International Fashion and Lifestyle magazine, Vogue.com, did a feature
on Wizkid today where they described him as Nigeria's Best Dressed and
biggest Pop star. In an interview with the magazine, Wizkid says his
style Icon is Pharell...
"I love Pharrell’s style. It inspires me. It’s not about the brands, you
know, it’s how you put them together. Everything he rocks, he makes it
look so good"he said
Excerpts from the
Vogue.com Feature/Interview with Alex Frank
Do you wear a lot of traditional Nigerian clothes?
Wizkid: When I’m back home, all I wear is African fabric.
All I really rock is the traditional stuff. That’s the in thing right
now. That’s really coming back. Back in the day, our parents used to
wear it every day, and they still do, but now it’s cool for wee young
ones to wear it. It’s amazing. We’re doing it differently. We’re having
it a little bit more fitted. We have styles on it, embroideries and
stuff, by local people, made by hand, designed on it.
How would you describe Lagos style?
Wizkid: Lagos style is fresh and different. Even with the
tailors, they get very innovative with their stuff, with the cuts. When
my parents used to make the traditional wares, it was a little bit
baggy. But now the tailors are able to infuse the European style, making
it slim-fit. Lagos style is different, man. Innovative.
And tailors are everything in Nigeria.
One hundred percent. The clothes I make back home are proper—properly fitted. Proper, proper. Tailors are A1 back home.
What’s your process when you get something made for you?
Wizkid: I design everything myself, and I get them to make
it. I do a little sketch; sometimes I just sit down with a tailor and
describe what I want. Sometimes we go back and forth, like, for days,
trying to get it right. Sometimes it’ll take a day to make it, sometimes
three, four days. I have a lot of tailors. If I want something made in 12 hours, it will be made in 12 hours.
What kind of clothes did you love growing up?
Wizkid: Growing up in Lagos, I wasn’t fortunate enough to
get the fresh stuff when it was new. There was this place we used to go
to find stuff that had been shipped from America, like secondhand
clothes. I used to rock a lot of Reebok, just a lot of sporty stuff.
Now you can get the expensive shit.
Wizkid: We thank God!
I notice that you’re almost never seen without a pair of sunglasses. How many do you own?
Wizkid: Oh, wow. That’s hard for me. I buy sunglasses every
time I travel, just pick up a pair at the airport. Ray-Bans are my
favorite. They’re ready to go. And I lose them every time. My friends
take them away from me, but I love it.
Did I see on Instagram that you met Christian Louboutin?
Wizkid: Yeah! And I have a lot of his shoes. I rock
everything from high-end fashion to skateboard stuff. We were just at
the store getting some shoes, and he walked in. And I was like, That’s
the guy! Like, Oh, you owe me some checks, boss.
What do you like about his shoes?
Wizkid: The shoes are comfortable and fashionable. I can rock them for my shows or just chilling.
I notice you love a bright, colorful shoe.
Well, I’m actually doing white right now. But I like colorful shoes
because most of the time I wear black, so I want it to be where my shoes
are popping. I’m wearing Harrods shoes right now.
Everything is super-clean with you.
Fresh, fresh, fresh. That’s how I like to keep it. It’s hard for me to wear the same thing twice.
You’re also not afraid to wear really skinny jeans.
Wizkid: No, I’m not afraid to wear skinny jeans! Yeah, I don’t care, man. I rock skinny jeans!
What’s your closet situation like?
Wizkid: It’s mad. I have my little cousins in my house all the time taking my stuff.
Would you ever do your own clothing line?
Wizkid: I’m hoping to release a clothing line after my EP,
planned for April. It’s going to be tracksuits, T-shirts, hats, and
African attire as well. I’ll have a special line for traditional
[clothes] with my tailors. Taking Africa to the world.
It’s important to you to do this for Africa.
Yeah, it’s a lot of responsibility. Even for my T-shirts, I’m having the
real African prints used as the design on them. I’m getting them
locally made in the villages in Nigeria. The proper, proper materials.
Ojuelegba is the name of a neighborhood, right? Why is it important to you to shout out where you’re from?
Wizkid: Ojuelegba is where I grew up. It’s crazy, rough,
tough. That’s what built me into what I am today. The streets of Lagos
are definitely different from anywhere else in the world. Making it out
of there is just madness. You have to experience it. You have kids on
the street hawking, just the hustle and bustle. If you stay in the car
and drive past Ojuelegba, you will feel the vibe and you will feel the
hustle. It’s a very, very, very, very important place to me, because
it’s where one of the studios I started recording is [located]. I was
there every day of my life for like three, four, five years.
Where do you live now? Are you clubbing? Is Lagos the place to be?
Wizkid: I live in Lekki now. There are new clubs popping up
every day. We go to places like Escape, Sip, and it’s madness. December
is the craziest time to be in Lagos. I just left there, so I’m pretty
exhausted from going hard. Africa is the next thing right now. Talking
fashion, music, anything—Africa is on top of all that.
