Visionary lb Kamara Becomes Artistic Head of Off-White™️
/ Anne Enke
Composite: Background Curioso on Unsplash; top Alexander Coggin for The New York Times; bottom: IB Kamara Instagram.
Ib Kamara, editor in chief of Dazed Magazine has been named Art and Image director of Off-White™️, tapped to carry on the legacy of late designer Virgil Abloh, who also served as artistic director of Louis Vuitton Men.
According to an Instagram post shared on Saturday by Off-White™️, Kamara “will be joining a collective of creatives and overseeing the artistic direction of the brand.” Off-White is part of the New Guards Group portfolio of brands, which is owned by Farfetch.
New Guards Group and Off White
New Guards Group has had a licensing arrangement with Virgil Abloh — not for his name — but for the Off-White™️. Complex outlined the structure of Abloh’s relationship with New Guards in July 2021. At the time LVMH acquired a 60 percent interest in the Off-White™️ trademark while Abloh retained a 40 percent interest and continued as the brand’s creative director.
Virgil Abloh’s relationship with New Guards ended with his death in November 2021.
In what is one of the best business articles I’ve read, Susan Scafidi, the founder and president of the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham University explained to Complex:
“What’s clear is that, however much business Virgil has done through Off-White LLC in the past or may do in the future, he’s wisely kept his own personal name just that—personal—and not turned it into a corporate asset. LVMH is acquiring majority ownership of the company that holds the Off-White brand name and other trademarks, and it has hired and promoted the man, but his name is still his own.
Going back to the tweet, as a non-legal matter, does the announcement of the deal indicate that LVMH is investing in Virgil Abloh, in the sense that the company is buying into his creative vision and wants to promote and profit from it beyond LV menswear? Absolutely.”
The current contract with New Guards Group cannot be terminated until 2026. Obviously, LVMH has existing business and brand relationships with Farfetch and there is no reason to expect problems among the parties, as Off-White™️ solidifies its new structure, post-Virgil Abloh’s passing.
Ib Kamara: A Human with Deep Vision
Virgil Abloh and Ib Kamara connected on a deep level. The younger man explained their connection on IG:
Virgil will forever be with us. With me. He changed the world and left an indelible mark on anyone who encountered him and beyond. Generous with his time, mind and creativity - he saw everyone and created with all humans in mind. I am honored to further link my ties to Off-White™️ as their Art & Image Director and be a part of the team that will tell the rest of the story Virgil started writing for us all” - Ibrahim Kamara, Art&Image Director Off-White™️.
IB Kamara
Ib Kamara Instagram
Born in war-torn Sierra Leone in 1990, Kamara fled to nearby Gambia, staying with an aunt and uncle. Kamara moved to London at the age of 16, to be with his parents who wanted him to study science.
Ibrahim Kamara had little interest in pursuing a career in science, and he turned his attention to communications in the world of fashion. The New York Times interviewed the visionary stylist last September, traveling in Gambia to retrace his past.
“I’ve been traveling by land and not air in Gambia for six days now, just driving through some of the places where I grew up and soaking it all in,” he said, hunching over his phone camera as a lazy ceiling fan chugged overhead. “How I tell fashion stories has been shaped so much by my early life here, from my community upbringing and being so close to nature to early memories of glimpses of Western magazines and pop videos. I’ve been wanting to come back for some time now. Too long, actually.”
Ib Kamara’s vision is deeply invested in the changing nature of Black African masculinity. In 2016, the artist jointly curated with Johannesburg photographer Kristin-Lee Moolman a set of 60 images called ‘2026’. Installed at Somerset House in London, ‘2026’ was part of a larger presentation, “Utopian Voices Here and Now.”
Anne of Carversville has followed Ib Kamara from his early days in fashion, addressing his value to LVMH and fashion generally, with our particular focus on Kamara’s subterranean, psychic ability to probe and articulate unconscious-minds and ancestral connections with modern life.
