A FailProof Style Guide For The "King Of Boys" #GangstaRoyalty-Themed Premiere!

The release date of the highly anticipated movie King Of Boys is fast approaching! As the cast and crew members, fans and all movie lovers gear up to watch another Kemi Adetiba-directed blockbuster, there are jitters about what to wear and expect at the star-studded premiere which will be held on the 26th of October. The theme “Gangsta Royalty” gives us a lot to look forward to, not just on-screen but also on the red carpet.

While we know nothing can top that tough poster British-Nigerian filmmaker Adeyemi Michael made of his mother in a traditional Yoruba outfit while riding a horse in the middle of a Peckham street.

Or that historical photo of Olusegun Obasanjo in the White House dressed in a crisp-tailored Agbada and pants aso-oke set, with Former US President, Jimmy Carter. We’ll be merely drawing inspiration from these looks as the King of Boys premiere comes with a directional theme of gangsta fashion – insinuating that crime and fashion make a good mix!

Producer Kemi Adetiba, who started the #GangstaRoyalty challenge on Instagram shared a couple of photos to serve as inspiration; Taraji P. Henson‘s hard ghetto fabulous character Cookie Lion in hit TV Series Empire, the legendary Tony Montana played by Al Pachino; a gangster with an impressive collection of outlandish suits and shirts and also Stephanie Saint-Claire (1886-1969) a major inspiration for the film, who was in fact nicknamed – The Queen of Harlem, The King of Boys and so on.

Saint-Claire was a widow of mob boss “Bumpy” Johnson who described her as a woman “not afraid to kick off her expensive high-heels and go toe-to-toe with any man or woman insolent enough to insult her breeding and character.”

The characters that inspire the theme are all powerful figures with even more powerful senses of style to follow. While the sturdy selection of the cast members for the movie also follows the theme – Sola Sobowale, Jide Kosoko (veteran actors who have built a stern reputation for themselves on the screens), hard-to-the-core indigenous rappers Ill Bliss and Reminisce, along with other TV sweethearts; Adesua Etomi, Osas Ighodaro Ajibade, Sharon Ooja Egwurube, Toni Tones, among others.

If you’ll be attending this premiere but still haven’t figured out what you’ll be wearing, don’t be dismayed! We have pulled together, using African style stars as references, the ultimate style guide for the King Of Boys premiere.