My name is Richmond Ekow Barnes and I was born and raised in Ghana. I come from what is considered here in West Africa as a small family. It’s my mother, my twin sister Rosemond and my little brother Desmond. My father passed away last year. Fashion is the way I express myself, it’s my art form of choice. My modelling career started by chance when I went along for a photo shoot with a friend who is a photographer. When the model didn’t show up my friend asked me to step in and it just felt right from the start. I knew straight away that this was what I wanted to do and when Idona, the photographer, told me that I had what it takes, there was no looking back. I have done runway and editorial work since and worked with some of Africa’s best photographers and designers.  I want to be the model that puts Ghana on the international fashion map. I want to be able to pave the way for the amazing talent that exists in my country. My dream is to walk the runways of Milan, Paris, London and New York Fashion Weeks and change the world’s perception of African fashion as monotonous. Africa is truly a melting pot of what’s happening around the world and the fashion here reflects that. People from evrywhere come here to be inspired and it’s now time that we leverage that to spur African fashion into the mainstream!

Words by model Richmond Ekow Barnes.

Photography by Manuel Lensman Nii Sackeyfio
Styling by Neal Davids
Make Up by Hamid Mamoud