# Ozwald Boateng



## UptownTopRanking (May 8, 2006)

anybody have any experience with his line? Or aware of retailers (or other locations) where Boateng’s Bespoke Couture collection is available in the US?


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## Bradford (Dec 10, 2004)

Isn't that the name of The Penguin from Batman?

Is this a real line of clothing?


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## acidicboy (Feb 17, 2006)

hahaha. the penguin's name is oswald chesterfield cobblepot.

ozwald boateng certainly doesnt look like burgess meredith...

and he certainly appeals to people who are not the usual savile row clientele...


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## medwards (Feb 6, 2005)

Well, he was awarded an OBE yesterday and offered to make the Queen a suit!

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/05/25/nobe25.xml


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## acidicboy (Feb 17, 2006)

medwards said:


> Well, he was awarded an OBE yesterday and offered to make the Queen a suit!
> 
> https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/05/25/nobe25.xml


who? the penguin?


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## culverwood (Feb 13, 2006)

I have a couple of suits and a number of other items from Oswald Boateng's "Bespoke Couture" range. Bespoke it isn't, it is a range of decent RTW clothes. Not being American I could not tell you where it fits in the quality range you are used to but they do a cheaper Boateng rang so it is not at the bottom.

The suits I have are conservative in material and sharp in cut with some colouful details at the cuff and collar. He does make some quite exotic jackets that look out of place if you are not a show business type. I am particularly fond of a light blue linen jacket I bought.

Much of what I have from him has been bought a Sale time and is good value otherwise I would not have paid the full high price.



UptownTopRanking said:


> anybody have any experience with his line? Or aware of retailers (or other locations) where Boateng's Bespoke Couture collection is available in the US?


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## ashie259 (Aug 25, 2005)

"Boateng, who recently celebrated 20 years at the top of men's tailoring..."

Indeed? Sez who?

He's a designer, not a tailor.


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## LondonFogey (May 18, 2006)

ashie259 said:


> "Boateng, who recently celebrated 20 years at the top of men's tailoring..."
> 
> Indeed? Sez who?
> 
> He's a designer, not a tailor.


Sez the New Labour, Groucho Club chatterati who seem to like him a lot and probably think Savile Row is outdated, stuffy and elitist. I think he's filled the market gap between 'designer' wear and 'traditional tailoring' - a bit like Paul Smith in that regard.


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## medwards (Feb 6, 2005)

*Ozwald Boateng Website*

For those not familiar with Mr. Boateng's approach to fashion (and why there is some controversy about him on this Forum), his site should give you a good indication:

What it may not give you is a flavour for his personality, which might be better sampled here:


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## going grey (May 22, 2006)

he appeals to the kind of clientele who want to pay money for what they think is "Saville row" but who have a chip on their shoulder about being seen to go along with the upper class/old money image that bespoke tailoring has...


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## Srynerson (Aug 26, 2005)

acidicboy said:


>


That would be a great color for a sportcoat, but it's a bit much in a suit. Also, if you're going to make the button stance so high, why not just make it a four button suit while you're at it? It would actually look more "correct".


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## Mithras (Apr 21, 2006)

I have a Boateng Couture 3 button flannel pinstripe / chalk stripe suit which I bought BNWT on e-bay for about 40 pounds ($85 US). Obviously for that priced it is a fantastic suit. Good fabric, forward looking cut (but not too fashion forward). I actually really like it and because of the fabric it doesn’t stand out too much. Jacket is fused but pretty well made from what I could tell. The pants are actually really really well made. I wouldn’t buy one for $1,200 or anything though. I think the OZ line is closer to a Ted Baker endurance line while the Couture is set to go head to head against Paul Smith’s suits.


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## acidicboy (Feb 17, 2006)

Srynerson said:


> That would be a great color for a sportcoat, but it's a bit much in a suit. Also, if you're going to make the button stance so high, why not just make it a four button suit while you're at it? It would actually look more "correct".


yes- that jacket... there is a very good reason why that model is not wearing a tie.


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## UptownTopRanking (May 8, 2006)

thanks for sharing the news article and the pics....Pretty cool. His tailoring is awesome.


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## johnpemberton (May 1, 2006)

Ozwald Boateng (not oswald as some spell it!!) has 4 lines over the years:

1. Hand tailored / bespoke @ Savile Row store - Circ £2000 - £3000.
2. Bespoke Couture - £900 - £1200. Ready to wear, sold at Savile Row store and selected boutiques e.g. Selfridges, Oxford St.
3. Boateng - a diffusion range made in Italy and licenced by Boateng. This is the range that caused him a lot of issues. Cost £400 - £500.
4. OZ - sold at Debenhams - a up class department store in the UK. Cost £300

Quality at all levels is excellent. The styles and colours (esp the lining are unsurpassed). The fit tends to be slim fit (2) and regular (3, 4).


