Barbie dolls influenced my love for designing – Ghanaian fashion designer

A Ghanaian fashion designer, Papa Oppong, says his very first designs were heavily influenced by his love for barbie dolls as a kid. He said though the usual interest of boys have been mostly football, he did not get that while growing up as a child and thus fell for barbie dolls, something considered to be for girls “And when I couldn’t get them [barbie dolls], I would draw them, and that was what got me into illustrations. That was how I got into drawing,” Oppong said on 3Xtra radio on Accra-based 3FM 92.7. “When I got into Achimota School, friends would see my drawings and designs in my sketchpad and would ask me to make (sew) that for them and that was when I decided I was going to go into fashion design,” he recounted. He also said his family was supportive of him when he took the decision to pursue fashion designing as a career. The designer further stated that there is a vast difference between fashion and style, but many people misconstrue the two. “Fashion is more trends; what’s new, what’s fresh, what’s happening, and what hype is. Style for me is however you are comfortable stepping out. We are all born with it. It is how we express our individuality. Style is who you are,” he explained. Watch the full interview below By editors.3news.com| Ghana