Published by Reynolds Mark.
Welcome to One Big Cultur, where we dive into the untold stories of the most fascinating creatives. Today, In the vibrant world of Creatives, few names resonate as deeply as Jude Dontoh. Jude Dontoh has established himself as a force to be reckoned with. From the grounds of Ghana to walking the golden floors of the Met Gala, alongside the Legendary Lauren Hill, his journey is a testament to the power of authenticity and creativity. In this exclusive interview, Jude Dontoh opens up about his life, and the template that got him to where he is now
REYNOLDS: Okay bro, how have things been going for you over the last seven years?
JUDE DONTOH: The previous seven? I was in Ghana, heading one of the biggest brands in the country, “Tribe of God” . I was trying to create a system where we could sell at least as much merchandise as we could possibly think about pop ups, activations and collaborations with so many other systems and identities. So we started doing pop ups all throughout the major cities Accra, Takoradi, Kumasi. So through that, I got a connection with Showdem Camp, and we did a pop up in Lagos for the first time. And through that connection, I basically started designing for Showdem Camp. I started making waves getting into it, started branching out to design individually aside what I do with “Tribe of God. So I started designing for artists whenever they were going on tour or they needed merchandise. I would be the one to handle that in Ghana, and nobody was doing that at the time.
So all the attention was on me. Ghana was doing the thing where they were doing the year of return series, and a lot of influential people were coming back into the country. So I started getting a lot of connections, started working for Sony, Spotify, Lagos Polo Club, and so many other brands. I have done so many things, but right now my memory is so terrible. Through Sony and all of these things, I met this guy that's my brother now. His name is Ezra. So shout out to Ezra. Ezra put me in contact with another guy named Nathan and Cali. Nathan has a production company. Nathan is one of my favorite people on the planet. Beautiful soul. Kind heart. So shout out to Nathan and his wife.
Nice people. They introduced me to Ms. Lauryn Hill, and I started working with Miss Hill in 2022, if not 2021. And, through that, I got the chance to design for the “Lakers”, “Miami Heat”
REYNOLDS: very impressive bro!
JUDE DONTOH: So many other basketball teams. Kevin Hart, Sean Paul, Wycliffe, YG Marley, any other Marley that is on my list. I can't remember. I'm not even being cocky, bro. Just my memory.
REYNOLDS: Trust me. I understand
JUDE DONTOH: Yeah. But through that, I got the chance to work with so many people. I'm trying to think. But, yeah, a lot of people. And fast forward, I did the Met Gala appearance with Ms. Lauryn Hill last year. And that was all because of Miss Hill, by the way. She was like, oh, you want to go to the Met? I was like, YES!!!
REYNOLDS: Crazy bro, What's that like?
JUDE DONTOH: It was beautiful, bro. she brought me into her domain, her world, You know, briefly. And I was like, wow. This is a lot of pressure right here, I guess, she has her own style. She styles herself. She doesn't have a stylist telling her what to do. She's such a visionary. She knows what is ahead of time, I don't know how to explain it. It's like we're all moving in slow motion, but she's moving super fast, it's crazy, bro. So she was like, yo. I'm going to put this and this together. She asked me to go for fittings with a bunch of brands. I did Jill Sander. I did YSL. I even flew to Miami for Dior and Amiri fittings. And then we figured out what I was going to wear. The Met Gala was on a Monday, but the weekend before that, we had a show in Miami for Miss Hill. So I got promoted from designer to head of merchandise, luckily.
REYNOLDS: Lovely, Congratulations bro.
JUDE DONTOH: So I started handling merchandise and all other designers with Ms Hill. Basically, her process is so detailed. She communicates with every single designer, not just me, she will even go down into the nitty gritty of providing you with fonts. Mhmm. You know? Like I want this font. You know? Like, I want this here. I want this color here. I want that. I want that. So it's easier to create when somebody knows what they want.
REYNOLDS: Yes, bro, just straight forward
JUDE DONTOH: It's just effortless. You flow with the person because you have the skill. Right? And then she has the knowledge and also the skill. So she'd be like, oh, let's try this. So let's try that, sometimes we bump heads because I am so strictly orthodox. I want lines and this here. She'd be like, Get out of your life spectrum, and let's try this, But She's amazing.
REYNOLDS: Oh, I can imagine. That's outstanding, though.
