-White. The role turned into a position as the brand’s art and image director, timed to the debut of its Spring/Summer 2023 collection, and in February 2024, Kamara was named the creative director of Off-White.

Kamara has made a splash in the fashion and editorial worlds as an independent stylist and the editor-in-chief of Dazed, yet his undertaking of artistic direction at Off-White is still new—partially because Abloh left countless designs to be executed long after he was gone. Earlier this summer, for instance, Kamara released the VULCANIZED 779 shoe, the last skateboarding-inspired sneaker designed by Abloh. Only now has the time arrived for Kamara to take the reins of the house, utilize codes Abloh left behind, and build Off-White’s next chapter. 

Alongside his upbringing in Sierra Leone, Gambia, and London, and educational stints at Westminster Kingsway and Central Saint Martins, Kamara credits mentorships by Barry Kamen, Judy Blame, and Abloh for his vision of limitless creativity. Ahead of Off-White’s first New York Fashion Week presentation, the 34-year-old London-based designer shared with Whitewall how his childlike wonder and fearless creativity fuel what he’s making in Abloh’s footsteps. 

WHITEWALL: You were born in Sierra Leone and lived in a few other countries, including Guinea and Gambia, to escape war. How did this impact your creativity as a child?

IB KAMARA: I think war comes with growing up very quickly. There’s no time to sit around and not think. But Sierra Leone is very creative. When you land in Sierra Leone, it’s this outburst of color and nature. There’s so much culture thrown at you. I grew up with a lot of creativity. One of my early memories of being a four-year-old was seeing a parade of incredible things walking down my street. That stuck with me. I think that ignited something inquisitive inside of me. 

I remember being in Freetown, consuming magazines from London and imagery from the West. I grew up watching BBC and CNN, and my references for Pop were limited, but I could get some stuff from magazines. I grew up with a very optimistic output, even though I had very little. I didn’t have many resources, but I relied on my imagination to dream. Those are the skills that helped me for so long in my career—this childlike energy of manifesting. A very fearless way of being creative.

“I didn’t have many resources, but I relied on my imagination to dream,”

IB Kamara

Ever-Inspired by the World Around Him

WW: If not having much back then fueled your imagination, what does today, now that you have ample resources?

IK: Music helps a lot in my creativity. Culture, just being on the street. And I’m on the Internet, but I’m not at the same time, so I respect the Internet, but I also love realism. I’m always on the street, looking at what’s cool. One of the most beautiful things about my job is being able to travel and see the world. It doesn’t matter how quick I’m in this country, but the music I can connect with. The people on the street, where they’re wearing, I can connect with. I’m always blown away by traveling and seeing things. Even if it’s just being in London and having a night out, or going to a café. Realism is helping me be inspired—seeing realism and culture. And just looking at what’s happening in the world, globally. It can be from politics, from traveling. I moved to the West as an immigrant, so that’s a very intense story of mine. All these things happening in the world globally really resonate with my thinking, and that can unfold into so many different mediums—with Off-White and Dazed and everything else that I do. Realism is helping me, and then I project that into my own obscure futurism concept of what the universe should look like. And then I project that onto things.

WW: It’s interesting to hear you speak about your inspirational touchpoints in this zoomed-out way because Virgil was also inspired by his life in an immigrant family, travel, music, fashion, and seeing how other people lived their lives.

IK: Absolutely. There’s a collage of culture that I saw in Virgil that was so inspiring. He was able to collage so many things together that I also do within my universe of being a Sierra Leonean immigrant in London, in Gambia as a refugee. All those experiences helped me collage things and add on to things. I can relate to that.

A Soulful Exchange of Life and Art with Virgil Abloh

WW: How did you and Virgil first meet?

IK: I want to say we met on Instagram. Virgil probably met everyone else on Instagram, too. [Laughs] I think we just liked each other’s stuff, and then all of a sudden, I was doing Vuitton’s shows for him. I was styling the Vuitton show in Shanghai. And then a couple of months later, he brought me on to Off-White to begin styling and consulting at Off-White. Then, working in the studio, we developed a friendship. I can be quite shy, and I think he was probably shy, too, but there was music. I would come in and put on music that I loved, and then he would come in, put on his music, and then I would come back, change the music. We were always playing music in the studio, exchanging about life and culture and his thinking and his philosophies.

