A Model Relationship

June 15, 2025

Herbie and Saul Mensah on Football, Fashion and Friendship.

On a quiet June morning, a sleepy Tuesday with the market packed away until the end of the week, we sat down on Portobello Road with vintage seller, upcycling designer, and icon of the road Herbie Mensah and his son Saul — model, former footballer and fellow Manchester United fan. Fresh off a flight from Denmark, where they've spent a rainy few days on a photoshoot together, father and son talked to us about their shared passions — football, fashion and the friends they've made over the years.

Herbie describes himself as a "man of a certain age, but young at heart." Coming to the UK from Ghana at three years old with his parents — his mother, a talented seamstress, his father, an impeccably dressed lawyer — the inherited love of fashion felt inevitable. "My parents were very much into their clothing," he tells us, "My dad had all of these suits that were tailor-made." Although his mother equipped him with the understanding and enthusiasm for constructing clothing, it was his father, Herbie explains, from whom "I got my sense of fashion, and style, and my love for clothing." 

From that early age, Herbie has orbited the fashion industry — as model, collector, seller and designer. "I didn't take it up at school, I didn't have the option, so ended up doing my career differently." A modest retrospective of a colourful career, Herbie details how, at eighteen, he came into modelling accidentally: "the manager of the World's End shop approached me in this night club and asked me to do a fashion show, I thought it was a joke!" Popping down to Vivienne Westwood's infamous Kings Road haunt, he soon met a collective of "weird and wonderful people," eventually meeting Westwood herself, who quickly cast him in her upcoming Paris show and many others. Herbie soon started modelling for other designers and what were, at the time, promising yet unheard of students, he laughs, like John Galliano. Later establishing his market stall on Portobello Road after a lengthy career working with adults with learning disabilities, he felt called back to the world of fashion. It was, he describes, "a no brainer" to sell vintage clothing, and later, his own upcycled designs. During the pandemic, as market stalls closed their shutters and the world quietened, Herbie started to rework pieces into more contemporary designs, repairing and reshaping vintage garments and fabrics to give them a modern feel and a longer life. "It was purely experimental" he explains, with "one thing leading to another." 

When we quiz Herbie on these stories, Saul quips: "we're going to be here forever!" Saul, Herbie's youngest son, is twenty-three, he tells us, motioning to his dad — "not quite as old as this guy here." He is also not quite as into fashion as Herbie (is anyone?), but, the footballer-turned-model admits, he draws a lot of inspiration from his dad. Saul, the self-described "sporty sibling" ("although I don't know, it might be from his genetics!") has played football for as long as he can remember. Joining the football academy with Fulham at five years old (with clubs around London "knocking on our door!" Herbie proudly adds), for a long time he balanced football with the occasional modelling job, before turning to it as a full time profession. "My trajectory has been a little different," he explains, but creativity has always driven it: "I like expressing myself in whatever I can do."

Both father and son fondly recall the early days of Saul's career. "There was this shoot for this kids' clothing brand, long gone now" Saul begins to tell us — "down in South London!" Herbie interjects gleefully, "the photographer was tearing his hair out with all of the other kids." Herbie laughs, noting that "Saul was very well behaved for the entire shoot." For both, modelling holds a magnetism — what is the allure? "It's the experience!" Saul enthuses; "it's the different walks of life, different places, different perspectives, all of that is shared with me." It's really cool, he ponders, to hear about people who have led such different lives, and yet — he gestures at the room — "we have all met, in this same environment." 

For Herbie, too, it is the people he has met that makes the experience so special: "meeting everyone: the photographers, the stylists, all of the people involved." Ultimately, though, the clothes are at the heart of the process. "Obviously I'm interested in fashion, so seeing all the aspects of clothing, how it’s constructed, the fabrics, the different styles." Again, for both Herbie and Saul, it comes back to expression, as Herbie sums up: "you interpret the clothes, you get a feel for how to pose in them. Without saying anything, you walk a certain way, you express the clothes."