JUDE DONTOH: Yeah, bro. She's amazing. She is literally God sent, bro. So we went to the Met Gala. Funny enough, at the Met, I didn't have an invitation. Right? So, they weren't going to let me in. And at the gate, Ms. Hill said to them, well, if he's not going, then I'm not going in. And I was like OKAY, LET’S GO!!
REYNOLDS: She definitely came through.
JUDE DONTOH: Bro, she came through heavy, But, yeah, we went for the Met Gala. It was beautiful. I started getting a lot of attention and feedback after that. It was quite overwhelming. It was a lot of pressure.
REYNOLDS: How's the reception from your peers and other colleagues as well?
JUDE DONTOH: Obviously, I'm from Ghana. And yeah. That was a big thing for my country. There were so many blogs, so where I stay there's, like, four flights of stairs, if I remember correctly. Yeah. I went up two flights of stairs. My phone was in my pocket, and it started vibrating like crazy. It was like the whole world was calling me, bro.
REYNOLDS: Yeah. Crazy.
JUDE DONTOH: Crazy. But it's good. People have been showing love. People even see my mom in Ghana and show her love
REYNOLDS: Oh my days. That's the goal. Right?
JUDE DONTOH: Yeah, bro, which is sweet. So it's been good. That's the goal. It's been good, man.
REYNOLDS: Lovely, bro. You literally just answered, a bunch of my questions. You know? That's great. The story is there, bro. You know what you're saying. You knew what you needed to talk about, that's great, man. Hearing that transition from coming to Ghana to the US and having The “Lauryn Hill” as a good backup, bro that's a testimony story right there.
JUDE DONTOH: Yeah bro. She's my spine. Basically she has so much knowledge. it doesn't make sense the amount of knowledge that she has. But, I go to her with every single idea that I have. I'll be like, oh, I want to do this. And she'd be like, well I thought of this at this point in time. And, she'll show me samples. And then this is what we did. We did tie and dye and put this and this together, and this is what we try to do. You know? she's literally my spine, bro, I go to her with every single idea that I have.
REYNOLDS: That is outstanding.
JUDE DONTOH: She's extremely supportive.
REYNOLDS: That is definitely outstanding, bro. To literally find that at that point of your journey, finding someone like that is literally key as well. Yeah. This adds up to everything, makes it all worth the while.
JUDE DONTOH: Absolutely. Absolutely.
REYNOLDS: What were the key turning points or decisions that brought you to where you are today?
JUDE DONTOH: First things first, I would say telling my mom what I really wanted to do and moving away from petrochemical engineering. Her being supportive and not just being the African parent and saying, hey. Don't do this.
REYNOLDS: Definitely. That support is very needed. Shout out to mom!
JUDE DONTOH: So whenever I feel down in a situation or be stuck or have impostor syndrome here and there, she'd be like, no, man. You got this. She keeps telling me you are the goat. You're the goat boy. You gotta keep going.
REYNOLDS: Yeah Thats lovely!
JUDE DONTOH: Definitely my mother. Secondly, I would say I started taking Jesus way more seriously. And before I would do things on my own accord. I would want to do this and do that, but I had to learn the hard way to let God lead. So now I just ask, what are you trying to do this summer? Because I'll make plans and then he will be like that is not going to happen
REYNOLDS: Always trust God!
JUDE DONTOH: But I just let God lead. And, again, I can't say enough. Ms. Lauryn Hill is my spine, bro. Yeah. I have a great support system. I have great friends. I don't have a large friend group. I have three or four that I just talk to every single day. And that's pretty much my circle. I just make money with them, win with them, lose, and then that's pretty much it.
REYNOLDS: That's great, bro. My next question will be, what challenges did you face seven years ago that you're grateful about today?
JUDE DONTOH: You know how they say never ask God for stuff? For example, if you said, God makes me strong, that's a terrible quote. If you've never heard that, let me tell you today. Don't ask God for stuff. Just let it come to you. Because if you ask him, to make you patient, bro, he'll take you through the worst lessons just so you can learn patience.
REYNOLDS: True. True
JUDE DONTOH: I'm glad that I got to experience hardship in the ways that I did. I've come from sleeping on a floor in a studio in Accra to going to the Met Gala, which is insane. That doesn't even add up. Yeah.
