Ib Kamara: ‘Europe is Not the Centre of Everything. Where You Come From Matters.’ | The BoF Podcast

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Background:

From a childhood in Sierra Leone to navigating London as a teenage immigrant, Ib Kamara traces the cultural shocks that shaped his creative identity. He recounts hiding his artistic ambitions while studying science, breaking through with a Beyoncé commission in his early 20s, redefining Dazed as a global publication and ultimately stepping into the role of art and image director at Off-White after the death of Virgil Abloh.

BoF founder Imran Amed sat down with Ib Kamara in Abu Dhabi during the launch of T Magazine MENA. The conversation spans authorship, responsibility, design versus styling and why young creatives today must reject Eurocentric hierarchies and build with their peers.

Key Insights:

Kamara describes his move from Sierra Leone to London at 15 as both destabilising and transformative. Raised in a culture where authority was not questioned, he suddenly had to become outspoken and self-defined. That rupture, he says, forged his identity. “London was definitely a culture shock, but also the best shock that could have ever happened to me,” he reflects. “I think I needed that shock and that tension to be Ibrahim right now.”

Kamara’s entry into fashion wasn’t through formal design training but through images. Growing up in Sierra Leone, he consumed discarded European magazines, absorbing visual storytelling. “I loved images and I was fascinated by how people put things together,” he explains. “I understood images quicker than design because there was no sort of a design school or artistic design language. You take what you’re given.” That instinct for narrative over product shaped his early styling career and later informed his editorial leadership at Dazed.

Kamara approached Dazed as an editor with an immigrant’s vantage point and a global-first mandate, pushing the title beyond its London bias to reflect the way culture now moves online. “I realised London is so diverse and we all come from the most incredible places in the world. It will make sense for us to reflect that,” he says. In practice, that meant building an editorial agenda shaped by the same cross-border conversation happening among young audiences. “We’re at an age where the kids are all talking online, everyone is sharing and collaborating,” he continues. “So I set out to make a magazine that was global, has a sense of culture, has empathy and is brave enough to do stories that could potentially get me fired a couple of times … It’s a reflection of where I come from.”

Taking the creative helm at Off-White after Virgil Abloh’s passing was not a straightforward decision. Kamara speaks candidly about fear, self-doubt and the weight of legacy. “It was not the easiest decision for me to make because no one can really fulfil someone else’s shoes,” he says. “There’s only one Virgil.” Ultimately, he chose growth over comfort: “I don’t think you can live life like that. I think you have to take a chance.” In moving from stylist to designer, he also discovered a harder truth about authorship: “With design you can’t cheat. I think with styling you can cheat in a picture … but design is respect – it’s a craft.”

For young creatives navigating today’s instability, Kamara offers a clear directive to decentralise Europe and build locally with conviction. “Europe is not the centre of everything,” he says. “Where you come from matters. And taste is not subjective to one part of the world. It’s a global taste.” His guidance is rooted in consistency and community: “Create with your people, bring your people up … There’s nothing more beautiful when you’re at a table and you’ve known these people for 20 years.” And above all, kindness: “Be kind as well. Be nice a little bit, if you can, please. We don’t need more monsters in the industry.”