YEBOAH’S COS: When Reece Yeboah was young he traveled from his home in London to Accra and back again a couple of years later. The journey was the making of him as a person, and as a designer.

His debut collaboration with Cos is about to hit shop floors this week and he’s called it “Metamorphosis” after his coming-of-age experiences in Ghana.

In an interview, the designer said that when he was 11, his mother handed him a one-way ticket to Accra to “straighten me out” because he was messing around and underperforming at college.

She saved for months to buy the ticket, he said, and was convinced that life in Africa with clan would help him grow up.

She was right. The years he spent in Accra transformed him and he returned to London with renewed purpose.

Living in Africa, he said, “gave me a way of how essential family is” and a way of perspective, too.

“I learned what it’s to struggle — and never complain. I took freezing cold bucket baths, carried water on my head and walked miles to high school. I missed the luxuries of London,” said the designer, who returned to the U.K. a couple of years later.

He studied fashion design, styling and founding the streetwear label Saint London Ltd., which had a pop-up at Selfridges in 2018. He worked as a stylist and later launched his signature collection, which blends streetwear with soft tailoring. 

Yeboah said his collection for Cos, a division of H&M Group, is a tribute to his mother’s spirit and her ambitions for him.

He’s mixed dark hues with the brilliant yellow of Ghana’s flag and his jackets and shirts include butterfly and pinstripe designs. The gathering features caps, beanies, knitted hoodies, a varsity jacket, and structured jackets in wool check fabrics.

Yeboah said that while he could have began by designing a men’s collection, the result’s more gender fluid, with silhouettes based on the Cos signature shapes.

His favorite parts of the method, he said, were sample-making, concept constructing and “seeing that creation come alive from the sketch.”

His ambitions are big. “Nine figures in six years,” he said. “That’s what’s on my bedroom wall. It’s not concerning the money. I would like to be about to say ‘I’ve done that,’” said Yeboah, and he’s actually off to an excellent start.

Last week, Yeboah and Cos staged a fashion show in London with a number of the recent looks and sitting front row were three high-profile cheerleaders: Riccardo Tisci, Naomi Campbell and Edward Enninful.

Prices for the Cos collaboration range from 35 euros for the one hundred pc organic cotton Rising Star T-shirt to 350 euros for the wool-blend check coat.

The limited-edition collection might be available exclusively at Cos stores internationally and on the web site from Wednesday. — SAMANTHA CONTI

HERMES RARITIES: Joseph Lau, one in all Hong Kong’s most distinguished property developers, is selling his rare handbag collection through Sotheby’s via an internet auction from Monday to Feb. 9. It is going to be followed by a second installment of baggage in July.

The primary batch of 77 rare bags, which Lau acquired over the past twenty years, is valued at 16.3 million Hong Kong dollars, or $2 million. A part of the sale proceeds will go to charity, Sotheby’s revealed.

Touted as the most important single-owner handbag sale in Asia, the lot features a shearling Teddy Kelly 35 and a So Black Kelly 35, each from the Jean-Paul Gaultier era at Hermès, circa 2004 to 2010.

There may be also a rare bespoke multicolored Fringe Birkin 35 in red leather, in addition to six diamond Birkins of assorted sizes in blue jean, matte, electric blue, red, violet and fuchsia.

The blue jean shiny croc Bikin 25 with 18-karat white gold and diamond hardware is valued between 1 million and a pair of million Hong Kong dollars, or $127,000 to $254,800, and is the priciest item on offer. The remainder of the diamond Birkins are valued between 400,000 and 700,000 Hong Kong dollars, or $50,960 to $89,180.

Other prized pieces within the auction include a Rose Bonbon mini Kelly 20, an Orange Kelly Doll and a Bronze Metallic Kelly 25, which in line with Sotheby’s was only in production between 2004 to 2005. The colour of the bag was inspired by the window displays designed by Leïla Menchari for the Hermès flagship store at Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris. The Metallic Kelly bag is valued between 400,000 to 600,000 Hong Kong dollars, or $50,960 to $76,440.

Morgane Halimi, global head of purses and accessories, said, “The limited-edition pieces which have made and shaped the history of purses prior to now twenty years can all be present in this collection.”

With a net value of $13.6 billion, in line with Forbes, Lau is the previous chairman of property developer Chinese Estates. He’s best known by the general public in Hong Kong for amorous affairs with several high-profile actresses prior to now twenty years, which frequently involved gifting rare bags and high jewelry as proof of affection.

He has been married to former showbiz journalist Kimbee Chan since 2016. They’ve two children.

In 2017, Lau transferred 75 percent of his shares in Chinese Estates to Chan and their son, citing serious health issues. — TIANWEI ZHANG

KEYS’ COGNAC: Alicia Keys is the face of Hennessy Paradis in a recent global campaign for the French cognac producer. The Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and classically trained pianist is Hennessy’s first female partner.

“Man, I truthfully think that isn’t any higher time than now,” she said of hearing the news. “It’s the age of girls. It’s the age and time of really uplifting and understanding the ability of girls — the ability that we now have to create, the ability that we now have to be the bosses of our businesses, the heads of our tables, the heads of boardrooms, the heads of corporations, the heads of our families, the heads of the federal government and planning and changing the world as we all know that it’s best for the direction to go in a positive way. It’s all about honoring women, and I feel like we are going to find a way to balance out a lot once we really honor the ability of girls.”

