For The Culture: Interview with the founder of French Deal

H: Can you introduce us to the French Deal ?

SK: La Maison offers clothes and accessories for men and women but it goes further than that. French Deal is a state of mind, a commitment and above all, it is a celebration of African culture through the eyes of a child of the diaspora who was born and raised outside of his natural environment and who has used all his influences to design his brand.

On set with Steeven Kodjia, Founder of the house French Deal – Credit : @stevehappi_ on Instagram

H: I strongly appreciate the artistic direction of your campaigns which value the label’s African heritage in an authentic and committed way. Tell us a little about the process of creating your collections and your fashion films.

SK: The process varies from one collection to another. For the previous collection, Volume 4, I was inspired by a traditional fabric from the Ivory Coast to develop the whole storytelling that is linked to my own people on my mother’s side, the Baule people. The next collection, The Power Is Yours, was born following the assassination of George Floyd. The concept started with a beret in reference to the Black Panther Party for Self Defense, which had appropriated this accessory at the time. I also wanted to pay homage to a leader of the African continent, namely Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana as an independent country.

In terms of our campaigns, I have been working with the photographer, director and video artist Urivaldo Lopes since the beginning. We share a common passion for Africa. I’ll tell him the vision of my collections and what I want to portray, then we’ll exchange ideas, create and build together!

Davido wearing a Baoulé outfit designed by French Deal, on the cover of Slimi magazine via @frenchdealofficial on Instagram

For the anecdote, when I asked my mother to do the voice-over for the film Volume 4 – L’odyssée du Peuple Ba-Wouli, she was hesitant, she didn’t want to record in a studio. In the end, she accepted, we went to the studio in Abidjan, she started, she got into it and after the third take, she started to play the vocalist! (laughs) She was saying: “It’s good, it’s in the box! Add this, change that…” It was so fun.

Steeven Kodjia, Founder of the House French Deal – Photo credit: @stevehappi_ on Instagram

H: Another key element of the label is the focus on black icons such as Malcolm X, Patrice Lumumba, Muhammad Ali and more recently Kwame Nkrumah and the Black Panther Party for Self Defense. Why is it important for you to share their story through French Deal?

SK: As an artist, we have this power to express things through our art and I’ve always been told: to know where you’re going, you have to know where you’ve come from. My career path and my brand have always made me question why and I think it’s important to delve into your history in order to develop yourself from a personal point of view. So if I talk about Africa and Black Culture in what I do, I am obliged to share the story of these leaders and pay tribute to them because it is up to us to tell our story.