IB Kamara, pronounced I.B. (born 1990) is a Sierra Leone-born, London-based creative who is a Stylist, Journalist, Musician, Model and Creative Director. In January 2021, he was named Editor-in-Chief ofDazed magazine and in 2024 was announced as Creative Director forOff-White following the death ofVirgil Abloh in November 2021.
Born Ibrahim Kamara inSierra Leone in 1990, Kamara and his parents took refuge with relatives inThe Gambia aftercivil war broke out, before settling in London when Kamara was sixteen years old.[1]
Kamara attributes his turbulent early years and growing up watching world affairs develop via CNN and BBC news programmes with inspiring his focus on current affairs.[1] Before coming to London, he spent three years studying sciences with the intention of becoming a doctor, but ultimately decided to pursue fashion as a career option.[1] After enrolling on an art & design course atWestminster Kingsway College, Kamara studied fashion and communication atCentral Saint Martins.[1]
Kamara's approach is based upon gender identity, fluidity and exploration, queerness and also upon Blackness and African identity and beauty.[1] He attributes his early studies of science with helping him develop his focus and attention to detail.[1] While he originally thought he might become a designer, Kamara became an assistant to the stylistBarry Kamen which established his early career as a stylist.[1] His inspirations include the composerHans Zimmer, the film directorQuentin Tarantino and the American fashion journalistDiana Vreeland, who Kamara admires for their ability to create instantly identifiable worlds.[1]
Kamara was first noticed in 2016 when he curated an exhibition in London titled "2026" which focused upon Black African masculinity.[1][2] The models, recruited off the street ofSoweto, dressed in outfits made using second-hand clothing, and photographed by Kristin-Lee Moolman, helped Kamara address and challenge conventional ideas of race, gender and sexuality in fashion while also aiming to suggest what menswear would look like a decade later.[1][2] The exhibition was shown atSomerset House, which led to him being introduced byJamie Morgan to Robbie Spencer ofDazed who gave Kamara his first fashion editorial.[3]
As a stylist, Kamara was popular with the lateVirgil Abloh ofLouis Vuitton menswear andOff-White, and also styled catwalks and advertising campaigns forRiccardo Tisci ofBurberry andErdem.[1] Other clients includeChanel,Stella McCartney,Dior,[1] Kenneth Ize and Lorenzo Serafini.[2]Comme des Garçons invited him to design hats for their show, andH&M signed him up to direct their first circularly-designed (zero-waste) collection.[2] He worked withRihanna, both for her labelFenty, and as her personal stylist when she was featured on the cover ofDazed.[1] Abloh described Kamara as a prime example of how "diversity can bring out the best of the fashion industry".[1] For his work as a stylist, Kamara was awarded the Isabella Blow Award by theBritish Fashion Council on 29 November 2021.[2] Following the passing of Virgil Abloh, Kamara was appointed Art & Image Director for Off-White on 30 April 2022.[4]
In 2021,Iain R. Webb was asked by theFashion Museum, Bath to choose garments representing 2020 for theirDress of the Year collection. Among the outfits he chose to represent 2020 was a unique dress called "A Dress of Hope", designed byDazed's art director, Gareth Wrighton and styled by Kamara out of vintage table-linens anddoilies collected by Webb.[5]
Kamara worked as a senior editor-at-large fori-D magazine from 2019 to 2021,[3] and has also worked forVogueBritishVogue,Vogue Italia,System, andW. In January 2021 he became editor in chief forDazed.[1]
His first issue ofDazed celebrated theNational Health Service and people working together for change, and Kamara's aim is for the magazine to be globally relevant to readers from a wide range of backgrounds and cultures.[6] When he received the Isabella Blow award in 2021, he said he was proud to be a beneficiary of the WWD awards' new focus on individual change-makers rather than companies and brands.[6] As part of his approach to runningDazed, Kamara tries to secure contributors from all around the world, especially from underrepresented fashion centres such as those in Africa and the Middle East.[6]
In addition to having their collaborative design chosen as a look for 2020,[5] Kamara and Wrighton were the journalists chosen by theFashion Museum, Bath to select theDress of the Year for 2021. They chose theArmani wrap dress worn byMeghan, Duchess of Sussex for her andher husband's interview withOprah Winfrey.[7] Kamara and Wrighton argued that becauseOprah with Meghan and Harry became an "iconic" and "definitive anti-establishment moment" that would endure in the British collective memory, it made sense to consider the dress worn by the pregnant Duchess as part of this story.[7]