We are tremendously excited about his new role with Off White and his larger contribution to the world of fashion and this larger conversation about Black masculinity — which, of course, taps into masculinity at large. ~ Anne
WSJ Magazine [IG] delivers ‘Mozambique’, an exquisite, year-end December 2025/January 2026 fashion story shot at Kisawa Sanctuary [IG] by Malick Bodian [IG] in the company of his brother Ib Kamara.
On the cover [above] is Alexandre Zivane from the Kisawa team. Other models include Achol Ayor, Inosse Julião Macie, and Micklate Macobola.
Zivane wears a Dries Van Noten coat and Celine shoes for the cover. Other luxury brands 3 Paradis, Ashish, Carolina Herrera, Cecile Bahnsen, Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello, Setchu, Zimmermann. Read all the particulars with AOC’s WSJ gift link.
Top model Paloma Elsesser appears in a new CR Fashion Book [IG] story ‘The More of Us There Are, The Richer We Make the Industry’.
AOC is still on a ‘Bad Bunny at the 2027 Super Bowl’ high, so no talk about thinner-than-ever runway models for at least a week. Paloma is styled by Ib Kamara in images by Pedro Napolinário [IG]./ Hair and makeup by Mika Safro
Kylie Jenner covers the Summer 2025 issue of Dazed Magazine, interviewed by Kacion Mayers in ‘Kylie Jenner: ‘The baddie never left’.
Jenner is styled by Ib Kamara in Acne Studios, David Koma, Rabanne, Schiaparelli, Simone Rocha, Versace and more for images by Erika Kamano [IG]. / Hair by Cherilyn Farris; makeup by Ariel Tejada
Bella Hadid fronts MIss Sixty’s Fall 2025 campaign from the privacy of her bedroom, finished with cherry-accented walls and plenty of shag. IB Kamara styles a blonde Hadid looking good in a range of denim styles from jean jackets and straight-leg jeans to flared jeans and mini skirts.
Carlijn Jacobs [IG], who photographed Bella in a retro supermarket in Mixx Sixty’s Spring 2025 campaign, gives another nod to the early 90s and 2000s. Love it.
Naomi Campbell Taps Humanity's Origins in Dazed Magazine 'Celebration' Issue 2025
Supermodel Naomi Campbell takes one cover of Dazed Magazine’s [IG] Summer 2025 issue, the last one under the editorial vision of IB Kamara, who also photographs Naomi.
The glorious Naomi Campbell channels humanity’s oldest African origins and self-adornment using beads, shells and hair collages made of twigs, real flowers, leaves and even stones and butterflies that honor the deep ties between humans and nature.
Transit In and Out of Africa Was Not a One-Way Ticket
No discovery has unseated the region of Lake Turkana, which includes the Omo Valley of southern Ethiopia and the Great Rift Valley in Kenya, as the route humans took out of Africa into the Levant.
AOC readers understand the attempts by white nationalists to press the case for a superior group of humans who came from the north, eventually reaching the Levant themselves. Anne has a personal mission to follow this argument very closely.
Out of Africa and into Bronze Age Canaan
After sharing critical new DNA info on Africans carrying Neanderthal DNA at much higher levels than previously tested [blowing out the white men from the north theory], AOC moves to recent DNA analysis that proves as high as 30% shared DNA between Palestinian and Jewish men with ancestors living together as Bronze Age Canaanites.
Bella Hadid's Memorable British Vogue June 2025 Interview with Giles Hattersley
In her British Vogue cover interview and fashion shoot, Bella is styled by IB Kamara in chain-mail from Etro and Balmain and embellished tulle from Dolce & Gabbana. Her silk crepe cover dress is Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello.
High jewelry comes from Chopard — for whom Bella is a global ambassador. Earrings and super bangles are from Alexis Bittar.
Clearly, Bella Hadid and photographer Steven Meisel [IG] have excellent chemistry.
British Vogue’s IG descriptor of Bella also resonates. Bella Hadid “gives a riveting glimpse into her complex inner self.”
It’s an indisputable fact that a peculiarity of constitution or temperament surrounds the process of interviewing Bella Hadid. She is an idiosyncratic human being, which is not a negative comment.