Keys doesn’t stand alone within the project, nevertheless; shot within the Utah desert, she’s joined by Chinese pianist Lang Lang.

“He’s already been a partner with Paradis for slightly while,” explained Keys. “And so, I feel he was the one who suggested there may very well be a good looking partnership with each of us. I loved the thought, especially with each of us as classically trained pianists and artists, but from two different sides of the world and just really representing the variety and great thing about music harmony, , excellence and in craft.”

Created in 1979, Paradis blends greater than 200 different cognacs which have been aged for as much as over a century. Today the brand is owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton and Diageo.

Keys first tried the brandy about three years ago, she went on: “I used to be introduced to Paradis most certainly by my husband, who all the time knows the perfect of the perfect. And he was like, ‘I feel you’ll love this.’ I do love a smooth, classy, elegant drink.”

On the heels of her forty second birthday — and releasing her ninth studio and first Christmas album, “Santa Baby,” independently on Apple Music — Keys is looking forward to the yr ahead.

“I’m working on so many amazing things,” she said. “Oh my gosh, I mean, we just finished an incredible world tour. And we’re also going to proceed to tour more in 2023. I’m super enthusiastic about some projects that I’ve been developing which are coming to life this yr that I just think are probably the most exciting things I’ve ever done. And musically, I’m just in a greater, more creative, more incredible place than ever before. There’s just no limits and no stopping.”

Any Recent 12 months’s resolutions?

“To proceed to be open to abundance — abundance of health, abundance of kindness, abundance of affection, abundance of creativity, abundance of growth, abundance of evolution, abundance of creating things and creating things I’ve never even imagined before. My Recent 12 months’s resolution is to proceed to be open to an abundant life with no fear in any way.” — RYMA CHIKHOUNE

NEW SIGNING: Spanish actress Ester Expósito has signed with IMG Models.

This marks the 23-year-old’s first modeling contract. Best known for her starring role within the Netflix teen drama series “Elite,” Expósito rose to popularity from the hit show, gaining greater than 28 million followers on Instagram.

“Ever since I met the IMG team, I knew we’d get along,” Expósito told WWD in an exclusive statement. “We share a standard vision and I feel we’ll do great things together.”

She has also been seen within the streaming service’s thriller “Someone Has to Die,” HBO drama “Veneno” and Jaume Balagueró’s Spanish horror film “Venus.” Notably, she collaborated on Lydia Cacho’s docuseries “Peace Peace Now Now,” which tells stories of girls taking a stand against armed conflicts in Latin America.

Off screen, Expósito was on the September 2022 cover of Harper’s Bazaar Spain, and he or she has worked with brands that include Saint Laurent, Dolce & Gabbana and Bulgari.

With IMG Models, the main target might be on expanding her global footprint “across the style, beauty, digital and editorial arenas,” in line with the agency. Expósito joins a roster of clients that features Gigi and Bella Hadid, Hailey Bieber, Lori Harvey, Lori Harvey, Precious Lee, Paloma Elsesser, Alton Mason, Eileen Gu, Diana Silvers and Richie Shazam. — R.C.

TIE UP: Pinterest and Condé Nast Entertainment are forging a recent content partnership, WWD has learned.

The deal, the most recent step in a video and content strategy that Pinterest rolled out two years ago, will channel 160 exclusive videos produced by Vogue and Architectural Digest pegged to featured seasonal and cultural moments, including “Fashion Month,” “Wedding Season,” “Summer” and “Back to School.”

“Video’s ability to take users from inspiration to motion is undeniable,” Nadine Zylstra, Pinterest’s global head of programming and originals, told WWD. “Across Pinterest, we now have seen its power in helping people create the life they love, whether helping them reimagine a favourite fashion look or reinvent their backyard.”

The partnership kicks off with fashion week — first in Recent York, then moving on to the shows in London, Milan and Paris. Vogue programming will offer backstage access and runway trends in a series of original episodes available on its Pinterest profile.

In April, the corporate will launch a profile for Vogue Weddings with content curated by editors and wedding planners, from checklists to table settings, gowns, bridesmaid looks and more. They can even create unique boards for the most important weddings of the yr. Beauty can even get a highlight, with content from Vogue’s celebrity video series, “Beauty Secrets,” within the works for the platform.

Architectural Digest will highlight its 2023 AD100 list of top designs and design talent, plus develop episodes with themes like small living and tips on how to create the right backyard for summer.

Based on Pinterest, Condé Nast has greater than 40 account profiles which have garnered as many as tens of tens of millions of views. Meanwhile, videos usually have turn into a growing priority, having prolonged to each advertisements and the organic Idea Pins that users save or share. The tech company’s internal data, which tracks worldwide viewing and other traffic, clocked a threefold jump within the variety of Idea Pins featuring video between the third quarter of 2021 and 2022.

It’s not clear exactly how big a slice that’s in comparison with its overall figures, but with greater than 390 billion pins and greater than 400 million monthly energetic users, even a modest proportion would amount to a bit of business — which might help explain Pinterest’s ongoing investment in video.

For Zylstra, the Condé Nast partnership matters since it is “helping us meet [what users] need and showcasing Pinterest as a house for excellent video content.” — ADRIANA LEE