Clothes, it is clear, are a common passion for father and son. How similar is their style? Herbie, we quickly learn, loves French workwear, a sartorial relief after the bright colours and eclecticism of his youth. "In the eighties, I was a Soul Boy, and a New Romantic, and you sort of had to dress like a peacock" he confesses, "you were always trying to outdo your mates with some ridiculous clothing, all that makeup." It was a sign of the times, he reminisces, to look cool, and "over the top." Today, he gravitates towards more uniform pieces — an Australian military woollen coat, a linen safari jacket, a tweed chore. Saul, too, favours simplicity, "I love Supreme, it's big for my generation, and with a good eye you can make it look so clean." Saul, like his father in the eighties, finds his style changing frequently. "I definitely switch it up," he agrees, describing his favourite piece at the moment — a Japanese denim set of jeans and a jacket made by a friend. The style he embraces today is a far cry from his early days in tracksuits, his uniform for a time. What did Herbie make of that? He grins: "they're just for sports!"

Despite his dad's infamous style, Saul rarely asks for styling advice, opting instead to forge his own sartorial path. "Even dodgy outfits are part of the evolution of life," he laughs. Experimentation is crucial, and inspiration can be found everywhere — especially on the streets of West London. "I think here is where my dad's influence really comes out, even if not consciously." Saul explains, gesturing to the streets outside as they slowly become busier with the hum of the day. "I'm always down on Portobello Market on a Saturday, whether it's helping my dad, or even just to be immersed in the environment." For both of them, Portobello, and especially Carnival, hold rich memories, although both mischievously smile when we ask for stories, refusing to be drawn into conversations of "misbehavior." It's a day for friends old and new, for music and for vibes, they agree. For Herbie, Portobello "explodes with culture", with vibrant colours and an array of fashion inspiration. "I love being in the moment there, stood watching the whole world passing by, hearing every language" — he pauses, and laughs, "I've said I'm a man of a certain age, and I see people pass through across their lifetime… So seeing friends again, people who I haven't seen since my days of partying, and to still recognise each other, it's incredible." He pauses again: "I get emotional even just thinking about it — West London, you cannot beat it." Saul, too, holds great affection for the area; "Westway was a huge part of my childhood, I played football there" he smiles at the memory, "I mean maybe I am biased, but this is the best part of London." 

Football, and specifically Manchester United, is at the heart of Herbie and Saul's relationship. "I'm a great lover of football!" Herbie beams. Saul's love for the game, and the kits too, has clearly been passed down from his father. The kit, we suggest, is the ultimate celebration of fashion and football — what are their favourites? For Herbie, it is a 1970s Manchester United away kit, in a continental black and white stripe. Saul opts for a similar, but more recent iteration, an all-black Manchester United kit from 2017: "it was a cold, rainy day, and I could have only been about fifteen or sixteen" he recalls, "it represented so much, because when we scored, Jesse Lingard did the Milly Rock, and then we won, and it was a big thing for my generation." The dance became instantly iconic for Saul and his friends — a reflection on another talent he shares with his dad? They both laugh, "I have fancy footwork" Herbie informs us, "for soul, for funk, James Brown and my era." "I definitely have rhythm" Saul declares, neither confirmed nor denied by Herbie, who simply smiles at his son.

Footwork — on the field or the dancefloor — aside, the pair have always bonded over their shared love of the game, travelling all over the world for Manchester United. Once, Saul recalls, "we were lucky enough to end up in the players' lounge at Old Trafford, where we met all our favourite players." At the end of the game, they left via the players' exit, to be greeted by hordes of fans "waiting for us! Everyone cheering, and my dad's here like, 'ok, no signatures!'" The pair chuckle at the memory, finishing each other's sentences as they share stories of football games won and lost, holidays and stories of summers on the market together.

There are the memories and the loves that Herbie and Saul share — dad jokes ("knock knock" "who's there?" "dr?" "dr who!") and piña coladas in particular — but is there anything else that they would want to hand down to future generations? "I mean, I'm missing half my wardrobe already because of him!" Herbie exclaims; "there's a corduroy jacket with a broken zipper right now, too." "It would be rude not to, he's got so many!" Saul protests, although, he admits, "in a court of law, maybe it wouldn't be in my favour for that jacket." A pair of Gucci loafers, too, may have ended up on his feet in a photoshoot — "but I didn't walk in them!" More seriously, however, Herbie considers the question. "I would hand down my suit, which I wore when I came to this country. I've still got it, and my little suitcase from when I was three years old, with my name written inside. That's the oldest piece of clothing I own." For Saul, it is an attitude, like his favourite football players: "it's the way they trust in themselves, believing in their own ability and being sure of their capabilities. It's believing in your own source, and putting that into practice." For Herbie and Saul, well worn clothing, and well earned confidence, are the keys to a life well lived.

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