When I did my second Dazed cover with Rihanna, he was one of the first people that I FaceTimed to show. Virgil was so generous. He was so busy yet was able to pick up to look at my cover. He was so happy for me. It was genuine support and trust that built into friendship. In Virgil’s universe, everybody was able to be as creative as they wanted. He created a space where there’s endless thinking. You can think whatever you want and it’s right. 

When I started working with him, he reminded me of one of my mentors, Barry Kamen, who also sadly passed away very early on in my career. He also created this environment for me, where I could think extensively, and there was no right or wrong. That relationship solidified how much I loved working with him because it was a complete exchange of culture and experience. An exchange of two Africans from maybe two different perspectives, but still, Africans. We were working in an environment that was contributing to cultural taste, and commenting on culture and fashion and collaging street with luxury. It was all in there. That ignited a fire in me, working with him.

“In Virgil’s universe, everybody was able to be as creative as they wanted,”

IB Kamara

WW: The way he worked was also vast—pursuing projects in fashion, music, design, auto, spirits, and more. Did the idea of his multifaceted practice encourage you to pursue other professional projects, not just styling? 

IK: Definitely. I was doing a couple of other things. I was into music. I was making collections with my friend Gareth in New York. There were a lot of things going on in my life, but I think when I met him, it just made sense that it was possible. I’m not crazy about wanting to do all these things that I feel like I can lend my thinking to. I can lend my thinking and it will apply because I come from a different perspective. It’s always going to be new, from my point of view, because I’m not trying to follow the traditional route of anything. I’m not trying to follow the rules because I grew up with mentors who took rules and threw them out of the window. It meant nothing to them. Barry painted, was a stylist, and consulted. If I look at Judy Blame and all these people who mentored me, they did so many different things. Meeting Virgil did a thousand things in one minute. It made me realize I wasn’t crazy—that I could do it if I was dedicated enough to it and loved it enough. 

Continuing a Legacy of “First to Do It” Energy

WW: Continuing Virgil’s legacy is a great deal of responsibility. How are you hoping to do that as the brand’s creative director? 

IK: With free thinking. With complete creativity. Community and culture. Innovation. Off-White is supposed to be the coolest thing on the planet. It should never be able to look like anything else other than its original self. This brand was born in the 2000s, and it’s iconic because in ten years it dominated. I want to keep that momentum and community, the creativity and innovation. The “first to do it” energy, disruption. And make the most innovative, functional products. People can recognize with emotion some realism.

When I think of Virgil’s three percent rule, like when he did all of his Nike collaborations, he took something you knew so well, gave it a little tweak, and then gave it back to you. I want to make sure this brand stands the test of time to be the most innovative and forward-thinking, culturally-ahead-of-everyone brand. 

“I want to make sure this brand stands the test of time to be the most innovative and forward-thinking, culturally-ahead-of-everyone brand,”

IB Kamara

Off-White’s Fall/Winter 2024 collection, courtesy of Off-White.

A Punchy Fall/Winter 2024 Collection Originating in Japan

WW: How did you do that with the Fall/Winter 2024 collection?

IK: It started in Japan. One thing I noticed in Japan was how much Black culture has influenced Japanese culture and lifestyle. I ended up in a dancehall in Japan, and wondered, “What’s going on?” American and African American culture is so predominant there. It has such a power. American culture in general has such a push globally. So, from Japan, we took a bunch of cuteness and subtle colors. I called the collection “Cute Feelings,” which was all about being relaxed. When we developed the next stage of the collection, I was looking at more Americana. But American culture is quite bright. You always recognize it in a room—its presence. The colors give that. 

We also hadn’t shown for a bit, we missed one season, so I thought, “Back by Popular Demand” but “Black by Popular Demand” was more punchy because I’m actually referencing African American culture and Americanism. We had green khakis, fur that gave you early 2000s hip-hop energy, belts. For men’s, there was top-stitching and tailoring and strappings. I took the Off-White arrow and used that as straps on trousers and all these cute buttons and characters and butterflies I developed when I was in Japan. I wanted to make cats but beaded cats, because if an African was going to Japan, they’d probably bead them like embroidering them. It became this American-African collage. It was a lot of fun making that collection.