A$AP Rocky attends AWGE presents: A$AP Rocky x GUESS Club on March 10, 2017 in West Hollywood, Calif.
Todd Williamson/Getty Images for GUESS
Standing at the top of the staircase at his Los Angeles pop-up shop, a three-story, ’90s-era inspired treehouse, on Friday night (Mar. 10), A$AP Rocky looked befuddled. At about 7:45 p.m., he was eager to answer questions about the reason he had gathered the hip-hop and media types staring up at him: Guess Club, the second capsule collection with American clothing brand Guess, featuring classic logo tees, color-blocked denim and oversized jean jackets. All of the pieces are either unisex or women’s. There are no proper men’s-only garments in GC.
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The informal Q&A session apparently startled much of the crowd, unsure if they should just yell inquiries Rocky’s way. So they stood silently as he opened the floor. “Any muthafuckin’ questions?” he asked half-smiling. Laughter erupted. “Y’all don’t want to know what inspired this cool shirt I got on right now?” he wondered aloud, wearing his white Guess logo tee highlighted with a tropical Skittles-like color palette.
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The idea to decorate the West Hollywood building as a treehouse came from Rocky. His buddy, stylist lan Connor, was on the second floor playing Street Fighter on an old box TV. Tipis were on the roof. On the first floor, ice cream and cotton candy were available just before a pool table revealed itself, along with arcade games like Pac-man, and a bar serving Ciroc vodka cocktails.
“A treehouse is something I always wanted,” the Harlem, N.Y.-bred MC said. “But when you live in an apartment in New York City, you can’t really have one. You don’t have a backyard or access to that stuff. This all complements the collection. It’s supposed to feel young. It’s supposed to feel like Guess, with just a little A$AP twist.”
Rocky’s creative agency AWGE helped execute his vision for the Guess Club pop-up. Details like beat-up floral sofas, a dusty globe, shelves with high school trophies and torn-out magazine images of Madonna, Prince and John Lennon gave the space an authentic, homey feel.
Fittingly, Rocky explained that nostalgia played a key role in his new spring line, available for purchase at the pop-up shop. “I just wanted to bring back that feeling for our generation,” he said. “There’s so much that they don’t know about, even with access to the Internet. I have a platform, so I’m just trying to show kids what they missed out on. They don’t know about the ‘80s and early ‘90s.”
Rocky described Guess Clubhouse as being for people who aren’t scared to be themselves, individuals who — as the A$AP acronym urges — always strive and prosper. “You’ve got to be a member,” he said. But he was cagey when asked who he would invite to his clubhouse. “You’ll see,” he said, suggesting that there’d be some noteworthy names walking through the front doors in no time. “It’s going to be a real party in here. A fiesta.”
When the press conference wrapped, the music cranked up and the venue filled. Singer-songwriter Frank Ocean, who had just released a song featuring Rocky called “Chanel” earlier that night, ducked in for a bit. Superstar model Kendall Jenner was spotted chatting with R&B singer Justine Skye. And several members of his A$AP Mob (Nast and VLone designer Bari) came through as well. Including the various socialites, reality TV stars and cool kids, all levels of modern day celebrity were represented.
Rocky, extremely as ease, ambled the club in his fuzzy orange Gucci hat gifted by designer Alessandro Michele, eating blueberry cotton candy and palling around with Guess co-founder and chief creative officer Paul Marciano.
“Don’t I look cozy to you?” he asked later. “Do you see this hat? I’m too cozy. We got beanbags, sofas, tipis. Take your shoes off, smoke a blunt and drink some liquor.” The Guess Clubhouse encourages such comfort.
Rocky revealed that A$AP Yams, the crew’s former executive who passed in 2015 and coined the loose, slang use of the word “cozy” among his friends, knew that he and Guess would one day collaborate. Yams would have loved to see it all come together. “It’s lit!” likely would have been Yams’ reaction to seeing the line, Rocky said. Then he kept the party going.
The Guess Clubhouse is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m .on Saturday and Sunday (March 11 and 12) and is located at 741 N. La Cienega, Los Angeles, 90069.