By and large, Tyler Gregory Okonma, aka Tyler the Creator is known for his music. That’s quickly changing thanks to his burgeoning fashion brand Golf Wang, which garnered media attention last year for its gay pride t-shirts (pictured) and, earlier this month, for its “Adolf Trump” t-shirts sporting a picture of the Republican candidate with the Nazi Party leader’s moustache.
Now, the 25-year-old’s brand is in the press again, following the announcement that it will be staging a fashion show. The “presentation and experience” will take place as part of MADE LA – two days of fashion and culture exhibitions – in June and will see the debut of Golf Wang’s latest collection.
Golf Wang, which is short for American hip hop collective Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, was launched in 2011 and has since become known for its skate-meets-rap aesthetic – something that translates to oversized t-shirts, lots of stripes and even more colour. Tyler’s approach to fashion design is a personal one, stemming from his own style rather than some abstract or conceptual idea.
“I just make whatever clothes I want to wear for the next five months and then run that. I don’t really put deep, intricate thought into it – it’s more like a feeling,” he said in an interview with Vogue. “I just figured, Why not? Why not do something different?” he said, speaking on how he responded to MADE’s proposal. “Not everybody in the upper fashion world is wearing all-black Saint Laurent pieces and is super pretentious. I want to show them a different world.”
“Not everybody in the upper fashion world is wearing all-black Saint Laurent pieces and is super pretentious. I want to show them a different world” – Tyler the Creator
Tyler won’t be the only noteworthy designer showing at MADE LA however – Jeremy Scott will be presenting his men’s SS17 and women’s pre-SS17 collections for Moschino as part of the two-day event. “As I show my own show in NYC and Moschino in Milan and London for the men’s, I’ve never had the luxury of doing a show in the city I live in and getting to sleep in my own bed that night!” said Scott.
Made LA will take place in Los Angeles, on June 10 and 11
