It’s a tough ol’ time breaking into fashion these days. Exacerbated by the harbingers of the apocalypse – Brexit, COVID-19, and 14 years of T*ry austerity – the pressure is greater than ever for the talents of tomorrow to make a name for themselves straight out of the gate.

At the Central Saint Martins MA show in February, a new crop of budding designers aimed to impress, hoping to make shrewd attendees sit up and take notice. This time around, it was the prime of MA Womenswear designer Joshua Ewusie, a creative who has had his eyes set on fashion since he was a child. “I’ve always enjoyed fashion, I remember a lot of my childhood was playing dress-up with clothes,” he shares with 10. “I’ve always been a bit reserved and shy, but fashion was a way that I could present myself.”

His graduate collection, titled You Don’t Fear the Cold, represented years of hard work finally coming to fruition – following a Foundation at Kingston College, and consecutive BA and MA courses at CSM. “My BA was a bit of a culture shock, especially not doing my Foundation at CSM,” Ewusie says. “I feel like a lot of my first and second year was catching up and understanding what was expected of me. It was a lot of discovery, but I really liked that period because I was very experimental and figured out what I liked and didn’t like.” This amenability paid dividends in the final collection, a sophisticated offering that was slick, polished, and, most importantly, chic.

Despite this, the collection had an unexpectedly commonplace source of inspiration. “My mum had these pouffes and she told me that she had stuffed them with her clothes from the 80s instead of using fluff which I found so funny,” the designer shares. “For the first time ever, I opened them and I was so amazed by all the clothes she had in there. Lots of traditional Ghanaian prints in 80s silhouettes, but also a lot of Western sportswear.” From there, the concept of the collection – a conversation between generations – was born. “The idea is to respect and acknowledge where you come from, but understand that you’re different from your mother and that you have your own way of doing things,” he adds.  

This manifested in an ombre brushed mohair jumper in hot pink and red and artfully draped leather – donated by Chanel – fashioned into oversized outerwear or sliced into strips and transformed into a pinstripe pattern. Elsewhere, laser-cut patterns directly referenced a traditional Nsubura pattern found among his mother’s archive which continued to influence the final collection. “I like to do a technique where I’m referencing traditional wrap-around dressing and drape as if it’s cloth,” Ewusie says. “There’s a black mini dress that was created out of two coats and it’s the idea that there’s a girl coming back from a night out and is trying to hide her party dress.”

The collection’s final look was the cherry on top, a shimmering silver bugle bead dress, with flashes of black and red that were inspired by a Johny Pitts image the designer saw at Home is Not a Place at the Photographer’s Gallery. Rescued from a vintage shop, where it had been gathering dust for the past 20 years, the look was created in collaboration with friend and embroidery expert Angelica Ellis. “It was a case of destroying some bits and then mending others and it was fun because it became our dress in a way. It was the idea of taking ownership of an existing piece and giving it new life,” he says.

A new life indeed, the dress soon found itself being worn by Emma Corrin while doing the press tour for their appearance in Deadpool & Wolverine – styled by Harry Lambert. In what can only be described as fate, the one-of-a-kind wonder was a perfect fit. “A few people have asked to loan out the dress, but it’s very fragile and could rip if you force it,” Ewusie says. “They said there were no issues with it and I saw the pictures, it fits like a glove.”

So, what now for the fledgling designer now that he’s graduated? Thanks to a fashion fairy godmother, some of the financial pressures have already been alleviated. “Throughout my MA, the Chanel team has been very supportive. All the amazing leather was donated by them and they came to CSM to privately see the collection,” he shares. “After, they offered me a studio space for two years and it honestly felt like being offered a car because it was on my birthday. Having a space helps so much and they’re continuing to give me leather to produce the next collection too.”

Biding his time after a standout debut, Ewusie is focused on longevity, not virality. “Young designers feel pressure to put out work while things are buzzing, but I’m taking this time to really think about what I want to say with the follow-up collection because, for me, it’s always about a narrative,” he concludes. “I’ve been enjoying researching and being inspired by living – walking on the street and seeing people. My graduate collection was influenced so much by random photos so I need to take time to have those experiences.”

Photography by Bella Santucci.

@j_ewusie