Now You Know: Papa Oppong
With his rising eponymous brand and a coveted new gig at Nike, this Ghanaian-born fashion phenom is one to watch.
Papa Oppong’s career journey hasn’t been easy, but the 33-year old Ghanaian fashion designer wouldn’t have it any other way.
"When I think of everything that has happened on this journey, including the challenges, I wouldn’t change any of it,” the designer said. “It pushed me to be more assertive and focused because I always had something to prove. I needed to show people this was possible for me.”
Growing up in Accra, Ghana in the 1990s, Oppong was just a child when he discovered his love of fashion through an unlikely obsession with a classic American toy.
"I was obsessed with Barbie dolls,” said Oppong. “Obsessed with the idea of this tiny doll that could be anything.”
With unbridled imagination, Oppong spent his early years exploring fashion by drawing dolls in different ensembles. It wasn’t until his teen years that he considered fashion as a profession, pursing visual design in high school and eventually a fashion design degree at Radford University College—the first school in Ghana to offer the area of study.
Along the way, Oppong’s fashion dream was often met with skepticism and resistance.
"My parents were like, you’re not doing this. You’re not going to have any money, you’re going to end up on the streets,” he recalled. “I don’t hold anything against them because looking back I see they were just very unsure. Every parent just wants to see their child succeed. Now that I’m able to have a voice in African fashion, they’re very proud of that.”
Early in his career, the designer was able to connect with crucial mentors who helped pave his path, including Parsons School of Design Dean, Yvonne Watson.
In 2019, Oppong moved to New York to pursue fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Technology, kicking off a pivotal season that included growing his eponymous label, receiving recognition from major media including the CFDA and Teen Vogue, and even showcasing his designs on the The Today Show by dressing hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager for a special fashion segment.
Known for his expressive use of color as a storytelling tool, Oppong is now embarking on the career opportunity of a lifetime. This month, he stepped into a new role as a color designer for Nike’s footwear division, the largest segment of the athletic giant’s business. Shortly before his move across the country to Nike’s headquarters,
"I don’t see a lot of people with my background making it into spaces like the ones I’m in,” said Oppong. “I’m from the shores of West Africa. I was in a tiny apartment drawing Barbie dolls and now I’m entering Nike after becoming a fashion designer in New York City. It’s a crazy story.”
Mixed Prints: Goodbye, New York. Hello, Oregon! How does it feel?
Papa Oppong: Smooth so far! It’s the next step in the evolution for me. Moving from Ghana to New York was hard, but I had been coming to America with my family for years, so it didn’t feel that [foreign.] New York to Portland feels like a major move because I had never been here before. I have no one here. But this is how I want to live my life. I want to go where the opportunities are. I don’t want to ever be stagnant. I love a good challenge so this is an exciting time for me.
MP: New York is obviously one of the greatest cities in the world, but over time it can become familiar. As a designer, do you feel like changing up your environment is important to your process?
PO: Absolutely. New York is great but it’s very transitional. I think of New York like a a ginormous bridge that I hope everyone would get to travel across at some point.
But it’s not realistic as a long term situation if you’re not part of that small, super wealthy 1%. I just love to challenge myself and I started to feel like I had done New York. What’s the next thing that will push my creativity? Maybe it’s going somewhere that’s unfamiliar where I know nobody and I’m forced to be innovating all the time.
“I think of New York like a ginormous bridge that I hope everyone would get to travel across at some point.”
MP: I want to talk about Nike for sure but let’s back up. You found your love of fashion through illustration, right?
PO: Yes, and I’ll give you a little history. I had a very nice, simple upbringing in Accra, Ghana in the 90s. Both of my parents were 9-to-5-ers. My aunt, who is my mom’s little sister, also lived with us so I got to witness them together and how sisterhood really was, because I never had a sister.
Watching my mom and her sister play with fashion and help each other do their makeup…I became so fascinated by the whole process of glam. Witnessing that became instrumental in my process as a designer. I was fascinated by the beauty of womanhood and the bond of sisters. I discovered Barbie dolls around this time.
I was obsessed with the idea of this tiny doll that could be anything. I would watch these Barbie commercials where she’s a doctor, then she’s a teacher…it kept cementing this idea that women were these super human beings. I could see my mom and her sister in this doll. This idea of dressing up and play became so important to me.
