S. Samuel
New York rapper A$AP Rocky recently delved into his love for fashion and how a pair of high-end sneakers drove him to searching on renowned classified advertisements website Craigslist.
Rocky gushed over his knowledge of the clothing industry and described his knack for understanding all things fashion-related as coming from within.
“Nah, I’m not. I wouldn’t toot my own horn like that. I just know what I know,” the rapper told us. “Fashion is almost like a religion, for me at least…I get it, I identify with it. It’s just one of those things that I’m into. I can’t help that I know it. It’s like subconscious.” Say what you want about A$AP, but the man knows his stuff. After all, he’s been doing his research since he was kid. “Before my dad went to jail, I used to get a good allowance. I used to buy Jordans and Nike and Tommy [Hilfiger].” And while he name drops designers in his lyrics, it’s the labels he was wearing back in the day that gives him the street cred. “I was a fan of Raf [Simons] way back when. Like, I was wearing Rick Owens and they were looking at me like, ‘What the f*ck is on your feet? You have space boots on!'” (The Coveteur)
The Harlem native also revealed just how far he’ll go to find some gear.
A$AP calls himself a “scavenger shopper,” telling us he used to (and still does!) hit up consignment stores for cheap high-end clothes. “I remember one time I went to Craigslist to find something; that’s how bad I wanted it.” As for that piece that got away? “It was a pair of Raf Simons. But [Raf] said he was going to make them for me.” Now that’s what we like to call being hooked up! It’s A$AP’s runway, people, we’re all just walking it. LONG.LIVE.A$AP! (The Coveteur)
Rocky recently talked about wanting to have knowledge of fashion even at a young age.
“I came up in a world that was just crazy — and it was hectic and kind of radical at the same time. For me, growing up in Harlem and then migrating down to SoHo and the lower East Side and chillin’ down there and making that my stomping ground . . . That was a big thing, because I’m from Harlem, and downtown is more artsy and also more open-minded. So I got the best of both worlds. It was like being on the streets and then being in school at the same time, and I tried to keep my hands in everything just so I wasn’t missing out on any fun. I just always wanted to be knowledgeable of my whereabouts, my surroundings, and what was going on with our generation,” he says. (NY Daily News)
Back in January, A$AP clowned the idea of hip-hop artists trying to launch their own fashion careers.
“I might collab with designers, but that sh*t corny. When rappers be doing that clothing line sh*t, that sh*t be corny man. That’s a slow reality show. Ya know how reality shows wash n*ggas up? I feel that clothing line shit is just a slower reality show. That shit corny man…I’m not no fashion designer. Just ’cause I got good taste don’t mean that I know how to create it. I feel that’s disrespectful. It’s just like record labels and sh*t. Just cause motherf*ckers know hip-hop doesn’t mean you know how to create it.” (HHW)