REYNOLDS: Yeah. It’s unbelievable
JUDE DONTOH: I'm glad that I got to experience all the hardships that I went through. And, I'm glad that throughout the whole time, God never gave up on me, and he constantly reminded me that you asked for this, by the way.
REYNOLDS: Definitely for sure. Yeah. Let's go into the brand, "Tribe of God”. Tell us about the tribe of God. What is the heart behind the movement? I've been around the whole heat of the tribe of God with coming to Ghana that year. And, watching the brand from my own point of view, from my own perspective, it's been outstanding as well. How has that been for you owning a brand in Ghana and literally having to corporate certain things going on with the country and also coping with your personality as a creative?
JUDE DONTOH: It's a beautiful question, bro. I have done a lot of interviews. Nobody's ever asked that. Appreciate
REYNOLDS: That's cool, bro.
JUDE DONTOH: I always wanted to do something with my two brothers, George and Emmanuel. Right. So going into college, we wanted to start a brand and just make money on the side. It wasn't even called Tribe of God at the time. I guess, we developed or we evolved into a tribe of God when we all found our way to Jesus.
REYNOLDS: Too Nice.
JUDE DONTOH: And there's a whole stereotype about Christianity and Ghana being extremely boring when it comes to clothes and Christianity just being boring and restricted or marginalized worldwide. It's not just Ghana, to be honest. So we were like, okay, that's not true. We're going to change the whole system or the whole narrative of what a Christian brand should look like because why not? So we worked hard at it, staying consistent. The main thing with the tribe of God was consistency.
Like you said, back to back drops, making sure stuff were exclusive, price points were either affordable or expensive. So as to the fact that if you were able to afford it, people would be like, damn. You actually have that, which is crazy. Mhmm. You know, it would elevate your status kind of like what a Birkin bag does for you. We stayed at it for ten plus years, never giving up, going hard, going through it, coming on top. Obviously, God never fails, we just stayed at it. We kept our heads down, and we were grinding, trying to create stuff. Just straight grinding.
REYNOLD: Straight grinding. Just dropping bangers.
REYNOLDS: That's definitely very educational. So let's talk about your personality now. So how has your journey shaped your influence towards other people around you?
JUDE DONTOH: I learned something important very recently. Yeah. Because we live in ourselves or because I've been myself this whole time on this planet, I don't see myself as special. I think everything I do is pretty normal. I worked so hard at being successful with fashion that I kinda secluded myself from a normal social environment. I'm a big homebody. You know this. I'm a big homebody. I don't go anywhere at all. It's just me and my TV with anime and my PlayStation five. But, I've been fortunate enough to see how many people I've inspired. There is this kid that did a whole presentation on his final year presentation in school on fashion and me, which is interesting because I was doing my presentation on how to build a heat exchanger.
REYNOLDS: That is wonderful.
JUDE DONTOH: I go to certain places, and people tell me how I've impacted their lives. I've met so many people that have told me, I want to be able to design like you or do this? And you've shown me that this is possible coming out of somewhere like Ghana. I'm extremely honored to be able to steward that gift that God has given me to the level where I'm inspiring people for him. And, obviously, it's not for myself because I don't do it for me.
I'm honored to just be around and to do stuff that God just puts in front of me because, again, I stop planning. I just be like, what do you want to do? You know? So my behavior, honestly, right now, is just being submissive. I keep to myself. I try to be as creative as I possibly can. And if there's anybody that needs help and they reach out to me, bro, I'm not difficult to communicate with. I'll just be like okay, Let’s talk.
REYNOLDS: Nice, I definitely understand you. My next question is what makes your personal brand unique in the space that you're in right now? How do you feel about Tribe of God & your personal branding? How's that affected your space?
JUDE DONTOH: Mainly because I'm from Ghana. My upbringing is different from where I am right now. I would say certain things to certain people, and they wouldn't understand me, which is something basic in my culture. I say please a lot. That's just because it's the Ghanaian thing to do. But over here, people don't. They'll be like, why do you do that? Which is understandable, though. I say sorry and excuse you or bless you every single day, and they're like, but it's not your fault. I've been shaped by where I'm from, and Ghana is a predominant country with strong affiliation to Christianity, My mom is a pastor. My dad built a church that she preaches in. So I basically grew up having to be a soldier for Jesus Christ. I didn't have a choice.
REYNOLDS: Yeah. I understand man.
