He’s the youngest artist to design the Brit Awards trophy, counts Skepta, Lil Uzi Vert and Mia Khalifa as fans of his surrealist graffiti canvases and co-helms one of the hottest streetwear brands of the moment. Nigerian-born, London-based Olaolu Slawn could do anything he wanted to right now, so his latest venture might seem like a slight curveball.
“You’re never gonna know what I’ll do next — they expected us to do an exhibition and we opened a café,” he says sitting next to his girlfriend Tallula Christie inside their newly opened BeauBeaus cafe. Although he quips that it’s a money-laundering scheme (“There’s drugs under the stairs,” he jokes about the floating stairwell), in reality BeauBeaus is a wholesome, family affair. The café, in Aldgate, is named after their 11-month-old son, and both of Beau’s grandmothers are here daily — with Christie’s mum turning the first floor into an acupuncturist studio. “The tortured artist is such a tired trope,” says Christie, adding that they also want to host reformer pilates classes and eventually create a fully integrated wellness space upstairs. On the ground floor, friends of the couple serve café staples like pastries and coffees, as well as dishes that pay homage to their heritage such as Jollof rice. As for the decor: the walls are lined with Slawn’s highly sought after artwork, while coffee table books dedicated to the late Virgil Abloh (who collaborated with Slawn before his untimely death in 2021) are dotted around the lounge area.
