Maison Martell has appointed Ghanaian visual artist Prince Gyasi as its new Creative Partner. The cognac house was founded in 1715 by Jean Martell and is the oldest of the great French cognac maisons.

The partnership spans film, design, cultural experiences and future releases, and it sets Gyasi's saturated color work alongside three centuries of French craftsmanship.

From Jamestown to Château de Chanteloup

It started with a short film conceived by Gyasi and directed by the London-based filmmaker TJ Sawyerr, shot at Martell's 19th-century estate, the Château de Chanteloup in Cognac, France.

Gyasi walks the château's lawns and halls as the estate gives way to him. The classical score slides into Afrobeats and the grounds turn electric pink, gold and deep blue.

The film's centerpiece is a golden Ghanaian pushcart, the kind that carries goods through Accra's streets and markets, sitting on the manicured grounds of the Charente estate.

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"Colour is how I understand and communicate the world," Gyasi reflected on the collaboration. "At Château de Chanteloup, I found a meeting point between heritage and imagination, and between the worlds of Cognac and Accra. This dialogue gives me the freedom to bring those influences together through my own perspective and to shape how the collaboration develops."

Sébastien Borda, Vice President of Marketing Prestige at Pernod Ricard, echoed the sentiment: "For more than three centuries, Martell has combined respect for its heritage with an openness to new ideas and forms of expression. Prince Gyasi’s creative vision resonates deeply with that spirit."

The collaboration also gives Martell's Swift emblem a new look. The bird has stood for the house since Jean Martell's era, and in Gyasi's version it appears in glowing neon magenta on custom leather pieces, including a two-tone gradient hoodie the artist wears himself.

Profile: Prince Gyasi

Prince Gyasi Nyantakyi was born in Accra in 1995 and grew up in Jamestown, on the coast. He started making images on an iPhone at 16, when the international fine art world still treated professional equipment as a prerequisite. The phone was part of the argument: vision and storytelling matter more than gear.

How synaesthesia shapes the work

Gyasi has synaesthesia, a condition that crosses the senses. Words, calendar days, songs and emotions arrive for him with color attached: Wednesdays are aquamarine, joy and hope are hot pink, calm is cyan and triumph is white.

His photographs use color blocking, digital painting and Afro-surrealist composition to frame Black subjects in bright, formal arrangements. The work aims at dignity, childhood and joy rather than the hardship imagery that dominates photographs of Africa.

Career milestones

• Pirelli Calendar (2024): Gyasi was the first African photographer, and one of the youngest creatives, to shoot and direct the Pirelli Calendar. The 50th-anniversary edition, titled "Timeless", brought together Naomi Campbell, Idris Elba, Angela Bassett, Amanda Gorman and His Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene.
• TIME Next Generation Leader (2023): named by TIME magazine for his contributions to modern art and cultural leadership.
• Fashion and brand work: custom pieces with Apple, Converse and Off-White, and artwork woven into Balmain collections under Olivier Rousteing, including a look worn on the steps of the Met Gala.

Boxed Kids

Gyasi co-founded Boxed Kids with his partner, a non-profit based in Jamestown that pays for education and scholarships and runs creative programs for children growing up in poverty there. It is meant to do more than short-term charity, showing young Africans that their stories and their creative work hold value on any stage.

What the appointment signals

Gyasi's appointment is part of a wider shift, with heritage luxury houses in Europe bringing African creators in as collaborators rather than treating them as consumers or a passing trend.

Further releases from the Martell x Prince Gyasi collaboration are due in the coming months.