Dent de Man is the name of a very distinctive mountain close to the region of “ Man” in the northwest of the Ivory Coast. Meaning literally ‘tooth of Man’ it dominates the skyline of the Dix-Huit Montagnes region. The standing-out of the mountain and its exotic habitat of colourful plants and animals inspired Ivorian born founder and creative director Alexis Temomanin to name his creations after the landscape icon. After a impetuous journey from the centre of Ivory Coast to the heart of EAST LONDON the first creations under the name Dent de Man were introduced to the market in 2013.
Dent de Man finds it’s purpose in providing traditional sartorial elegance through crude outspoken and colourful menswear.
In its underlying ethos of breaking the norms of the establishment, Dent de Man blends a simple approach to menswear with a twist of traditional and soulful prints and fabrics – each fabric having been individually sourced and possessing it’s own story and meaning.
Dent de Man is a brand that prides itself on the utilization of vintage fabrics and a celebration of ancient inspired printing techniques. Thru a close collaboration with premium batik inspired Dutch print manufacturer VLISCO, Dent de Man has access to archives of fabrics going back over 100 years.
The team around Dent de Man embraces a congenital global perspective at life brought together in East London. As a result of this, Dent de Man creates a contemporary silhouette to reflect brave personality and edgy lifestyle. The pieces are bright and uplifting additions to the wardrobe of today’s man.
In a short period of time, the raw authenticity of the Dent de Man proposition has been recognized and embraced by a loyal fan-base in both the music industry ( the Kooks, Rudemental, Little Dragon, and Mystery Jets) and with eclectic early adaptor retailers such as Joyce, Browns, Closet, Beams.
“…where my imagination could wander and set me free”
ALEXIS TEMOMENIN
The colorful Veritable Wax Hollandés prints are famous in Central West-Africa and they are dominating the Ivorian streets. Alexis’ emotional connection to these colorful prints is a secret he can no longer keep.
Dent de Man uses prints that signify a period of revelation providing Alexis an emotional outlet, turning hope, anger and disappointment into something positive and beautiful.
Working with the typical patterned prints, enabled design-autodidact Alexis to refreshing his blurred image of his past. In fact, by collecting the prints he initiated a symbolic quest to find back his mother, who abandoned him at the age of 5.
The prints have been an escape to a better world; a heaven where he could escape to, stay a child and imagine being with a lost loved one.
Alexis remained a child of curiosity and confusion, using the imagery of the prints as a way of understanding various aspects of life, by transferring this onto clothing. He found out that each print signified a certain aspect in his life, rekindling memories of his childhood.
Many of the prints cannot be traced back to their original designer due to their lengthy existence, yet each one has a cultural connection to religion, spirituality and mystical value.
In creating Dent de Man, Alexis solitude was gained, leaving resentment behind to open a new chapter.