Neal Davis, CHIIP OF THE NEW BLOCK

“You are new, no matter who you are”

I am sitting in traffic in my Uber, excited and a little bit nervous. My Uber is late, but luckily Neal Davids’ Uber is late as well. This did not come as a surprise. Traffic in Accra is something to behold, and being late is part of many people’s everyday routine. I ran into the ice cream bar where we’d decided to meet, happy to see that I was first to arrive. Neal walked in shortly thereafter, wearing one of his new denim ensembles paired with white sunglasses. The ice cream bar was bright with an eye-popping pink color on the walls. I just had to take my Polaroid. I felt I needed to capture this icon with something analog because, to me, Neal Davids is the definition of what comes across as genuine and real.

krullmag. Polaroid photo of designer Neal Davis in Accra

Neal Davids is the young talented designer that took the Accra fashion scene by storm last September with his new brand, Chiip O’Neal and the presentation of his progressive collection: “Chiip Of The New Block”. His oval catwalk looped around the Trade Fair Center’s tower, decorated with art by Ghanaian art phenom @AfroGallonism, draped down the sides of the building and flowed out to form the catwalk, in a very close likeness to the ‘Yellow Brick Road’ from the Wizard of Oz. The metaphor for new journeys and new beginnings was completed with brochures decorated with flowers – a detail included because flowers, according to the designer, are fresh, always growing anew.

Neal has been active in the Ghanaian fashion industry for some years now. His old label was called O’Neal. He then took a break, working with powerhouse brands like Christie Brown and re-entered two years later in September 2019 refreshed, once again at the helm of his own label, with the clever and inspired attitude portrayed in “Chiip Of The New Block”. This is one of those moments where if you were passing by, you would have to pull over. Or as in my case, if you were scrolling through Instagram on your couch in Sweden, you’d have to sit up and take a moment to admire and reflect. As someone who spent a lot of time scrolling through Instagram admiring Neal and Chiip O’Neal, this interview became one of my finest moments while living in Accra.

Sitting down.

We sat down at one of the counters, ordered some cappuccinos, and began to talk. I wondered how Neal Davids saw the creative scene in Accra. He described it as a creative bustle.

“You won’t be able to tell if you don’t get into this space and place, but there is much to learn and so many things to achieve here. I feel like Accra is a really small place, but it offers so many beautiful sceneries. There are so many things happening that people can use to make worthwhile for not only Ghana but for Africa as well. The creative scene here is growing, and I’m glad that I am a part of it.”

He also explained the backsides to the creative sites in Accra adding, “To be creative here is in a way constricted. It more or less means that if you are creative, you are not considered intelligent. This is rather unfortunate because I feel like most creatives are the intelligent ones. Because they are pushing the boundaries, telling narratives.” He smirks saying “It is easy to learn but not easy to teach.”

I asked if there are any misconceptions about Accra that he has noticed. “I just read that Accra was one of the most expensive cities in the world. And we have so many other things to offer than just being an expensive city. There are so many things in Accra that people haven’t noticed. For example, Print [textile]. Before, print wasn’t really respected, even if we have so many interesting prints from different backgrounds and they all tell amazing stories. You will never learn them unless you study the purpose of each pattern.” He also believes that Western boundaries have in a way, broken people, but thinks it is time for healing: “it is beautiful to see how people are reflecting their African selves and learning to lean towards what we do here, rather than what is done globally”.

You need to push…

I am in an ice-cream bar in Accra, sitting opposite an individual that is not only talented but also a person with a high work ethic. What Neal Davids wants his audience to know is that whoever you are and wherever you find yourself, you just have to trust yourself. “You are new, no matter who you are, wherever you are, and whoever you want to be. You need to push, be a go-getter in life. Keep at it. Never stop. Never quit. Be creative”.

Journey of life.

Neal Davids hasn’t always worked with fashion. His life was taking a different path studying lab technology and medical laboratory science. “It was a heavy workload, but it has brought me to where I am today. Working under pressure at the hospital taught me how to figure things out really fast. All of these parts of my life are the reasons for me being who I am today, and they also reflect my brand.” He started laughing “I didn’t study fashion but here I am”.

I was curious to know exactly how his road led him to fashion. Neal told me that he did not have it easy working at the hospital three years ago and that he had to wear the same thing every day. One day he had an argument with an elder – and he never argued with elders – who criticized him for wearing white sneakers to work. “I try to be humble, and not to blow my own horn, but it was interesting to see myself arguing with someone that is way older than me”. This was the moment Neal realized how much his style, identity, and expressing himself meant to him. “I am not a person that can be contained. And it pushed me to step out of my box and to go with what I believed in and what I felt would work for me”.

He is a storyteller.

Neal says that there is much creativity in him, showing unconditional love for what he does by telling stories that need to be told. Stories that he has in his head. He tells me that he writes down his emotions and keywords in a book. He’s done this since he was 8 years old. “All these things mean so much…small journals that I have…going back to read them. I was an introvert growing up, so I found myself reading a lot, and speaking to myself.” These journals can now be seen in his collection and displayed as part of his storytelling, putting narratives into small sentences to reflect the journey. His journey then becomes the keyword, prompting the audience to reflect on their own journeys. To me, his approach and process feel very healing. Just meeting him is healing. He has an energy that immediately calms the room that he steps into.

When he came back to his own project after two years, he needed a story to tell. “Chip is my name at home… which nobody knows. I felt like I was outing a brand new me, but still in my body which is Neal. So that’s how I decided to make it Chiip Of The New Block and name the brand Chiip O’Neal”. Neal is back now, and he is doing what he wants to do and is here to stay.

Yellow Brick Road.

Back in Sweden, I was sitting on my couch, bummed that I wasn’t in Accra at the time of Chiip O’Neal’s fashion show. So, I asked Neal Davids to tell me more about what led him up to that point of the fashion show, and also, the thought behind the collaboration with AfroGallonism aka Dr. Attukwei Clottey. He grinned at me remembering his struggles before the show. He told me about the hustle to find something that felt right and that was available to him. You could see how much he cared about the smallest detail in the production. “There is limited space for events in Accra, and usually it’s a space where you just put up a runway and that’s it. I felt like that was not for me. I wanted to do something different. I thought of my logo and noticed that it was a ‘C’ and an ‘O’ and two lines. You can curve that into an ‘O’, and so I started to look for something oval. Then I realized that the trade fair had never been used before. I was also able to see the whole show in 3D before thanks to this artist “Nii’s Journal”. “Afro Gallonism is someone that has inspired me so much. Because…come on… this is someone that makes art from trash. It is sustainable, beautiful and tells a story. What he is doing is not easy. And then he uses the color yellow. Yellow speaks to me, and my brand’s colors are blue, white and yellow. He [Afro Gallonism] was impressed with my sketches and fabrics for the collection, and it looked like it would pop. So, we decided to come together. And it was a boom. I was really surprised by how well everything turned out. It felt good that my hard work had paid off, had been seen and respected. I can’t wait for you to see the second one. It will happen at around the same time in 2020.”