ON : Andre 3000
As London Fashion Week draws to a close we have retired [slumped] to our quarters [the sofa] to take repose [be sick on ourselves]. But on Wednesday we were hanging out in Harrods’ Laduree Tea Room, surrounded by lurid macaroons and toasting André Benjamin‘s exceedingly dapper new Benjamin Bixby menswear line. We managed to catch up with Mr 3000 AKA Ice Cold AKA Possum Aloysius Jenkins, who was looking fresh in a brown fedora, X-emblazoned polo shirt, tweed sports jacket and turn-up jeans. Does this man ever stop smiling? After the jump he tells us about Philip Glass, rugby and his amazing aliases.
John Legend (ft. Andre 3000) – Green Light (Diplo Dade County 1988 mix) [mp3]
Philip Glass – String Quartet No. 5 – V [mp3]
What’s your main inspiration for this collection?
Andre: “Benjamin Bixby is inspired by early college football, that’s American football, not your football, your soccer. My team is Notre Dame, so a lot of their colours have come through in the collection.”
Although it’s US heritage inspired, there’s also a real British feel?
“Yes, although there are American influences, there are a lot of British influences too. I’m really inspired by rugby. Also, a lot of the fabrics are very British – the tweeds and plaids etc – but I like to take the classic and give them a Bixby twist.
“I went to my first rugby game last year, the Rugby Sevens in Hong Kong. I loved it, it was amazing to see all the people waving their flags, it was all very patriotic.”
What music did you listen when designing the range?
“I listened to a lot of Philip Glass. It’s moody, the music of champions, which is how I like to think of my line.”
How did you get your alias Possum Aloysius Jenkins?
“I was visiting a card reader a lot and she was reading my tarot and the possum card kept coming up all the time. I asked her what the possum card was all about and she told me to think about the way a possum sleeps.
“So I said, ‘well, they hang by their tail’. So she says, ‘well how do they wake up then’? And I realised they must wake up upside down and I guess that’s how I like to look at the world. Jenkins? Well, I just like the name the Jenkins. And you can’t go wrong with Aloysius.”
01.09.08.