In one of the most talked about moments of 2016, Young Thug wore a billowing purple dress on the cover of his album ‘No, My Name is Jeffery’. First seeing the piece in a meeting with VFILES founder Julie Anne-Quay (playing a role in mentorship for the designer showcase), it was love at first sight.
"He saw the piece in New York, and said immediately, 'I want that for the cover.' Like, there was no thought about it. He just saw it and knew he wanted it.”
Designed by Italian designer Allesandro Trincone, it was coincidentally designed with the intent of androgyny. Despite that, the ensemble was still intricate, with the cover photographer Garfield Larmond recalling that it took #YoungThug “Hours on top of hours” to get the dress on and pin the dress to its intended look. Having been immediately shipped to Atlanta and tailored, Trincone discovered at the same time as everyone else, “around 2:30am”, and “completely shocked”.
"I couldn't sleep for the feelings that I felt—so excited, so happy and so proud of it all. I'm so happy to collaborate with Young Thug. The next day, my mobile went out because of notifications, emails, and more than 200 new followers on Instagram.”
Not his first time breaking gender boundaries, Thug had previously worn a #Gucci silk blouse for Dazed in 2015. He’s also no stranger to controversial album covers, stripping down for Barter 6. Once quoted as saying “There’s no such thing as gender”, the ensemble fitted perfectly, taking inspiration from Japanese Kimonos and Kosode trousers so wide they give the appearance of a skirt.
When asked why he wore the dress in an interview with No Jumper, he replied that “Nigga, I wore this long-ass dress because I had a motherfucking AK-47 up under it. I’m saying on my album… It’s one of the songs on my album. It just explains, like, the question of the century… It’s one bar on the song that answers the question. You’ll hear it.”
Thug on ‘Just How It Is’ - “Had to wear the dress cause I had a stick”