A$AP Ferg recently sat down with the new site Curateurs to discuss music and fashion for their inaugural issue. In addition to talking about his upcoming album, the artist talks more about his background in design, why he actually started his Trap Lord clothing line, and his style inspirations.
Ferg shares how he first started designing one-of-a-kind T-shirts with the help of his late father when he was in high school. His painted tees were so successful that he decided to start making other custom creations. The next project he took on was belts, which he was making out of his mother's home in Hamilton Heights. His one-of-a-kind accessories got the attention of Swizz Beatz, who commissioned Ferg to make him several bespoke belts. After that his belts continued to spread to other musicians, gaining him fans like Ludacris and Rick Ross, before he even started rapping.
Since the belt was such an important piece early on, Ferg says he definitely plans on making them again. "I am definitely going to bring the belts back for the simple fact that people still ask me about the belts. It is like a part of my lineage," he said. "It almost like alright, now you are in the right position to do it, but now the right way. Get the materials that I always wanted to work with. I always wanted to get snakeskin. I always wanted to get ostrich."
Like his early hustle making shirts, Ferg explains how his Trap Lord clothing line was also created at a time he needed more cash. "Trap lord the brand basically started because I was broke. That was like grind time. That was touring, but your just the support so the money isn’t big enough, you know….We wasn’t eating filet mignon at that point, put it like that. I had to think of another hustle," he said.
"My hustle was make T-shirts, so I saved all of my per diems. I was getting like $30-40 in per diems, so I would save that shit. I would be eating Oodles of Noodles for weeks just to save that money. Finally I saved $300 and sent that to my mom and my girl. They basically got these shirts and stuff made for me and sent them back out to me on tour and then I started selling them. I would sign it to make more initiative for the people to buy or like hangout by the booth where I was selling T-shirts. That’s how I got money, and by the end of the tour I was eating off Trap Lord alone. So, I went and got with my Uncle Dion, and we built the website. He’s this graphic designer genius, it just became this huge thing.
When it comes to his style, Ferg says he draws his inspiration from two very influential people. "I always think about David Bowie because his style was so original and different. I always think about Grace Jones."
Check out the full video above and head over to Curateurs to read more from Ferg.
