Adwoa Aboah Heads Home To Ghana With Burberry

Today, Burberry reveals the third portfolio in a series of images by Adwoa Aboah and Juergen Teller. Following on from the first chapter of the three-part campaign in which Adwoa was photographed in London, the city where she was born, and the second, shot in New York, where she currently lives, the campaign concludes in Ghana, as Adwoa returns to country where her father, Charles Aboah, was raised. Adwoa art-directed the shoot and cast her friend British model Sonny Hall to feature alongside her in the campaign, shot on location around her family home in Accra, Ghana.

"I tried very hard not to be too emotional about this trip, but it’s so special for everyone to see where the story started. To be in Ghana means coming home. I’ve been able to bring close friends of mine here, and my grandma and my family have had a taste of what the other part of my life is like," Adwoa explained.

The images introduce Burberry’s autumn/winter 2018 pre-collection featuring layered silhouettes, a vibrant collision of prints, graphic scribbles, checks and colours across knitwear, coats, suits and accessories. Also featured are new styles of The Belt Bag introduced in canvas, new colourways and a smaller size.

The series includes a set of intimate images of Adwoa with her Ghanaian relatives, including her grandmother Gladys Aboah, great-auntie Mary Asare, cousin Kensemaa Aboah and her auntie Tina (Ernestina Aboah), who also designed one-off outfits made from the Burberry Vintage check especially for the occasion.

Despite growing up in the UK, and now residing in New York, Ghana still holds a very special place in Adwoa's heart. "It feels like home because I have so many lovely memories from there," Adwoa told Vogue exclusively. "I think it feels like home, more so because it was where my dad grew up and it is very much a part of him. He is such a family man and he has really taken that into our family and had such a presence in mine and my sister's life. Although we didn’t grow up in a completely African household, there have been certain hints throughout our whole life. Even though I have felt like an outsider, I always secretly felt like it was home."

As one of the most in-demand models of the moment, Adwoa is no stranger to the camera but what was it like for her to share the spotlight with her family and see them wearing their own custom-made Burberry looks? "I just remember telling my auntie what we wanted her to do, and she was so excited. This is what she does in Ghana, and for her work to be seen on an international scale was so exciting for her. None of us wanted to take our outfits off, because they were so different and cool, modern but very much traditional."

Travelling across the world constantly for talks, shoots, events and shows, means that Adwoa isn't able to return to West Africa as much as she'd like. "I don’t visit Ghana enough. I probably hadn’t been back in three years, and I need to go back every year. My family there is so important and I’m so happy when I am there, being in their presence, sitting on the sofa, watching them go about their daily lives. When life gets crazy, you have more responsibilities and sadly get a bit distracted by doing other things. My fondest memories are Coca Cola in glass bottles, listening to my grandad skip outside my window, filling up the to have a shower, going to church and walking into town to get pizza and ice cream."