10 Minutes of Talking Style With A$AP Rocky

EE72

How does Harlem inspire your personal style?

A$AP ROCKY

Growing up in that kind of environment, it shaped me into the creative that I am today. It’s a melting pot of different cultures, and I think I’m a sponge when it comes to learning or just being exposed to things. I’m like a sponge, and I soak in game. I think everybody from where I’m from in Harlem is very overly confident. I think that’s just something that we all embody and possess. So I have this innate kind of swag that I just can’t explain — you have to grow where I grew up.

EE72

How important is fashion to your self-expression?

AR

Every day, you got to get dressed. You have to wear something. Some people choose to use it to express how they feel and some people dress due to circumstances or what they’re obligated to wear, like maybe a job uniform and what not. I think that fashion is the biggest statement that you can make when you step out your threshold.

EE72

In the past you’ve worn pearls, you’ve said that shop the women’s section. Has this experimentation always been part of your personal style?

AR

I just want shit that other guys won’t wear. Like I don’t want it if they got it, you know? I remember before skinny jeans [for men] was a trend, Harlem guys, we used to take 7 jeans, and take them to the tailor to get them to sew them and convert them into skinny jeans. It’s part of my forte, man. It’s what I do, you know? I can’t help it. I just don’t want to look like nobody else, but I don’t mind when everybody else look like me. That’s what I’m here for.

EE72

You’re in music, you’re in film, you’re in fashion. How do you creatively juggle your different projects?

AR

I’m a Martin Day, Sidney Poitier, man. You know, I’m the new Denzel, man. You know, I’m Himzel, you feel me? I’m Gaultier. I’m Lee McQueen. I’m fucking A$AP fucking Rocky man, like I’m a Renaissance man. It’s all part of the arts. At the end of the day, I’m inspired by film, fashion and music cuz they all go hand in hand. You never watch the film that didn’t have music in it unless it was a silent film, right? And even those had music in the background, right? That lets you know they weren’t. [The actors] weren’t butt-ass unless it was a pornographic film, so they had clothes on. It literally goes hand in hand: film, fashion, music. [My creative process] is really contingent on where I’m at in life, and what influences or inspires me at that particular moment. I try to manifest into anything I’m doing creatively.

EE72

How did you bring your personal style to a collaboration like this?

AR

I just did me on this collection. All of my trials and tribulations and experiences [contribute to] how I design today. I love mix matching [stylistically different styles]. Everybody’s just mix matching, and I love that, and I think that that’s the future and the way that fashion is headed. I was the first to like wear Versace with Black Scale, or wear a streetwear brand like Supreme with Rick Owens. It’s just about bridging a gap and the new way of dressing… an expression. I think when you’re too uniform, it shows that you lack individual taste and style.

EE72

What do you look for in creative partners?

AR

What I look for with creative collaborators is pushing it to the limit. I want to go to the edge until we can’t go anymore because you going to fall off the face of the Earth. I just want to push people to make the best product. I need to be pushed, I need to be motivated, and everything has to be reciprocated. The energy, it just has to be mutual.