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## johnpemberton (May 1, 2006)

He tends to use alot of mohair and virgin wool blends, that are hard wearing. Here's one I sold last week - the lining is beautiful!



I have a lovely one at the moment - brown with orange stripes and orange lining - 42R (slim fit) - coming next week.


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## johnpemberton (May 1, 2006)

.and here is the one I have currently for sale - brand new and half the normal price + i will take a good offer.


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## meister (Oct 29, 2005)

*Boateng Sizes*



johnpemberton said:


> He tends to use alot of mohair and virgin wool blends, that are hard wearing. Here's one I sold last week - the lining is beautiful!
> 
> I have a lovely one at the moment - brown with orange stripes and orange lining - 42R (slim fit) - coming next week.


A 44R in Boateng is probably more like 42R right? I have a pair of his shoes I bought on the 'bay which are well made/stylish whole cuts but the leather is not really soft... but then my wife said to me today ...those are the shoes you should be wearing and then the inevitable.... when did you buy them?


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## medwards (Feb 6, 2005)

*Times Profile*

A short article on Ozwald Boateng in this Monday's Times:

https://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/movers_and_shakers/article2943922.ece


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## Sator (Jan 13, 2006)

One of the most telling statements about OB was in this thread in an insider comment from William Westmancott:

https://askandyaboutclothes.com/community/showthread.php?t=72564&page=3

I have long ago gotten the impression that he peddles faux bespoke using the "Saville Row" name. I particularly find the use of the term "couture" to be annoying as it only means sewing in French.

When I was on Savile Row last year, on seeing me passing by, one of the store assistants enthusiastically beckoned me to enter while holding the door open for me. I took some pleasure in ignoring him and walking straight by headed in the direction of Anderson and Shepherd.


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## Orsini (Apr 24, 2007)

*That Could Be Worse...*



acidicboy said:


> and he certainly appeals to people who are not the usual savile row clientele...


I like sharkskin OK. That could be a lot worse!!


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## Bishop of Briggs (Sep 7, 2007)

Boateng's top rtw range was made by Chester Barrie in Crewe. Has Tony Lutwyche's Cheshire Bespoke picked up the business? 

I sat next to Boateng whilst having a beer in Cecconi's a couple of weeks ago. He had a lovely coat on, black with red trimmings.


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## Sator (Jan 13, 2006)

acidicboy said:


> he certainly appeals to people who are not the usual savile row clientele...


ie the clientele who don't frequent AAAC enough to be able to pick the fact they are being sold a fused coat at extortionist prices. Note the way the lapels are as flat as a pancake and the front quite stiff, as though made of cardboard. These are sure signs that this coat is fused.

There are plenty of other flaws, almost too innumerable to mention.


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## Infrasonic (May 18, 2007)

Sator said:


> There are plenty of other flaws, almost too innumerable to mention.


Oh go on, you've started now...:devil:


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## Bishop of Briggs (Sep 7, 2007)

The trousers look too long to me.


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## omairp (Aug 21, 2006)

I like his stuff. It seems anything new and exciting and successful on the row gets derided as an insult to the failing establishment. Sounds like sour grapes to me. It's a new product for a new clientèle, and if it meets their needs, who cares if conforms to the designs and methods of yesteryear?


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## comrade (May 26, 2005)

Once I penetrated the pretentious website (why do so many designers seem to have
ridiculous websites?), much of the clothing looks like that worn on a corpse found 
in a car trunk in Las Vegas or New Jersey.


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## medwards (Feb 6, 2005)

*Boateng's Bespoke Blitz*

A new flagship shop and 30 new outlets over the next three years...

https://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article3215753.ece


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## medwards (Feb 6, 2005)

*And his new Savile Row store opens this week...*

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/12/09/cnoz109.xml


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## Literide (Nov 11, 2004)

medwards said:


> A new flagship shop and 30 new outlets over the next three years...
> 
> https://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article3215753.ece


So a suit/sport(?) jacket w a shawl collar and no tie represents "cool britania". How much more of Blairs corruption and non-accomplishments, Browns fiscal and other ineptitude, and flashy erzatz "Savile Row" tailors must we suffer before the whole notion is dead and buried?

I wonder how much Oz "donated" to the Labour party for his OBE?

