Ozwald sold his first collection at 16 and was keen to learn the best of traditional tailoring. Boateng sees himself as more than a tailor, and more than a designer, and was the first to coin the term ‘bespoke couturier’. He was the youngest and first of African descent to make it on Savile Row and has dramatically changed the perception of it, bringing visibility to the marketability of Savile Row. His clientele includes Mick Jagger, Will Smith, Jamie Foxx and Samuel L. Jackson to name but a few. He was recently named one of the 100 Great Black Britons by The Voice and was awarded an OBE in the 2006 Queens New Year’s Honours. He was also nominated at the beginning of this year to be part of the young global leaders.

Ozwald strides in the room, perfectly groomed, and not surprisingly he oozes with style, confidence and good manners. Recently back from Ghana, celebrating Ghana’s 50th year anniversary and 200 years since slavery was abolished, Ozwald has been busy not only running his rapidly expanding business but orchestrating the historic state banquet at the Annual African Union Summit with the president of Ghana, which Ozwald describes as “six months of pure commitment and effort”.

“Ghanaians and Africans have been very inspired by what I have achieved and how it would mean a lot to do something to celebrate, so we agreed that I would do a fashion show during the summit,” he says.

Ozwald then flew to LA to meet with his Hollywood connections – Will Smith, Forrest Whitaker, Jamie Foxx, Sidney Poitier, Quincy Jones, Lenny Kravitz, Don Cheadle, Samuel L Jackson.

“Contacting these individuals wasn’t difficult, the real challenge was getting them from America to Ghana,” says Ozwald.

I ask Ozwald about his fashion show Power of Unity – Unity Through Creativity and the concept behind it.

“Creativity is a powerful thing. I’m communicating a very strong political message through my creativity. Through unity we are going to stand a better chance in the continent as opposed to what it is today.”

Ozwald takes his role seriously in raising awareness for African opportunity for sustainable growth.

“African Americans alone spend $900bn a year on the American economy, they spend $50-82bn on tourism and the American Government doesn’t spend a cent of that on Africa. Africa’s still at its very early stages but just by spending a little more in Africa changes the continent. The issue with America and with the diaspora as a whole is that there are not enough bridges built for people to feel confident enough to cross that bridge comfortably – that was what I wanted to communicate to the 53 presidents. Also that if I can do it then anyone can do it.”

Indeed Ozwald is an admirable role model for anyone aspiring to be a successful entrepreneur.

“In life if something is meant to come to you and is your natural path, in the beginning it’s very easy. So I started to make and sell clothes, started to make some money and thought, ‘This is easy’ – that’s how I started a business,” says Ozwald. “To be a serious designer I needed reasons behind my designs. It’s an important point for any creative person to understand the motivations of what they create. That’s when I came up with the concept of bespoke couture. I took a very traditional approach to tailoring but had a very strong design flow.”

The world of couture has always been surrounded by an air of elitism but Ozwald’s arrival on the Row played a significant role in changing people’s perceptions considerably.

“With everything in life you can create a boundary for yourself when you are experiencing a challenge but you choose whether it is significant or not. I think one of my greatest strengths is my vision – I am without a doubt a visionary. I came to Savile Row and saw the opportunities. I’ve redefined what it is to be a tailor and created much more opportunities for tailors. My view is that as tailors, we need to consolidate production, lift standards and lift up the amount of products we can produce so by consolidating that we can trade that under the name of Savile Row and start exporting in a much more concise and profitable manner. I’m very much a person who looks to the future.”