Explore Ghana through art and fashion in Friend Studio’s limited-edition collection

At precisely 8am (6pm in SA), Sylvia Friend, a globetrotting LA visual artist, begins our video call. Friend greets me with an air of measured composure, a calm that belies the intensity of her schedule. The preceding 12 hours tell a story of relentless momentum: landing in California from Cape Town late the previous night, going straight to a shoot until midnight, and waking up by 6am to prepare for a 7am meeting. “It’s always work, but I like it like that,” she said.

While visiting Cape Town, Friend immersed herself in the city’s vibrant creative ecosystem, shopping at local fashion boutiques such as Merchants on Long and connecting with SA designers such as Samkelo Xaba of Boyde. She sees the city as a hub for collaboration, admiring the interconnectedness of its creatives.

The career that has since taken flight began with the unassuming origins of Friend Studio, which she launched in 2018 while a student at the University of California. 

“I was doing my studies, and I’d been painting and doing ceramics on and off. Growing up, I was really into the art scene and then sort of dropped it as I went to university and later picked it back up,” she said.

“I posted one of my paintings on Instagram randomly, wearing Wu-Tang Clan’s WU Wear. I tagged them, and they reposted it purely because I was wearing their clothes. People started asking who painted the piece in the background and offered to buy it. It feels serendipitous because this was the starting point of what Friend Studio would turn into.”

The studio has since evolved into a global art atelier, yet its ethos remains rooted in the communities that inspire it and remain close to her heart.

Friend Studio’s latest venture, the SS24 Ghana Capsule Collection, encapsulates this philosophy. Entitled For The Locals, the limited-edition collection exemplifies Friend’s dedication to cultural storytelling, artisanal craftsmanship, and sustainable fashion practices. It made its exclusive SA debut in December at Merchants on Long, Cape Town.

This capsule brings contemporary African narratives to a global audience through thoughtful collaboration with local artisans in Ghana. The centrepiece includes four printed silk button-down shirts and a selection of one-of-one pieces such as two dresses, a pair of jeans, and a skirt, each adorned with original artwork reflective of Ghanaian contemporary life. Beyond the garments, these original artworks are also available for purchase.

“Working in Ghana was incredible,” Friend beams. “It’s not the most efficient place to create silk garments, but it’s an important place have done so when you think about who we’re employing and the resources we’re bringing back to local communities in our [pursuit of Pan-Africanist thinking].”

For Friend, the process was a meaningful journey, a homage to true craftsmanship and the value of time-intensive, high-level creations.

Though born in Gresham, Oregon in the US, Friend’s Jamaican heritage informs her work in profound ways. “The colours I use and the style I create in, all centre on my visual experiences as a child,” she explains. Reggae music, with its evocative rhythms and vibrant tones, also plays a central role. “It really informs the fluidity of my paintings, the colours and the colour blocking. My Jamaican roots play a big role in the work I create.” This synthesis of music and art is evident in her earlier works such as 96 Degrees, named after a song by Third World, as well as Motorcycle Man, a depiction of a bustling street scene in Accra.

“The music you’ve listened to creates a scene. I’m creating a vibe and capturing the mood I was in when I created.”

The journey from early pieces like 96 Degrees to her latest collection, For the Locals, reflects an evolution in both style and intent. “The first body of work that I ever did was mostly created in Los Angeles, still mostly employing locals from L.A. So, the ethos of Friend Studio has stayed the same, but the style has changed. I used dark colours and charcoal more in my earlier works.” With For the Locals, Friend sought to “strip everything down” and focus on creating vibrant, scenic works. “For the Locals needed to be more vivid and for the viewer to fill the gaps of what isn’t pictured,” she explains.

Friend hopes that buyers and art enthusiasts will connect with the underlying themes of the collection. “I hope that buyers and viewers will take home the beauty of what Ghana is, first and foremost. I hope viewers recognise the beauty of Ghana in the same way I did. I also hope what is really communicated is the deep sense of community that it took to create these pieces — all of it was done by locals. Embedded in this entire process is this underlying theme of community.”

As Friend Studio prepares for its next chapter, the work promises to continue embodying a sense of community, craftsmanship, and the cultures that shape its 27-year-old founder’s vision, this time, back at the source in Jamaica.