Felt wool zippered jacket with handcrafted suede detail knots by Givenchy and Tropical wool slim pants by Dior Homme.
Leather Safari jacket and Slim wool pants by Givenchy and Leather high top sneakers by Dior Homme.
Wool cashmere mock turtleneck by Dior Homme.
Dominic Lord
Lemme Tell You a Little Something About the Overworld
In high school, Dominic Lord got busted by his teacher on the regular for brushing up on fashion legends and fabrics instead of taking notes. “I used to come to school with magazines and doodle at my desk all day. The teacher would take my stuff,” the rapper recalls. That kind of obsession would lead him to designing gear for A$AP Mob for a spell before he parted ways with the group in 2011, intent on perfecting his rap game and spending time alone—evolving.
His first EP, released last year and aptly named _Fashion Show,_ made waves in the rap community for its dark and moody collection of songs. The video, paired with his single, “Pierce,” create an ambiguity in categorization for the moving images. Stark floral imagery referenced a minutia of fashion and art films, recalling Prabal Gurung campaigns and Marco Brambilla video loops—a fitting hat tip, considering Brambilla’s own history with repurposed footage. It’s unclear if the creation is an art piece or a music video, and that’s what Lord is going for. His passion for creating stunning visual presentations, coupled with his lyrical prowess, allow for the production of multi-sensory experiences. “It started out as a fashion project, and then I made the song. My manager introduced me to Aram Bedrossian, the director of “Pierce,” and he came up with the treatment. I didn’t know what the music was going to be. It could have just been a bare beat.” He relates creating his inaugural EP to painting for the first time—not knowing what exactly to do initially, but learning as he went along.
Lord has an ‘O’ tattooed near his left temple, and a ‘W’ tattooed near his right, two marks of dedication for his second album. “That’s the symbol for Overworld. That’s the thing I’m trying to work up. It’s about finding and empowering yourself. It’s about opportunity and uplifting vibes. It’s like a dream world,” Lord explains of his upcoming musical project.
The rapper is rapid in his responses, seldom completing a sentence before shifting to the next. His brain seems to fire on all pistons, and I attempt a curveball, a half-hearted effort to slow him down: What kind of outfit would he design for Mozart?
“Oh, wow! It would look similar to Karl Lagerfeld’s outfits; he has that one certain style. That’s my next project—that’ll for sure blow me up.”
No doubt, D.L. Now let’s play a little round of word association:
_Risk_ …taker.
_Beauty_…and the beast.
_Disorder_ …ly conduct!
_Inspiration_ …ocean.
_Fascination_ …intrigued.
_Fear_ …less.
_Permanence_ …forever.
_Lust_ …ful.
_Laughter_ …everyday.
_Isolation_ …fuck that!
_Strength_ …weaknesses.
_Your ex lover_ …which one?...er uhh beautiful!
_Your future lover_ …DAYUM!
_Positivity_ …all you need…Yo man, this is the best interview ever.
_Photographer_: Aram Bedrossian for Factorydowntown.com, New York.
Grooming Notes: Age-less Face Cream by Lab Series Skincare for Men.
