R
ocky says he was inspired
by the underappreci-
ated role GUESS played in
‘80s and ‘90s urban culture.
“You remember that cor-
ner-store scene in Menace
II Society“, he fires off with
the intensity of a professor
suddenly inspired to give
a pop quiz. “What kind of
shirt was he wearing?” The
answer is GUESS, of course.
As the brand’s first col-
laborator, Rocky felt it was
tremendously important to
bring a fresh sensibility to a
label some believe has lost
its inherent cool. A huge
part of that process involved
the GUESS archives, which
Rocky says he mined for in-
spiration. When I ask what
other brands are inspiring
his style in 2016 the 27-year-
old becomes playfully cagey.
“I don’t know if I can say
all that,” he tells me with
a boyish grin. It’s true,
there is a tendency for the
brands. At the VMA’s for in-
stance, he wore the Tom-
my Hilfiger “Flag Hoodie”
from Gosha Rubchinskiy’s
fall
collection,
sparking
widespread interest in the
Moscow-based
designer.
Friends like Ian Connor,
who makes an appearance in
the capsule’s Polaroid-style
campaign images, and mod-
el Luka Sabbat, only add to
his fashion-conscious image.
At the time, Connor was
engaged in a social media
spar with Travi$ Scott. Con-
nor’s main issue was his be-
lief that Scott consistently
copied Rocky’s style. When
I ask for Rocky’s perspec-
tive, he pauses momentarily,
carefully reviewing what he
wants to say next. “I think if
someone is coming up and
they get inspired by what
you’re doing you can’t re-
ally knock them for that,”
he says finally. “I don’t real-
ly know what their deal is,
there might be a reason he
feels how he feels, but you
know, I think it’s whatever.”
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