Inside FRAME

INSIDE FRAME: Prince Waitte

Written and Edited By: Nathaniel Enriquez

Styled and Produced By: Mustafa Al Hammad

Video By: Bekzat Juman

Prince Waitte, FRAME's beloved sales team leader, is a Nigerian native living and working in the UAE. We catch up with Prince in this edition of Inside FRAME, discussing his love for fashion and football.

FRAME: Hi Prince, can you introduce yourself to the world?

PRINCE: My name is Prince Ezekiel Waitte. I am from Nigeria. I moved to the UAE to train for football back in 2015.

FRAME: How did you end up working at FRAME?

PRINCE: I worked at Nike for a bit then moved to FRAME around two years ago.

FRAME: How did you get into fashion?

PRINCE: Oh, interesting question! Yeah, growing up as a kid and growing up as a football player, fashion has played an important role in my life. Seeing my idols and the people I idolize like Ronaldinho, Iniesta, Edgar Davids, and all these stars, before they go to training or a match, they’re always so fresh as soon as they pull up in a car.

FRAME: Would you say this gave you a better understanding of fashion?

PRINCE: Definitely, seeing how they carry themselves and show their personality with the way they dress really gave me an understanding of myself, and pushed me to look for my own style.

FRAME: Do you have any favorite brands right now?

PRINCE: That's a lot. I mean, we have very cool stuff at FRAME. Almost everything is nice, but I'll stick with the Neighborhood. It's one of my favorite brands, I love what they do.

FRAME: If we’re talking about football plus fashion, who’s the one player that comes to your mind? I know you love Iniesta but I don’t think he gets down like that.

PRINCE: Wowww. *Laughs* It is true, I look up to him when it comes to pure skill but when it comes to fashion he's not there. I would say Neymar for the current active players, but if you’re talking about back in the day, it has to be Edgar Davids. That dude is crazy.

FRAME: Since you brought up Neymar - if you could pick one from the three, off the top; Messi, Ronaldo, or Neymar?

PRINCE: Wait which Ronaldo?

FRAME:CR7.

PRINCE: Ahh. Well, Neymar is out easy. It’s between Messi and Ronaldo. They’re both really good players and I love both of them. But I’ll stick to Messi *laughs*.

FRAME:Working on the floor for FRAME means you see a lot of people every day. People have their own styles and unique ways on how they dress. What can you say about trends in fashion? And where do you think it's heading?

PRINCE: You know, before I really learned, it was just me following what was trending on Instagram or online. But when I joined FRAME, it was different. It almost felt like the brands FRAME carry, or even what the staff wears, it’s like I see trends being set in front of me. I saw how my manager dresses, and how the store owner dresses, at first I was like “wow this is crazy, how can these guys be pulling up to work wearing these?”. It looked so funny to me at first - like “??”. But as time went on, I realized that there is a deeper meaning to this, it's almost like storytelling - you understand? They tell these stories through the way they dress. These guys are mixing music, culture, and art into one. It really changed the way I looked at trends in fashion. It’s more than just trends, it's really about who you are, what you have, and how you bring it to the table.

FRAME: And you apply the same way of thinking now when it comes to how you dress?

PRINCE: Of course, back then I would just put on whatever and get on with it. But ever since I was surrounded by everyone that works at FRAME, my environment, and being in D3. Nowadays before I go to bed, it takes me like 30-40 minutes just thinking about what I would wear tomorrow *laughs*. But yeah, I’m influenced by the people around me, I try to follow their footsteps, and at the same time, I try to create my own. I want to take it back to my playground. Back home this is very different, and I want to inspire more youth with how they dress and express themselves.

FRAME: I’ll end the interview with this - what is your current dream 5-A-Side team?

PRINCE: Ummm. This is difficult. You know what, I’m a Chelsea fan so I’ll go with Petr Cech. I respect that goalkeeper, he’s a legend. For defense, it has to be John Terry. Then my role model Iniesta for sure. I'll throw in Zidane as well. Aandd for the last one -

FRAME: This one's tricky *laughs* you have to think about their chemistry.

PRINCE: I’ll go with Didier Drogba upfront.

FRAME: Beautiful. Thank you brother.

PRINCE: Merci beaucoup. Shukran habibi. Peace out guys.