Cheers


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## Literide (Nov 11, 2004)

medwards said:


> https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/12/09/cnoz109.xml


The ultimate "New Labour" accesory, a Russian wife.

Seriously, I saw the show about him in the US. Micromanaging the business and relying on fickle celebs to gain a high profile will be his undoing. That and the death of "Cool Britania"


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## Literide (Nov 11, 2004)

Don't get me wrong, I didnt mean to sound so harsh above. I admire any and all entreprenuers, but I guess whats most bothersome about Oz is how freely he abuses "Savile Row" and "bespoke" in his marketing and branding. He is, as other have pointed out, a clothing designer.


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## style councillor (Dec 6, 2007)

Srynerson said:


> That would be a great color for a sportcoat, but it's a bit much in a suit.* Also, if you're going to make the button stance so high, why not just make it a four button suit while you're at it? It would actually look more "correct"*.


 No it wouldn't, because the jacket is Boateng's p*ss poor rip off of 60's style modernism, hence why it only has 3 buttons.


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## medwards (Feb 6, 2005)

*The New Store*

https://men.style.com/news/blog/2007/12/ozwald-boatengs.html


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## Bishop of Briggs (Sep 7, 2007)

medwards said:


> https://men.style.com/news/blog/2007/12/ozwald-boatengs.html


Is there any news of who is moving into the Row? There were reports that bespoke tailors from outside London were planning to rent some of the new units.


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## culverwood (Feb 13, 2006)

The store must have opened Friday lunch time. I walked past it in the morning and it was still under wraps. I drove past it in the evening and the windows were derssed and the lights were on.


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## Leon (Apr 16, 2005)

I got quite a shock seeing it yesterday. I was used to the frosted windows of A&S, not the House of Boateng.

Mark Stephen Marengo has the one next door. 

Leon


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## Bishop of Briggs (Sep 7, 2007)

Leon said:


> I got quite a shock seeing it yesterday. I was used to the frosted windows of A&S, not the House of Boateng.
> 
> Mark Stephen Marengo has the one next door.
> 
> Leon


Me too. Mark Stephen Marengo has become too fashion-forward, like William Hunt and Alexandre, my taste.

Henry Poole has a very nice SB peak lapel DJ in the window. Richard Anderson has a poor display - glitter jacket, patchwork sports coat and orange cord jacket.


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## upnorth (Jun 18, 2007)

Seems to me that a lot of new designers have taken a fancy for mohair in order to achieve the shinier look on their fashion forward suits.


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## Bonhamesque (Sep 5, 2005)

ashie259 said:


> "Boateng, who recently celebrated 20 years at the top of men's tailoring..."
> 
> Indeed? Sez who?
> 
> He's a designer, not a tailor.


If that.



johnpemberton said:


> Ozwald Boateng (not oswald as some spell it!!) has 4 lines over the years:
> 
> 1. Hand tailored / bespoke @ Savile Row store - Circ £2000 - £3000.
> 2. Bespoke Couture - £900 - £1200. Ready to wear, sold at Savile Row store and selected boutiques e.g. Selfridges, Oxford St.
> ...


I literally had no idea that this was going on and I wandered into a shop called 'Baron Jon' the other day in a shopping centre and was amazed to find a tacky looking Boateng suit on the rack for about £260 or something.
It looked and felt like absolute crap - on a par with Top Man.
Marketing suicide surely?
I thought the whole point of the Boateng brand was exclusivity? All those celebrities and all his obvious attempts to associate himself with Savile Row....?
If every Top Man customer in the suburbs can afford a tacky suit with his name on all that goes out the window surely?



Sator said:


> When I was on Savile Row last year, on seeing me passing by, one of the store assistants enthusiastically beckoned me to enter while holding the door open for me. I took some pleasure in ignoring him and walking straight by headed in the direction of Anderson and Shepherd.


Wow, that really is a desperate attempt to earn commission. I'd be tempted to sue them for accusing you of being their type of clientele.



Leon said:


> Mark Stephen Marengo has the one next door.
> 
> Leon


How entertaining. It looks like all the tackier tailors are unwittingly following the rule that all the crap goes on that side of the street. :icon_smile_big:
(Davies & Son excepted of course.)


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## Bishop of Briggs (Sep 7, 2007)

Bonhamesque said:


> How entertaining. It looks like all the tackier tailors are unwittingly following the rule that all the crap goes on that side of the street. :icon_smile_big:
> (Davies & Son excepted of course.)


+1, especially with Abercrombie & Filth on that side too. RJ Man, seemingly on vacation, will not be pleased by that comment.


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## brioni007 (Dec 3, 2007)

*Ozwald in Us*

I think that Saks in New York carries the line.



