Travis Scott Covers L'Uomo Vogue; Talks Style, Houston, and Harvard
It's been a massive year for Travis Scott. First, in February, there was Stormi, his daughter with Kylie Jenner. Then there was Astroworld, the critically acclaimed, platinum-certified, Grammy-nominated August release and ode to the 713. Then there was Astroworld Fest, the inaugural hometown music festival that premiered at NRG Park in November to resounding success. A second leg of the Astroworld tour was announced last month, bringing La Flame back home for another Houston date in February. And now, there's L'Uomo Vogue.
Dripped out in YSL, Mo City's native son covers the Italian Men's Vogue for February 2019, which appeared on newsstands January 8. "A new expression of elegance demands a fresh style of man to exemplify it. Travis Scott—a 26-year-old, Houston-born, multi-platinum-selling artist—is perfectly placed to channel and personify the winds of change that are currently invigorating menswear," L'Uomo Vogue says. "A creative nonconformist, his portfolio of pursuits runs from music to design to architecture. Experimental by nature, for this shoot Scott is channeling a persona that is unquestionably elegant—and he's doing it on his own terms."
In the accompanying interview with Samira Larouci, Scott talks about the evolution of his (much-hyped, often intimated) personal style, a hodgepodge of high fashion and streetwear that manages to straddle the border of effortless and calculated. Scott's uniform of sorts—"a nonchalant combination of heavily distressed Saint Laurent jeans, deconstructed vintage tees, oversized lumberjack shirts and Jordan 4s finished off with a weighty pile of hand-carved, iced-out chains from New York jeweler to the rappers Elliot Avianne, and a chunky diamond-encrusted Patek Philippe"—is, much like Scott, an amalgamation of who he is and where he's been, from Missouri City to Hidden Hills; the manifestation of how he toggles between rapper and rockstar.
It's also a product of time, and of necessity: "Back in the day when I was traveling about, I didn't have clothes, so I just used to pull shit together, but once I got settled it changed a bit," Scott says in the Q&A. "But I always had my staples, you know, like a T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, so I had to go from there. But I didn't have the same quality back then."
He discusses, too, his own work in fashion (he designed his own limited-edition Astroworld merch, and, in 2017, released a surprise collaboration with Helmut Lang), which he says is not dissimilar from his work in music—both require attention to detail and dovetail with his own interests and lifestyle, he says. "I just try to make sure everything is just kinda tight, and just create different things for people to dress to and different ways for people to dress the way they like," he goes on.
Then, of course, there's Harvard. In December, Scott announced his intention to study architecture at the East Coast Ivy with his friend Dozie Kanu after releasing a third album. Indeed, Scott tells L'Uomo Vogue this month, "I'm applying and hopefully I'll get in."
Of course, this isn't the first time a notably sartorial Houstonian has graced the cover of a major mag: Last year, we learned a thing or two about James Harden and his penchant for statement-making vestments when he covered GQ.
You can read the full interview with La Flame when it goes online.