Alexander Akande

Photo Courtesy Of Alexander Akande

WHERE DO YOU PRESENTLY LIVE AND WHAT ARE THE BEST THINGS ABOUT YOUR CITY?
 I’m currently based in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The best things about my city would have to be the food, and just the raw vibrant nature of it. It’s loud and colourful. WHERE WERE YOU BORN AND RAISED? Born in Cameroon. But I’ve pretty much grown up around the world. Lived in Lagos, Nigeria for most of my childhood, then two years in boarding school in Nairobi, Kenya (love that country…I would move there in a heartbeat). After that it was university in the UK for six years. In total, I’ve lived in aboutnine different countries.

WHAT WERE YOUR CHILDHOOD ASPIRATIONS?
As a kid, I was fascinated by animation and wanted to work in that field. I would watch cartoons without paying attention to the story. I looked at the drawing style, lines, colours etc. The first Japanese animation (anime) I watched was “Ghost in the Shell” and it had a massive effect on me.

WHY DESIGNER AND WHEN DID YOU START YOUR LABEL?
I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. I fell into design by accident back at boarding school in Kenya (2006/2007). I started thinking about starting a design brand during my first year of university in 2007, and officially launched the brand in 2011 while starting my Master’s degree.

WHY BOTH WOMENSWEAR AND MEANSWEAR AND IS THERE A CONCEPTUAL DIFFERANTIATION?
I never really felt I had to pick one or the other. I get a lot of ideas for both, so it’s never been an option to stick to just one. There isn’t much of a difference in the way I approach both conceptually. I feel my design principles and aesthetic are easily applicable across the board so I don’t change the way I think when designing menswear/womenswear.

ARE YOU A MINIMALIST OR A MAXIMALIST?
Minimalist. I like clean lines and absolutely hate clutter in my designs. My illustrations on the other hand, can be incredibly detailed. That’s where I get to go crazy.

WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND TRAINING?
I actually have no formal training in any of the fields I work in (design, illustration, and photography). I’m entirely self-taught. I have an undergraduate degree in International Business and a Masters in International Management from the University of the West of England. I chose business school because I figured I could learn about design myself and I would need some level of business knowledge to be able to run my brand in the future. Everything I know about design, illustration and photography was learnt from magazines like “ImagineFX”, online tutorials and studying other designers/illustrators/photographers.

WHAT IS YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS AND WHERE DO YOU FIND INSPIRATION?
My inspirations are quite varied. I watch a lot of historical/nature/culture documentaries and I tend to take a lot from those in addition to my cultural experiences living in all these different countries in Africa and Europe. I tend to find inspiration in the natural world, architecture, film, animation and videos games. With regard to my creative process, the vast majority of it is subconscious. Once I have a starting point or idea, I basically meditate on it right before I go to sleep. The human brain is amazing in that it continues to work solving problems fed into it even while you’re asleep. When I wake up, I have a bunch of ideas and just branch out from there. It sounds really easy but it took a while to get it. I can design a 10 piece collection in a couple of hours after that, and it helps with my work as a freelance creative consultant.

HOW DO YOU ALIGN ART WITH FUNCTIONALITY?
I believe form should follow function. If you watch a lot of nature documentaries, you’ll notice the beauty of nature is purely functional. There’s nothing that doesn’t serve a purpose. A cheetah’s body is beautiful and streamlines but it’s the function of that body – to hunt at high speed – that dictates its form. It’s the reason I approach fashion design like a sportswear designer – I feel clothes shouldn’t hinder movement. In other aspects of art, functionality may not be important, but in fashion, I think it is.

WHAT ARE THE MOST CHALLENGING ASPECTS OF BRINGING AN IDEA TO LIFE?
Production! Trying to get people to understand how you want something made and getting it to come out exactly how you pictured it. It can be tiring and sometimes extremely irritating, but it’s all worth it when it fully materializes.

HOW DOES YOUR AESTHETIC TRANSLATE INTO OTHER AREAS OF YOUR LIFE?
I don’t think it does, at least not very well! Quick example is how my designs are generally minimalistic but my illustrations are extremely detailed. ANY HOBBIES? I play basketball, practice martial arts, read a lot, play a lot of video games and watch an unhealthy amount of anime!

HOW DO YOU UNWIND?
I play basketball about two, three times a week and meditate every night before going to bed. It’s great having your passion be your job because I rarely ever get stressed.