So I began asking for the Barbie dolls.
MP: A young boy asking for Barbie dolls in the 90s. How'd that go over?
PO: In the beginning my parents were cool with it, but as time went on they were like okay, we can’t keep buying our son these dolls. My brother was asking for soccer balls and I was like, I need the new Barbie! Keep in mind Barbie dolls are expensive. My mom was not about to spend a whole day’s worth of meals on a Barbie doll. So when my parents stopped buying me the dolls I would find ads and pictures in magazines, and I’d try and to draw Barbie dolls as my own paper dolls.
MP: That is some top-tier resourcefulness, right there.
PO: I had to have my Barbie dolls no matter what so I just started drawing my own versions, and that’s how I got into fashion illustration.
MP: Were the people around you surprised to discover you had a talent for drawing? Not everyone can just pick up a pencil and draw clothes on figure.
PO: For me, I never saw it as anything beyond a solution to my Barbie doll obsession. It wasn’t until I was in high school that I had this realization I might be good at it. I was studying visual art at a mixed gender boarding school, and one day I was drawing in my sketchbook in the dining hall in my free time. This group of girls who were very fly walked past me as I was drawing and they were like, Omg thats so cute! I would love to wear that! They sat next to me and were flipping through my drawings. They told me I’d be such a good designer, and they walked away. Honestly, that was a turning point in my life.
“I had to have my Barbie dolls no matter what so I just started drawing my own versions of the dolls, and that’s how I got into fashion illustration.”
MP: A comment like that from a gaggle of opinionated teen girls is a compliment of the highest order.
PO: I know, right? I was probably 15 at that time and that’s literally when I started researching fashion design. I started thinking, wait…there’s a future in that? Up until then I didn’t know anything about fashion designers. I just knew I liked to draw clothes.
MP: And here you are with your own label, and about to start your design career at one of the biggest global brands. Can you share anything about what you’ll be doing at Nike?
PO: I’ll be doing color design as part of the men’s and women’s core footwear team, and I know I’ll be part of a small team that plays a big role in the company. I’ll be telling the stories of colors. I feel like that’s where I shine the most because every piece, for me, has a story to tell.
MP: As an apparel designer, footwear is kind of a new world for you. How do you feel about stepping (no pun untended) into this new category?
PO: It’s both exciting and there’s a little bit of nerves. I’ve never existed in a space this huge. With Nike being global, I have an opportunity to do things that will end up in different regions of the world. My manager has talked about being on trips oversees and seeing a piece she worked on being worn by someone who’s living in it and building their own story. That’s what really excites me. To be on a team where my voice and creativity can be part of something that impacts the world.
“I’ll be telling the stories of colors.”
MP: Storytelling is such a big part of your eponymous brand. Can you talk about this idea of “The Book of Papa Oppong,” and creating fashion in chapters?
PO: I like to arrange my collections in a way that’s organized and systematic. So making collections as a book keeps me from being scatterbrained. It’s all designed in my mind as the elements of a book and I build as I go. If you want to know what Papa Oppong was doing for Spring/Summer 2025, you know to look to Foreward. If you want to know about Fall 2029 you know you’re going to Chapter 2. All of these moments will live in their respective chapters. And when I retire the Epilogue will end it all.
MP: So your chapters in fashion will grow with the chapters of your life. That’s a really cool way to create within a framework.
PO: That’s the vibe. Exactly. As a designer, having a framework is the most important. In Foreward, for example, I share about Ghanaian movies and cinema from the early 2000s. In Chapter 7 maybe I want to explore Ghanaian cinema from 2010 to 2015. There’s a million things I could cover, so it’s easier for me to segment them that way and tell the stories of home.
MP: Where can folks find the Spring/Summer 2025 Foreward collection?
PO: Farfetch and Browns in London. Industrie Africa will carry it later this year.
MP: How would you describe the Foreward collection in a few words?
PO: New age Ghanaian sexiness. She tragically passed early in her career, but [Ghanaian TV actress] Suzy Williams was someone I used as a muse for this collection because she would have this sexy attitude on-screen, and she’d carry that into the streets of Accra—that’s who she was. She was a woman who owned all the men and commanded everyone around her, and I love that.
