Is Vlone the Next Vetements?

VLONE designer A$Ap Bari @ his pop-up store in Milan. Photo: Courtesy of VLONE

If you are A$AP Bari, aka Young Lord, aka Jabari Shelton, you are having a hell of a year. As a founding member of the rap collective A$AP Mob, you have launched VLONE, a streetwear line of reworked basics with the demand level of Hamilton tickets. You have performed with Kanye West on Saturday Night Live. You have made tabloid headlines for a Paris street brawl, which—according to Twitter, anyway—you seem to have won. You have collaborated with Virgil Abloh’s Off White label, been compared to a Warhol Factory Superstar, and—while in Milan visiting your pop-up store—gotten an elaborate tattoo across your head.

Two hours later, you are parked in a canvas beanbag chair on Via Pasquale Paoli, surrounded by Hypebeast junkies, employees, far-flung friends, and Yahoo Style.

And this is what you say during your interview…

Yahoo Style: You could have a store anywhere—especially a place with more of a streetwear scene. Why Milan instead?

A$AP Bari: It’s mostly vibes. It’s hard to explain, It’s like, I mostly go upon vibes. And the vibe this time was Milan. But just as important, I think, is that it’s the kids! The kids have been waiting for this all around the world. That’s why I do VLONE pop-ups, because the kids reach out on the internet. They don’t have credit cards; they’re too young to get them. So even if they save up all their cash, they still can’t go online and buy it. A pop up means you can come straight here, shop, meet me, and be with VLONE in person.

Does meeting all these international fans affect your own style?

You mean, is that what inspires me? Their clothes? Yeah. But it’s not just the clothes. It’s [their] energy. They’re excited, and that’s motivating, too.

Are you going to any fashion shows?

No, I didn’t have no time. I was invited to the Gucci show but I was so busy working on this pop-up that I didn’t have time to go.

You skipped the Gucci show?!

I’m committed to this, and there was still so much to do. The work comes first, you know?

I do. So all these kids coming to see you in Milan, is that your message to them? The work comes first?

It’s a new age, and you can become a lot of things. I was a lazy kid… I was very lazy. And the work that you put into your life is the work that you receive back. You know what I mean? So the more work you put in, the bigger you’re gonna be. That kid who’s at home playing with beats, working his ass off trying to learn how to play every type of music in his house, he’s going to be on the radio one day. That kid who’s sketching and doing cartoons and graphic designs? He’ll see them on billboards somewhere. You know? Anything that you work really hard on will come to light in some way.

Inside the VLONE pop-up store which opened during Milan Fashion Week. Photo: Courtesy of VLONE

How long did it take for your goals to start happening?

I was like 21 when I started VLONE. I’m 24 now. It’s been about four years since I started this brand, and it started because I needed to be somebody. You see the people around you growing up. It made me want to grow up. I saw, “Okay, [A$AP mob] has something big here. We have a following. We have people that really look up to us and want to live the lifestyle that we live.” So it was like, “This is my chance to make something for the kids to connect to.”

What do you think they connect to?

It’s the lifestyle. More than anything. It’s not just about the brand, it’s about the life. The kids say, “I know Young Lord is from Harlem, but I’m seeing him in Europe. I see him in Russia. I see him in Asia.” It’s about that, and it’s also about kids tuning into somebody’s life that they’re not a part of yet, but they want to be a part of. VLONE isn’t for everybody, I know that, but for the kids that are into it, it becomes that connection. It’s like a religion to them.

VLONE is a collaboration between you and A$AP Rocky. You’ve worked with Kanye West and Virgil Abloh, too. How do you work with friends without fighting?

The number one thing? Don’t let your ego get in the way of other people’s ideas. Number two, don’t be afraid to work. Number three, don’t be afraid to ask somebody for help. You know? A lot of people aren’t afraid to do something negative. But they’re afraid to do positive things. So, that’s mostly it.

Your sweatshirts are about $300; Vetements cost double. Do you feel like luxury hoodies can go too far?

Well, you know, clothes are not cheap to make! If you’re spending a lot of money making clothes, then you’ve got to make all your money back. That’s business. It only works if the stuff is really good. If you like something, you’re going to want to buy it. You’ll figure out how, and you’ll work [for it]. But look, if your collection cheap to make, and you’re selling it for a high price, then yeah. That’s a fuck over.

You’ve said that VLONE means “live alone, die alone.” But you’re talking about joining a movement and a squad. That’s kind of funny.

I think you’re taking it too literal. We all start alone, and when you’re a kid, you’re a loner some of the time no matter who you are. And the kids that like us might look VLONE as their way of not as being alone, or they might just look at it as, “This is cool and I like the clothes and [also] there’s a meaning behind it.” Kids connect to that meaning. I didn’t make this clothing line for everybody to be like, “Oh, I gotta be living alone, I gotta be dying alone.” You know? It’s not that. It’s how you feel it. That kid who feels alone wears the hoodie and knows it’s special to them. It connects them to something bigger.

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