Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

Kente Gentlemen is a ready-to-wear label based in Côte d'Ivoire, reimagining heritage through modern tailoring.

Founded by Artistide Loua, the brand partners with local artisans to transform traditional textiles, like handwoven kente and dyed cotton, into contemporary silhouettes. The results are bold, refined, and unmistakably West African in character.

But more than aesthetics, the brand is rooted in cultural sustainability.

From sourcing to storytelling, Kente Gentlement helps preserve endangered techniques and textile philosophies across generations. Each piece becomes a vessel for cultural continuity - a reminder that African fashion is plural, poetic, and beyond definition.

At OneThread, this speaks directly to our Cultural Sustainability pillar: sustaining not just materials, but memory, identity, and meaning.

Why we're featuring them:

While not yet onboarded to OneThread, Kente Gentlemen represents the kind of brand we want to grow with - rooted in craft, led by context, and committed to culture.

Part of our "Brands You Should Know" series.