A$AP Ferg Talks New AGOLDE Denim Capsule with W Magazine

The 28-year-old rapper A$AP Ferg is perhaps best known as a member of the notorious New York rap group, the A$AP Mob, with his own hit singles like “Shabba” and “New Level,” as well as his most recent album, East Coast, which dropped this spring. And while he and his peers like A$AP Rocky have publicly demonstrated their love for high-fashion designers like Raf Simons as well as a knack for successful brand collaborations, Ferg in particular is dead serious about his side-hustle as a designer and style savant.

Since January 2016, A$AP Ferg and the Los Angeles-based denim brand AGOLDE have been bridging East and West with collaborative capsule collections, the second of which will be available at The Webster on July 20th and AGOLDE.com starting July 27th. The lookbook was shot with Ferg’s longtime friends on his home turf of Hamilton Heights in Harlem, New York, which is where he called W magazine from one afternoon this summer.

What are some of your regular Harlem spots?
Red Rooster is one of my favorite spots in Harlem, and Melba’s is another restaurant I go to. It’s great place for food, culture, drinks, and lounges are really big.

Has growing up in Harlem influenced your style?
Yes, Harlem gave me a lot of sauce—that’s what we call it. It gave me confidence; we were taught to walk with our heads up. If we were broke, you couldn’t tell. We were very good at hiding the fact that we were poor people because we dressed so nicely.

This is your second collection for Agolde. How did you first get involved?
I was linked with them through Scott Lipps, who is a good friend of mine. I was able to come in and basically be an intern for a week. I worked nine-to-five just learning; it wasn’t glamorous at all. It was denim-making 101, from different zippers to washes. I got to meet all the employees and they showed me laser machines you could only get in Turkey, tumbler machines that use rocks to make jeans look more worn, sandblasters—I was like a kid in a candy store.

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