Waraire Boswell, a menswear designer whose clients included LeBron James, Jay-Z and Blake Griffin, has died at the age of 48.
His death, which followed “a private battle,” was announced in an Instagram post on his account Thursday. A media request to his company was unreturned Friday. The date and cause of his death was not immediately known.
A memorial is being planned for a later date.
Boswell, a graduate of California State University at Northridge, first worked in the entertainment industry before establishing himself as a designer. Slender and 6’7”, he struggled to find clothes with a precise fit, so he started making his own. Another incentive was wanting to dress as well as the agents and colleagues that he worked with in the entertainment sector in 1990s. He entered the working world first at the United Talent Agency and later at what was then the William Morris Agency.
In a video post, he once said, “I come from a family that is rich in love, not necessarily finance. It was like, ‘You’re out of college. You’re an adult. You’ve got to figure it out.’”
His style and and unexpected combinations resonated with talent agents. In 2002, Boswell ventured out on his own and launched his signature label to address the lack of sartorial options for men his size. Acting as his own best model, he routinely attended events, movie premieres, and other after-work gatherings where inevitably guests would inquire about his attire.
Although many music and movie fans might not know Boswell by name, they may have seen his suits and designs worn by celebrities, pro athletes and musicians at the Grammys, ESPYs, the NBA Draft and Golden Globe Awards. His specialty was making custom suits for pro athletes and other notables like Tyson Chandler and Chris Bosh. In 2009, when Bosh was the number-one draft pick, he was the first to come knocking on Boswell’s door.
Boswell also built a following among such notables as Will Smith, Ellen DeGeneres and Colin Kaepernick. For last year’s NBA Draft, Boswell dressed Overtime Elite twins Amen and Ausar Thompson in custom lookalike suits — one in ivory and the other in navy. Amen Thompson told WWD last year that the pair wanted to work with Boswell, because “he’s a tall guy like ourselves. He’s made suits for a lot of great people and we thought that him and us could have a good vision for the draft-day suit.”
Amen and Ausar Thompson arrive prior to the first round of the 2023 NBA Draft in New York City.
Getty Images
In an interview with the CFDA a few years ago, Boswell cited Bo Jackson, Andre Agassi, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Charles Barkley, and Deion Sanders as sources of inspiration, as well as Nike in the mid-1990s. “Nike, during that time, put out some excellent product. It had meaning, it was very colorful, and a ton of great athletes from that time were African American. They looked like me and spoke to me in the entrepreneurial sense. My parents are entrepreneurs, and they would grab my mentality and say, ‘Even though you see them from a sports point of view — understand these are businessmen.’”
Having teamed up with multiple brands and companies like Nike, Lexus, Fear of God, and American Express, Boswell was recruited by the single malt Scotch whisky maker Glenfiddich in 2021 for a collaboration with Rowing Blazers’ Jack Carlson to reimagine the “Power Suit.”
Waraire Boswell
Michael Buckner/WWD
Boswell kept his archives stowed away in a locked garage, with hundreds of flea market finds like an old-school wool baseball shirt with “Bath” in red lettering; a Parisian double-breasted, heat-sealed raincoat; album covers like Michael Jackson’s “Off the Wall,” and an orange NASA parachute. He repurposed the latter and dyed it black for an upcycling design challenge from 1800 Tequila. Innovative as he was, Boswell was also practical. Knowing his client would be on the red carpet in 95-degree heat, he decided to remove the sleeves from a shirt, which was paired with black tails and slim stonewashed camouflage pants made from Belgian combat fighters’ uniforms. There was no place that he wouldn’t look for materials whether that be a junk yard, if need be, or a secondhand store. His belief was that those little things added a world of value.
As a Los Angeles-based designer, he believed the city was having its moment. “You can find inspiration anywhere. But for me, it is the inspiration,” he said.
Despite his high-end clientele, Boswell was egalitarian with his designs and fashion advice. In 2017, McDonald’s tapped Boswell, whose first job was working at the fast food chain, to refresh uniforms for U.S. employees. A dark gray denim apron, multitone polo shirts and baseball caps with more discreet logos were a few of the styles. Developed with cues from restaurant employees and customers, the new uniforms were available to workers in the chain’s 14,000 restaurants. Boswell worked with WayToBe, a U.S.-based supplier that distributed his designs nationwide. When his uniforms were released, Boswell said that as a former McDonald’s employee, he understood the design and functionality needs of “the next generation” of McDonald’s uniforms. He also said he was inspired to give employees “a greater level of confidence.”
By his own account, Boswell said he saw the world from an artist’s point of view — “always looking for the beauty in something.”
Tyson Chandler in Waraire Boswell jacket and pants at Canoe Studios.
Lexie Moreland
And for Boswell, building a wardrobe started with basic suits in black, navy, gray and khaki, as well as an abundance of white shirts. Although his many takes on suits reflect a certain fastidiousness, Boswell was committed to “craftsmanship, teamwork and love through the lens of historical art,” according to the post announcing his passing. Married with two children, Boswell often said, “Infrastructure starts with family, then becomes a legacy when you inject love into what you do.”
Boswell is survived by his wife Monica, their children Miles and Mason; his mother Ann and his sister Kasmin.
According to the post about his death, “in the midst of his battle,” he never allowed “the circumstances to deter his design mission of creating the prefect wardrobe for clients to feel their best in their best moments.” The post continued, “Creating the perfect suit is ironically similar to life,” Waraire would say. “Ironic because nothing in life is perfect, but similar because you can control how it fits you.”
