Tyler, The Creator on Golf Wang: “That People F**k With the Brand Is Still Amazing to Me”

Tyler, The Creator opens up about the success of his Golf Wang clothing brand.

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Complex Original

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Tyler, The Creator has come a long way since he first launched his Golf Wang clothing line. What started as an off-shoot of the Odd Future collective has now become an established brand with seasonal collections and lookbooks. Tyler will even be making his runway debut this summer, when he brings his vibrant tongue-in-cheek designs to the MADE's fashion event in Los Angeles. As Tyler gets ready to present his new collection, the rapper/producer/designer sat down with Hypebeast to discuss Golf Wang and its success. 

Tyler shared how it felt when he released his first Golf Wang collection. At the time, the selection was only a handful of T-shirts, but soon after he started experimenting with crewnecks and button-ups, which have since become a staple in his collections. He also explained why he decided to move everything online after attempting to sell the brand in stores. 

"For one season we tried to sell to stores, but the distributor and I had different goals so I pulled everything out of the stores and kept it on my website only," he told Hypebeast. "It’s been that way for two years now. Sometimes things sell out in 10 seconds, sometimes they don’t at all. To this day, the fact that people fuck with the brand is still amazing to me and it only makes me want to make it better–'better' meaning different stuff, making sure the quality is good, putting 100 percent into everything. Every time I get word that something sold out, I legit smile. I hope I never lose that." 

Each season, Tyler delivers a colorful collection that reflects his personal style, instead of focusing on trends. Even though he is taking his upcoming collection to the runway, he doesn't plan on changing his aesthetic. 

"I know some people who’s not gonna like this new season and vice versa," he said. "You have to make things that you like at that time, because it’s honest and in the future, it’s gonna be a beautiful thing to look back and say 'wow, why did we make that?' Or 'why can’t we make shit like that again? I’m just happy to be in a place where I make a bunch of stuff that I want to wear, and it’s people who think it looks cool too. Especially where fashion is now, striped shirts and bright colors isn’t really considered ‘cool,’ but fuck it. If you like it, you like it, and that’s how I approach everything I do. It’s made for my pleasure and personal taste."

As for what we can expect to see from Tyler in the future, the designer says womenswear could be on the way. He's dipping his toes into that world by designing scarves.

"I love when older women wear scarves, so I decided to make a scarf this season just to see an older black lady in it," he said. "Seeing that could spark something in my head and the next thing you know, I could have a womenswear line that makes glasses and purses and Goyard trunks with our cat logo on it. But one step at a time."

To read the full interview head over here

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