Journalist Giles Hattersley is superb in how he handled Bella. In one moment of the interview, Bella really stepped in it with Anne — who still can’t believe how Hadid played right into the hands of the Trump Administration trying to get rid of women in high places.
I beg her mother Yolanda not to let Bella go to Washington with her controversial views, as she suggested she wanted to do.
The dandies of next week’s Met Gala have reached out to all the fine ladies including Ajok Daing, Dara Gueye, Maty Fall, Nyaduola Gabriel and Sunira Da Silva for this Vogue US May 2025 photoshoot lensed by Malick Bodian [IG] and styled by IB Kamara. Malick also appears as a model./ Hair by Virginie Moreira; makeup by Ammy Drammeh
Eveningwear is on the menu for the fashion story largely styled in hues of blue.
Bella Hadid Walks Out of an '80s Enjoli Commercial Straight into Miss Sixty
Bella Hadid looks like Miss Texas in the new Miss Sixty [IG] commercial lensed by Carlijn Jacobs [IG] and styled by Ib Kamara.
Bella Hadid: Miss Texas
Was it on anyone’s bingo card that Bella Hadid would be named the National Cutting Horse Association's (NCHA) 2024 Limited Age Event (LAE) Rookie of the Year . . . after "entering the cutting community a little over a year ago."
Somehow Bella Hadid has managed to create a whole new life in Texas with her love Adan Banuelos.
I’ve read stories about Bella sleeping in the van, getting up at 5am and making breakfast — not for the Miss Sixty crew — but for her beloved cowboys. I can just see her — with the 2 hr. time difference — flipping pancakes with one hand as the sun rises, while on the phone with New York, dealing with the crisis of Orabella sold-out products all over America.
I swear that woman walked into the Miss Sixty photoshoot, straight out of an old-school Enjoli commercial. And I just love it. ~ Anne
Brazilian-Kiwi model Angelina Kendall covers the January 2025 issue of British Vogue [IG], wandering London streets for a fashion story ‘The Making of a Supermodel.’
Ib Kamara chooses a blue Maison Valentino gown for the cover shot, accented by Tiffany & Co jewelry. It’s one of several Maison Valentino gowns from Alessandro Michele’s debut collection.
Mikael Jansson [IG] photographs Kendall in strapless gowns, jersey dresses and leather jackets — all with a late 1950s — 60’s retro Vogue vibe.
Dazed Magazine [IG] makes South Sudanese model Nyajuok G a cover girl for their Autumn 2024 ‘The Impossible’ issue. Nyajuok emerged as a new face of Gucci in Sabato De Sarno’s Gucci Ancora Spring 2023 campaign.
Ib Kamara styles Nyajuok G for the Dazed story lensed by Mikael Jansson [IG]. / Hair by Ali Pirzadeh; makeup by Jamal Scott
Kylie Jenner covers the September 2024 issue of British Vogue [IG], wearing a purple coat by Prada and earrings by Bulgari styled by Ib Kamara. Jenner is the first Kardashian-Jenner woman to cover British Vogue and she is lensed by Luis Alberto Rodriguez [IG]./ Hair by Mustafa Yanaz; makeup by Sam Visser
Giles Hattersly interviews Kylie Jenner over a period of time that includes Paris couture week, and Kylie in New York and LA.
Kylie Jenner’s Post-Partum Depression
Kylie speaks to her battle with post-partum depression with both her children daughter Stormi, 6, and son Aire, now 2. Travis Scott is the father of both kids. Her “major baby blues” were worse with Aire.
For the paps trailing Kylie Jenner’s every move, she shares news that she has a place in New York and enjoys the High Line incognito.
