S. Samuel
[Although Vinny Cha$e is making headlines for recently signing with Epic Records, the Harlem rapper has always been known for his eclectic sense of style. As we celebrate SOHH's Travel & Fashion Guide this week, we get the 411 on the roots of Vinny's fashion sense and his favorite places to shop these days.]
Some days I like streetwear, and some days I can’t stand it. Right now I’ve been in and out of Bape…I’m really liking their stuff right now really because there’s only one store in America so you won’t see a whole city full of people in it. I like Zara ’cause they’re really killing it on their cut-n-toe pieces right now. I’m in there at least once a week. I like jewelry stores as far as the whole District–the whole Diamond District on 47th–I like that a lot as far as accessories. And then everything else are things that I make myself like the Chanel ski mask or the CHEER$ hat…things like that.
[I was into fashion] before I was even doing music. I was designing clothes with my boys Cartier and Kid Art–they brought me into the whole world of design. They had a company that they brought me into called Be Unique–and these guys did so well. Cartier did damn near a million dollars in sales over there, and Kid Art was designing the whole floor for Aeropostale at one point. So it’s not like we just came in the game and made a T-shirt and said, “Yo, we designed this.” We really had a background in this sh*t.
I’m thinking about opening up a boutique or an actual store in L.A. with my man Jerry. But I have a couple online stores like gcvintage.com where you can get one-on-one kind of pieces, and things that you just wouldn’t find anywhere. We try to make limited items so it doesn’t saturate the whole thing.
Born and raised in Harlem, New York, Vinny Cha$e first started in the music industry by directing music videos and shooting hip hop documentaries on household name artists. He personally shot for the likes of Lil Wayne, Juelz Santana, Cam’ron, Chris Brown and other major hip hop acts. Being behind the scenes in the music industry from 2004-2008, Vinny naturally formed friendships with many of the artist he encountered along the way. With nationwide tours and oversea trips, Vinny gained a wider insight on the world around him at an early age.
