Gregory Ojakpe

Central Saint Martins

Gregory Ojakpe is a Nigerian-born British knitwear designer from South-East London, studying his Final Year BA Fashion Design in Knitwear at Central Saint Martins. His creative vision has three main elements at its core: craftsmanship, fantasy/surrealism and identity. In terms of craftsmanship, naturally as a knitwear, designer fabrication is at the core of what Gregory does.

In most instances, the fabrications dictate the silhouette and the approach he takes when draping and cutting. The surrealist elements are apparent in the fantastical worlds in his collage and illustrative works which are key in his design development. Taking inspiration from influential artists such as Henry Moore, Wangechi Mutu , Max Ernst, Picasso, Barbra Hepworth, Dali and Ives Tanguy, with their aesthetics and approaches to design are internally woven into the rich tapestry. Fashion is inherently political so in his first year, Gregory created a conscious decision to reference African sculptural art, African fashion, African diasporic modes of dress and the intersections of fashion where African cultural dress meets western sensibility, all in hopes of not only re-educating himself on black history in a global context but as way of exploring his own Black-British identity through the medium of image making, fine art and design.