Models Alaato Jazyper, Loli Bahia and Lulu Tenney faced Chanel’s [IG] Pre-Fall 2024 Campaign. Ib Kamara styled the trio in images by Mikael Jansson [IG]. / Hair by Shay Ashual; makeup by Hannah Murray
Photographer Malick Bodian [IG] turns his lens to top model Malika-el-Maslouhi in a fashion story ‘Un Automne à Montmartre’. El-Maslouhi and colleagues Hiba Aboufaraj and Ikram Abdi are styled by Ibrahim Kamara for Vogue France [IG] October 2023./ Hair by Jawara; makeup by Thom Walker
Dazed Magazine’s EIC Ib Kamara styles ‘Field of Dreams’, a country fun fest that comes to life with photographer Justin French [IG].
Models include Amir Mohammad, Ayan Osman, Hani Nur, Jeon Younghoon, Jum Kuochnin, Manyuon Deng, Naun Kim, Nyadora Jany and Peng Chang creating smiles in abundance for Dazed Autumn 2023 ‘Beyond the Borders’ issue. / Makeup by Chiao Li Hsu; set design by Thomas Bird
Chanel shares images of their Pre-Fall-Winter 2023 collection featuring model and actor Iman Pérez, who is of Spanish, Senegalese, German and French descent.
The video is more modern glam — but energetic — than these images. Ib Kamara [IG] styles Pérez, with images by Malick Bodian [IG].
The one and only Kim Kardashian covers the July 2023 issue of Vogue Italia. Ibrahim Kamara styles Kim in Dolce & Gabbana, Givenchy, Intimissimi, Jacquemus, Versace lensed by Rafael Pavarotti [IG] in ‘L’Arte di Essere Kim’ ./ Hair by Chris Appleton; makeup by Hiromi Ueda
Models Aminata Marie Eve, Sophia Makibdji, Mariama Balde and Coumba Dieye are styled by Dazed’s EIC Ibrahim Kamara. Mikael Jansson [IG] captures the lineup of linear summer dresses in floaty fabrics and bright colors in Dakar, Senegal.
Supermodel Gisele Bundchen is styled by Ib Kamara in Vogue Italia’s March 2023 issue. Photographer Rafael Pavarotti [IG] is having a great week, as he rolls into another limelight special./ Hair by Ali Pirzadeh; makeup by Ana Takehashi
In November, Michaela Coel will appear as Dora Milaje warrior Aneka in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, the second in Marvel’s blockbuster Afrofuturist series. Vogue editor Chioma Nnadi interviews the screenwriter and actor in the exciting Vogue US November 2022 cover story Michaela Coel on Creativity, Romance, and the Path to ‘Wakanda Forever’.
The star wears a Gucci Made To Measure Dress by Alessandro Michele on the cover, with Gucci jewelry, styled by Ib Kamara [IG] and lensed by Senegalese-Italian model/photographer Malick Bodian [IG].
Coel Addresses Gay Hate in Africa | AOC Blames the US Evangelical MAGA Crowd for Years
AOC looks beyond Vogue to confirm that it’s US right-wing MAGA evangelicals who are stirring up anti-LGBTQ-hatred in Ghana, as they have done for well over a decade in Uganda. Open Democracy estimates that more than 20 US Christian groups known for fighting against LGBT rights and access to safe abortion, contraceptives and comprehensive sexuality education have spent at least $54m in Africa since 2007.
Models Asha Yusuf, Chi Linh Pham, David Ikuepamitan, Emmanuel Adjaye, Gai, Khadim Thiam, Jacob Adolpho, Talib are styled by Ibrahim Kamara for ‘In the Mind’s Eye’. Jack Davison [IG] is behind the lens for Dazed Magazine’s Autumn 2022 issue./ Hair by Mari Ohashi; makeup by Hiromi Ueda
Based on a comment on his IG, this is the first time that Davison and Kamara collaborated together.
The VERY conceptual story deals with race, culture, identity and the people in our orbit. Study the images carefully to understand the true meaning of this 5-star visualization of a modern age in which we also can change evolve our understandings of race, status and human interaction through technology.
Anok Yai is among the jawdropping list of cover stars, both print and digital, photographed here by Rafael Pavarotti [IG] for W Magazine’s 50th anniversary issue. The photographer works with his frequent stylist partner Ib Kamara.