UptownTopRanking said:


> anybody have any experience with his line? Or aware of retailers (or other locations) where Boateng's Bespoke Couture collection is available in the US?


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## Mattdeckard (Mar 11, 2004)

Word on the Row is that he's big for his name though not for his tailoring. I never stopped by his shop when i was in London though I heard a lot about it and the other tailors were a bit envious of his fame.

Now is it deserved? I don't know... His suits are very 70's in color scheme and 60's in cut. I don't really see anything special.


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## Bonhamesque (Sep 5, 2005)

omairp said:


> I like his stuff. It seems anything new and exciting and successful on the row gets derided as an insult to the failing establishment. Sounds like sour grapes to me. It's a new product for a new clientèle, and if it meets their needs, who cares if conforms to the designs and methods of yesteryear?


I don't agree.
Richard James was new and exciting once and didn't get derided in this way, because he doesn't deserve it.

We care if it conforms to the methods of yesteryear because otherwise the name Savile Row becomes diluted and meaningless.
If Boateng sells his branded crap for £300 in a shopping mall then every bus driver can say that they own a 'Savile Row suit' which then makes respectable SR brands look less exclusive.
Consequently the SR suit would no longer be associated with quality and would lose its worldwide reputation.

This is the whole reason why the Savile Row Bespoke Association exists.


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## RJman (Nov 11, 2003)

Bonhamesque said:


> IHow entertaining. It looks like all the tackier tailors are unwittingly following the rule that all the crap goes on that side of the street. :icon_smile_big:
> (Davies & Son excepted of course.)





Bishop of Briggs said:


> +1, especially with Abercrombie & Filth on that side too. RJ Man, seemingly on vacation, will not be pleased by that comment.


Again, do not take my name in vain. Anyway, have you looked at Davies' web site, including their tux rental service and online shop? Definitely tacky.


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## medwards (Feb 6, 2005)

RJman said:


> Again, do not take my name in vain. Anyway, have you looked at Davies' web site, including their tux rental service and online shop? Definitely tacky.


But is there not an RJ oasis in Clifford Street?


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## RJman (Nov 11, 2003)

medwards said:


> But is there not an RJ oasis in Clifford Street?


No. I can write and explain more later but I am still indisposed.


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## medwards (Feb 6, 2005)

*Boateng on Boateng*

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/how-do-i-look-ozwald-boateng-770791.html


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## spreadcollar (Dec 13, 2005)

google image search him, he usually looks quite dapper himself for what it's worth.


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## Bishop of Briggs (Sep 7, 2007)

RJman said:


> Again, do not take my name in vain. Anyway, have you looked at Davies' web site, including their tux rental service and online shop? Definitely tacky.


I did not take your name in vain. I doubt that "RJ Man" is on your passport. When did you have your sense of humour removed?


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## RJman (Nov 11, 2003)

Bishop of Briggs said:


> When did you have your sense of humour removed?


Right back at you, Your Grace. Don't get your robes in a knot.

Richard Mann


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## medwards (Feb 6, 2005)

*And where does Mr. Boateng shop?*

https://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/consumer/story/0,,2280478,00.html

I would like to see the boots he bought a Berluti.


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## Bog (May 13, 2007)

Literide said:


> The ultimate "New Labour" accesory, a Russian wife.
> 
> Seriously, I saw the show about him in the US. Micromanaging the business and relying on fickle celebs to gain a high profile will be his undoing. That and the death of "Cool Britania"


Gyunel Boateng is not Russian but has an Azerbaijani mother and an Iranian father, both from Azerbaijan.


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## medwards (Feb 6, 2005)

*A profile of Ozwald Boateng in The Independent*

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/features/ozwald-boateng-cutting-edge-897323.html


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## Simon (Jun 4, 2008)

I have two Boateng suits, one a three piece, single button DB in a light blue with streaks of pink, one a high-buttoning two piece three button SB, black, orange pin-stripe. A couple of fly-fronted shirts too.

I actually got married 6 years ago in a Mark Stephen Marengo suit, nice dark grey check.

I'll post pics when able.....


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## semprequi (Jan 2, 2012)

i bought one of his bespoke couture,dark aubergine suits from ebay,and suspect there is a little man made fibre in the fabric.my tailor altered the sleeves and says it's a mix of wool and man made.
i was shocked,though i picked the suit up reasonably and like the fit.i would expect a good quality wool for a retail price of £950.00.
There's no fabric label,which increased my suspicions.
Can any light be shed on the substance and quality of fabrics used.it would be appreciated.


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