Young Thug, who has renamed himself “Jeffery” after initially changing his name—Jeffery—to Young Thug, dropped No, My Name is Jeffery, the album, last night in a blaze of glory. And true to his own album title, almost every song is titled with a name—mostly of fellow rappers and singers, but also of Harambe. (“Harambe,” the song, is excellent, Jeffery rapping about being mean, bossy and wanting sex in a bluesy howl on a mournful beat.)
Jeffery has also distinguished himself in the style world through his non-gender-specific ensembles and instinctive flair often involving fur, tight pants, dress-length tops (or dresses) and vibrant patterns. And on the cover of No, he presents himself as a sort of origami creation, a parasol for a head with waves of fabric cascading from his waist.
Much of Twitter, those damned heathens, immediately clowned, making the leap from his ensemble to Mortal Kombat (there are worse things!). But sharper eyed fashion people observed his look was a creation of Alessandro Trincone, an Italian designer whose genderless creations have just landed him in the line-up for V-Files’s Spring 2017 show next month at Fashion Week in New York.
Being selected for the V-Files runway can be a career-making opportunity—the shop and online community are renowned in the fashion world for having pre-cognizant taste, and for existing among the most interesting musicians, artists, and creative people in New York and beyond. But landing the cover of a popular rapper’s album is another level of exposure entirely, particularly for this collection called Annodami—he wrote that he was influenced by finding self-love in a tough upbringing, and the meeting point of cultures and structure between Napoli and Japan—which is about to be presented to what is likely its biggest audience yet.
But it was kismet: Young Thug was on the V-Files selection panel this go-round, and nabbed the look for himself. I don’t know whether to hand him a mint julep or a katana, but he looks fantastic.