Jenny Comita chats with Anok Yai about her experience of being discovered at Howard University in October 2017, and then opening the Prada show at Milan Fashion Week. Anok says she didn’t know at the time that she was the first Black model to have the honor since Naomi Campbell, 20 years earlier.
W Magazine’s 50th Anniversary issue is a feast for the eyes, featuring 17 of fashion’s biggest models, styled and lensed by top stylists and photographers. The formula is great — a cover, 4-5 images and a short interview by Jenny Comita.
Here we have Bella Hadid styled by Ibrahim Kamara in Burberry, Giorgio Armani, Hermes, Melitta Baumeister and more lensed by Rafael Pavarotti [IG]. See all the product credits and read Bella Hadid Is Constantly Reinventing Herself.
Dazed Magazine releases their Summer 2022 issue with cover stars including A$AP Rocky, Naomi Osaka, Maty Fall, Bree Runway, and in this fashion story Kayako Higuchi.
The spirit of Virgil Abloh permeates the entire issue of Dazed Summer — the fifth under editor-in-chief Ib Kamara, the prolific talent who is also the new Art and Image director of the deeply beloved Abloh’s Off-White brand.
Kamara joins a collective of creatives, who will be the vision and engine of Off-White, with the uber-talented stylist overseeing the artistic direction. LVMH will also playing a major role in the development of Off-White.
In Kayako Higuchi’s cover and all-Burberry pre-fall-2022 fashion story, Kamara joins forces with frequent collaborator, photographer Rafael Pavarotti [IG] to tap the issue’s “Virgil-flavoured themes of culture-splicing, remixing and outer-limits innovation.”
Not all collaborations are created equal. Designed by Gucci Creative Director Alessandro Michele, adidas x Gucci is spectacular in a business-smart kind of way. The design hybrids created by this fusion of business brilliance go way beyond wearable and visually appealing.
The two brands adidas and Gucci look like they were made for each other . . . like adidas should just buy Gucci [ relax Kering].
According to an Instagram post shared on Saturday by Off White, Ib Kamara “will be joining a collective of creatives and overseeing the artistic direction of the brand.” Off-White is part of the New Guards Group portfolio of brands, which is owned by Farfetch.
The April 2022 issue of Vogue Italia navigates artfully the question of the man-machine-nature relationship. This theme is also investigated at the upcoming Venice Biennale, which opens on April 23 with the title ‘Il Latte Dei Sogni’.
The truly spectacular fashion story must have been quietly overseen by the now divine muse to fashion artistry, former editor-in-chief of Vogue Italia Franca Sozzani herself [who sadly left our planet on December 26, 2016].
Sustainability is in the house, with H&M’s reveal of the fifth drop in their Innovation Stories series. What the world needs now — more than ever — is Love Sweet Love, and H&M is onboard with the theme. The new ‘Cherish Waste’ collection is birthed from recycled garments, ocean-bound plastic and other waste or low-impact materials.
In the world of trendy fashionistas: garbage, garbage, garbage.
The sound minds, visionary team of Rafael Pavarotti and Ibrahim Kamara return to H&M to shoot and style the new campaign, with set design from Ibby Njoya.
Supermodel Naomi Campbell assumes the goddess position in ‘Naomi Forever’, as her adoring creatives pay homage to their queen in the pages of W Magazine’s Spring 2021 issue. Photographer Rafael Pavarotti [IG] and stylist Ib Kamara [IG] unleash the full range of their creative vision to honor one of fashion’s truly iconic models. / Hair by Jawara and Fekkai; makeup by Chiao Li Hsu
Naomi transcends categories, but it’s also important to acknowledge and embrace her status as a towering, inspiring and sensual, motherly figure among Black creatives. AOC includes models as members of creative teams, and we are well aware of what Naomi means psychologically and emotionally to this extraordinary group of supremely talented, new visionaries in fashion.
Italian model Maty Fall covers the December 2021 issue of Vogue Italia, shot by Rafael Pavarotti with two of her closest friends, Khady Sow and Ndack Ndiaye. The young ladies are dressed in pure white, Dior elegance styled by Ibrahim Kamara.