JUDE DONTOH: As stubborn as I was as a teenager trying to figure out what I wanted to do, deep down, I knew what I wanted to do. So I guess that kinda like makes me who I am, and it differentiates me from whatever brand or whatever creative that I come in contact with because everybody has a different upbringing, different environment, different experiences, trauma, whatsoever. So that kinda makes me and the tribe of God what we are.
REYNOLDS: Outstanding! Definitely powerful because that part of you is what shapes how people see you and how strange you are as a person.
REYNOLDS: So my next question will be, what's next for Jude? What do you see yourself achieving in the next two years? Where do you place yourself? Right now, you are a creative director. Am I correct?
JUDE DONTOH: Yes. but I'm still a fashion designer, though.
REYNOLDS: But once you're able to direct or get involved in different creative spaces, you're definitely able to carry that title as a director because you're literally directing several people in the same industry. So you're definitely a creative director right now.
JUDE DONTOH: Fair. Fair. Fair.
REYNOLDS: Would you want to be just a fashion designer, or would you like to increase your scope and try out different parts of your creative journey?
JUDE DONTOH: I definitely want to explore more things. I'm trying to do different stuff. I am in different conversations in different rooms planning on doing different things.
REYNOLDS: Give us an exclusive, though. Give us a peek or something that we could look out for.
JUDE DONTOH: There's a magazine in Nigeria called Notesphere that I am definitely going to do a collaboration with, hopefully, at the end of this year or early next year.
REYNOLDS: We can do a collaboration as well for the culture, but I'm talking about how you have Lauren Hill right now in your circle, I'm sure you're definitely thinking about worldwide domination.
JUDE DONTOH: Absolutely, bro. Absolutely.
REYNOLDS: Let's talk about what's going on outside. “Like, we're trying to dominate”. “We're trying to take things to the next level. That's what I want to know from you”. I don't think anyone expected to see you at the Met Gala, only God did.
So with that level of access, that level of opportunity, what will you be able to draw out of that experience in the next one year, next two years.
JUDE DONTOH: Again, I've signed a bunch of NDAs. I could tell you that next year, you're going to be more proud of me than you already are right now, which is a lot because you sound very excited.
REYNOLDS: Definitely my bro. Trust me. Definitely.
JUDE DONTOH: But, yeah next year is going to be great, bro.
REYNOLDS: So what would you like to give out to the next fashion designer, creative that's trying to make it out in your field? What word would you have to say to your younger self?
JUDE DONTOH: My younger self. I would say listen to your mother. Listen to your mother and find Jesus faster than you found him because it would make a whole lot of things easier here for you.
REYNOLDS: facts,
JUDE DONTOH: Find Jesus faster than you found him. Yeah. Send Miss Lauren Hill a letter when you're 10 years old.
REYNOLDS: What legacy are you hoping to build through your life and your work right now?
JUDE DONTOH: I'll answer that in two different forms. If this was me last year, I would say that I wanted to become the biggest fashion designer slash creative director that ever actually came out of Ghana and was born, bred, and came out of the country.
REYNOLDS: Yep.
JUDE DONTOH: Which is me, by the way. I'm just saying.
REYNOLDS: Definitely. Talk it!
JUDE DONTOH: My legacy, I just want to be remembered as somebody that was in tune with Jesus and just followed his will. Whatever you want to do, Jesus, I am down. I don't mind, it doesn't matter what it is. If you want to do it, let's do it. That's what I want to be remembered for, somebody that follows Jesus and his word.
REYNOLDS: Nice. That's some heavy heavy journey you're on. It just adds up at the end of the day. Right?
JUDE DONTOH: Yeah, bro. It's not easy, bro. I'm going through it.
REYNOLDS: Yeah. Definitely. The journey is always not the best, but it's the destination that makes it worth it. That's a wrap for me on my side. Thank you so much for this.
JUDE DONTOH: Of course, brother
As our conversation with Jude Dontoh comes to a close, he leaves words of wisdom to not just his younger self, but us too.
“Hold Jesus more sooner than later” Is there anything more important than that?
Interviwed and Edited by Reynolds Mark
Design by Tosan Uche
Assistant Editor by walter okosie
Project lead by Oliwia klimczak
Produced by Studio Mezue
Garments by Tribe of God
Photographer credits : Ebenezer Johnson instagram : ebenezerjohnson_
location: NYC