It’s an early Friday afternoon in February. The soft whir of sewing machines and crisp sound of scissors cutting across fabric harmonize in the background as Nana Kwame Adusei sits down with ESSENCE in the anteroom of his atelier. Tucked into a pocket of Los Angeles’s fashion district, the 5,000-square-foot studio is the hub for activities related to his eponymous label. In this space, he sketches designs, oversees production, takes client and team meetings, conducts fittings and photo shoots, and stores, processes, and ships inventory. Every aspect of the business is conducted and owned in-house, a priority for him and the company. 

Fresh off a Paris Fashion Week debut for the Men’s Fall/Winter 2026 season, Adusei was back in his studio, producing and processing orders from the recent collection, “Between Life and Orchestra,” which was so well-received, many of the samples were sold right off the runway. 

His decision to participate in fashion week for the first and only time in January was deliberate. He has no desire to showcase merely for the act of it, and only did so when he felt the business was ready and had something to say. Owning the means of production and steering a business with integrity is of utmost importance, and he is quick to affirm that this is a business, first. One with a responsibility to the people it employs and those from whom it seeks patronage. 

“We own our own stores, manufacturing, and inventory. We own our factory here and in Portugal. We don’t have investors so it’s very important that we get creative.”

The F/W26 collection showcased Adusei’s masterful manipulation of shape on the human body. It is an extension of the brand’s practice allowing for versatile, intuitive styling of unique silhouettes. “The brand is based on the African cut [a curvier silhouette and minimal seams], and the design is 100% reliant on my experience growing up in Ghana,” he explains. To Adusei, the fewer the seams, the more refined the look. With traditional Ghanaian clothing, this typically entails a large cloth, draped strategically to take shape. “You have to allow the fabric to do its thing on your body, because it’s two different elements coming together to form beauty.”

The result: nongendered clothing designed to flatter the feminine silhouette. The show notes stated that “the runway takes place during Menswear Week, but the work is not defined by it.”

Adusei’s foray into the industry began when he was fortuitously scouted to model, whereafter he soon realized larger aspirations. As the youngest sibling to three older sisters, he witnessed them struggle to find clothing that both fit and were accessibly priced. Additionally, near his childhood home in Ghana stood a landfill of discarded clothing, a layer of waste he hopes to never contribute to. “You take your environment, and you apply it to whatever it is that you’re doing,” he posits. “I don’t ever want my clothes to end up there, so that’s what I have in mind whenever I’m designing.”

He believes people need to know how fabric is made, as it would change how clothing and the craftsmen who make it are treated, and how sustainability is viewed and practiced. “Because I stand behind it, I need to make sure I have control over where and how it’s being made. All these processes have consequences, and we have to know them.”

Since ESSENCE last spoke with him, Adusei—who had barely arrived in the U.S. at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic—has maintained a successful flagship on Los Angeles’s Doheny Drive, an independent studio downtown as well as an accessories factory in Portugal, and a second retail location on Rue de Vertbois in Paris, France. Last April, he was recognized by the Fashion Trust U.S., and won the 2025 Sustainability Award. 

One might wonder what he must feel at this juncture. But the designer isn’t concerned with answering that. Frankly, he doesn’t think it matters. “I think we spend too much time on how we feel.” To him, the question that matters is simply: how? That is, how he was able to arrive at this place from a practical standpoint, and how his designs enhance the experience of his consumers. His work is about expanding the bounds of human capacity and ingenuity. That is what he believes our collective purpose and calling is.

“As Black people, human beings in the generation we’re in, we need to expand our brains. Being Black means you’re magic. That’s it. Don’t sleep because you’re magic. The world is going to pass you by. Humans have the capacity to do astronomical things. You already possess it. How do you enhance it?”

The way Adusei’s mind works, design is about problem-solving. As he describes his process, it sounds akin to that of an engineer’s: “How do I balance this person out and do it in a way that would take just one seam or wouldn’t need a zipper? If I cut the fabric on the bias, can it stretch enough so that you can just slip it on?” he asks himself. To him, the mark of a good designer is one who understands the technicality of design along with the intimate interests and needs of the people they are designing for. “I am never bored,” he tells ESSENCE, as he is consistently challenging himself to expand, and become more efficient and dynamic through design.

With this in mind, he emphasizes that the company’s approach to growth and scale has been strategic and gradual, allowing room for life to take course. “You can’t control how or when people will see your clothing, regardless of how much marketing you do, so for us, we’re moving organically. That’s how we build a brand. Not based on social media, because people don’t buy photos, they buy the clothing. They’re putting their hard earned money into a piece of clothing, it needs to be made with intention.”

That mindset reverberates through all that he does. He prioritizes the human experience and dignity of both consumer and manufacturer, because he sincerely cares. 

“It is very fulfilling what I do, because I actually get to do what I love every single day and I don’t take it for granted. I’m always very aware, appreciative, and present in everything I do. Because there are people here that are working to make this dream happen and the least I can do is show up.”

There is often a sentiment iterated by artists that they create their art, release it to the world, and don’t care whether or not anyone purchases it. “You will never hear me say that,” he affirms. He believes, as designers, you need to listen when people say the clothing does not fit right—sans ego. He would rather receive the feedback, understand what isn’t working, and alter it so that people keep their pieces forever.

“I make sure that I listen to everybody. You’ve been wearing clothes all your life. You know a thing or two, maybe more than I do.” 

In an age where fast fashion, generative AI, and the “attention economy” threaten the integrity of art and human creation, it is refreshing to witness a designer speak so earnestly about design as innovation, the democratization of a team who works with him not for him, and his steadfast commitment to sustainability. With an ethos as consistent as Adusei’s, there is no question as to how his success and favorability came about.