Foreward is that. It’s an exploration of that attitude. That’s why for the presentation I did a film called Amerighana, to show the collection through cinema.
MP: I LOVE the film, but I’ve got to ask—why a film instead of a runway show?
PO: Runway shows are great, but if I’m being honest with myself I just can’t do a runway show. It’s too expensive and it’s over in 15 minutes. If I do other media, it lasts longer. Also I loved music videos growing up so this allows me to play director.
MP: It also brings the clothes to life in a more significant way. They kind of become the characters in the film.
PO: Yes. You get to see the clothes move, you get to see the quirky styling, but there’s also this huge focus on the woman character. In my world, the men are just props. It’s all about the woman.
MP: What about you as the designer? The creator?
PO: If you don’t know who I am, you probably won’t know who I am because I’m not trying to be everywhere. You won’t see me at all the fashion parties…that’s not the point of what I’m doing. There are very few designers coming from the continent [of Africa] who ever make it this far. And when they do, it’s very easy to focus on making money and forgetting about the stories, education, and helping the continent. I really focus on creating responsibly and reasonably and I use fashion to educate.
MP: As a person in my underconsumption era, I actually love that your collections are small and focused. It’s obvious everything you do is very intentional.
PO: Fashion designers have this bizarre need to create newness every 6 months. What other industry does this? No other industry is pumping out stuff just for the sake of it because the calendar says so. I don’t want to be part of that world, so I have very small collections.
In my world, the men are just props. It’s all about the woman.
When I get to Chapter 1 of my book, if I can create just two pieces, well…that’s it. I’m not going to drive myself into debt making a 30-piece collection that no one is going to buy. If only two people buy the clothes and I’ve taught them something, that’s what it’s about. Why are we making so many things we don’t need?
MP: I saw this amazing interview with Vivienne Westwood years ago where she encouraged people to buy less clothes. It’s interesting to hear you share a similar sentiment.
PO: I like to think people need as few clothes as possible to do as much as possible. How can I design modular fashion? Clothes that do more than one thing?
I have a piece called Babina 1, 2, 3 that’s one piece, but you can rip the sleeves off into a short sleeve dress. You can add an apron attachment and it becomes a whole new style. My fashion is not all about aesthetics. It’s really about pacing yourself and thinking critically about what you’re designing so you’re not just adding to a landfill.
MP: What fashion designers are you into right now?
PO: Part of my process—if I’m being honest—is I don’t look at other designers’ work when I’m in design mode. I don’t want to get subconsciously influenced! But overall, Margiela has always been very exciting to me. When it comes to designers who are able to tell fun stories and take the viewer on a journey, I think John Galliano has always done that well. And, of course, McQueen. I love Viktor&Rolf as well because they transcend reality. To be able to transport a viewer into a universe you created, I think that’s beautiful.
MP: Agree. That’s what makes fashion so magical. What about music—what are you listening to?
PO: I’m inspired by music way more than I am by fashion! When I’m actively designing—thank God no one can see me—I’ll get up and dance and move around and think about the woman I’m designing for. Where’s she going on a Friday night?
This is what my brain does when the music’s going. I love me some Beyoncé and Rihanna for sure. I’ve been listening to Tame Impala because it’s very psychedelic. The K-pop girls are also doing it for me. I like to listen to West African music as well and not just the Afro beats that are popular. I like to listen to Oumou Sangaré.
MP: New year. New city. New job. 2025 is shape up to be an incredible year for you. What are you most looking forward to?
PO: I’m looking forward to how I evolve as a designer. Who will I become in the next year and how will that affect what I’m doing with my brand?
One of my greatest wishes in this is new adventure is to help connect creatives back in Ghana to Nike. If I know someone in Ghana doing artisanal work in printing, how can I help merge these worlds and give these people the exposure they deserve as well? That’s a main goal of mine. I don’t want to be a designer who just does my work and comes home. I want to be someone who create connections.
To keep up with Papa Oppong or shop his collections, visit his website or follow along on Instagram.
Another iconic entry. You ask the best questions. Loved this interview, and his designs!