Best known for his roles in BET’s The Bobby Brown Story and Starz’s Power Book II: Ghost, Woody McClain is a definitely rising actor to watch! Recently, he was featured in Esquire Middle East where he paid tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman and showed off his dapper style.

Woody McClain posed in a lavender double breasted suit by Garçon Couture and Jovana Louis amethyst bracelets, styled by Mickey Freeman. Garcon Couture is a menswear brand headed by two Black designers, Jean Francillon and Ilbert J. Sanchez. Jovana Louis is a self-named womenswear brand led by Haitian-born designer Jovana Louis that has been spotted on celebrities like Garcelle Beauvais, Dascha Polanco and Janet Jackson. Bomb!

Stylist Mickey Freeman describes the inspiration behind the shoot, “To be honest, the main inspiration behind the shoot was paying homage to Chadwick Boseman. The Wakanda with GQ/Esquire feel. We rocked out the styling. We kept it clean and chic, but added African elements with the jewelry. We were inspired by Black culture. I put some references to Huey P. Newton. Just Blackness. I used a lot of black designers.“

He further added, “Chadwick was all over the room. We shot the shoot months ago. Following the week after the shoot, Chadwick died.“

On the decision to dress Woody McClain in purple, he expressed: “Woody completely trusted me and my vision. My styling is all about liberation. There are no labels. It’s all about feeling comfortable. We’re always going to push the envelope and have conversations that we as a people don’t want to have, but need to have.“

Credits: Photography by Lalo Torres; Styling by Mickey Freeman and The Only Agency with assistance by Posh McKoy; Hair by Melange NYC; and, Set/production design by Kelsey Hannah Walsh.

Thoughts?