This story was published in the Chic Daily's Magazine.
Runways are boring. Yes, as someone who deeply loves fashion and tries to stay up to date with high fashion brands, I will still be blunt and say most runways don’t live up to the extravagant expectations set out by movies like “The Devil Wears Prada.”
That’s not to say that the clothes are not stunning, creative and at times thought-provoking, but the fashion industry as a whole can be exclusive and impertinent. This makes it hard to be passionate toward something when you feel like an outsider or that you’re not elitist enough to be a part of the conversation.
Not all of the fashion industry is like this, and with time it continues to grow more inclusive, but there are certainly specific designers who worked to make that happen. Tyler Gregory Okonma, better known as Tyler, The Creator, unconditionally paved the way for designers to step out of what’s expected and make a runway fashion show an experience – not just a look at a clothing collection.
For starters, Tyler’s style has been iconic from the beginning of his career. From about 2008-2011, otherwise known as what I will call the, “Odd Future era,” Tyler and the rap group, Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (OFWGKTA) wore skate and streetwear. Tyler’s staple of this period was wearing Supreme hats and white graphic tees. This was really his first time becoming an influential figure in the fashion industry. Although not impacting high fashion at this point, Tyler and Odd Future merchandise became the go-to for guys who skate or were part of the ‘alternative’ scene, and Supreme’s prominence as a brand rose to high-end streetwear.
Over time, the skater look was outgrown, and Tyler began experimenting with bold prints and his own clothing line, Golf Wang. According to the Golf Wang website, Tyler has been creating lookbooks for the brand since 2013, and his latest release was Summer 2021. In 2016, he debuted his first fashion show as a part of Made LA.
In an interview with Vogue, Tyler explained that he doesn’t have any deeper philosophical reason for beginning clothing design. He just makes what he wants to see and wear.
“It’s always okay to wear whatever the fuck you want. We live in a society where you gotta dress a certain way for certain places,” Tyler said to Vogue in an interview. “I think people like being taken seriously and their attire plays a part in that. But I think being taken seriously is more about what you are talking about and how you are handling your business.”
Some of Tyler’s fashion influences include Jeremy Scott, Mikey Alfred of Illegal Civilization, Polo, Chanel, Prada and Opening Ceremony, according to an interview with Vogue.
If making his own brand is exciting, then the Golf Wang Fashion Show in 2016 was electrifying.
The show begins with a short skit on a set to the left of the runway. Tyler wakes up in his Golf comforter set, brushes his teeth with a Golf toothbrush and changes into complete Golf attire. There are four sets – two on each side of the runway. There is a circle-shaped runway adorned with fake grass, sunflowers, daisies and four skate ramps in the center of the runway.
The show itself displayed his Fall/Winter 2016 pieces. The first three male models to come on the runway strutted their pieces via a mini motorized bike. Models were of all shapes, sizes and ages, even including Tyler’s younger cousin. Two male models skated during a large portion of the set, goofed around and practiced dropping in and popping off the edge of the ramp.
Some of my favorite looks from the runway include a light green faux fur coat with orange golf lettering and an orange flower on the backend, and a polka-dot-patterned denim jacket and jeans set.
Another iconic piece was at about the 21-minute mark of the show, when the show stopped and Tyler and three other men put on a short skit of playing dominoes on the stage. Tyler wore a pink Golf bomber jacket, jean shorts and unique pink and orange Le Fleur sneakers.
The show itself included skits, a musical performance of an unreleased song and a showcase of furniture he designed throughout the side stage sets. However, none of this took away from the bold and brash clothes that were showcased. Each piece uses either the word, “Golf” or the “Le Fleur” flower logo symbol. He created graphic tees, jeans, a track suit, a basketball uniform and more.
“I like bold colors. I use a lot of peach and mint. Colors play such a big part in my music and the way I think about things. They bring out certain moods,” Tyler said in an interview with Vogue. “It [colors] just plays such a big part in everyday life, and I just feel like more people should use it instead of using just black and gray.”
One of my favorite parts of the Golf Wang Fashion Show that made me respect what Tyler does is during his performance of his unreleased song, “Ego,” the lyrics go, “So I made my own shoes, fuck a loyalty check.” At the very beginning of the show, he skips over his Golf Wang x Vans collaboration sneakers and chooses shoes never seen by the public. These small details here and there all foreshadowed the fact that everyone who purchased a ticket for the show were to be given free Le Fleur sneakers, his new shoe brand set to come out later that year.
All in all, Tyler made many marks during his first and only fashion show. Since then, he has worked with Lacoste, Gucci, Converse, Levi’s and more. He has made his own show, “The Jellies!”, continues to make clothes and recently released his latest album, “Call Me If You Get Lost.” He continues to make his dreams come true and inspire those who support him to do whatever it takes to make their own dreams come true. By putting together something so surreal, successful and just downright different, Tyler brought fashion to a new level.
“Growing up as an inner city black kid, I wasn’t the most masculine, I wasn’t into sports, I liked pink ‘n’ shit,” Tyler said during his show. “So, I just wanted to make sure when infiltrating their world with my runway show, it was T-shirts and big girls and short guys and black kids on the runway because they don’t accept any of us in that world, for the most part.”
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