By now you have probably heard about acclaimed Belgian rapper/musician/producer Baloji being one of the faces of the S/S 13 Diesel + EDUN collection. But what a lot of people don't know is that the campaign was shot by non other than Alasdair McLellan (who is responsible for numerous of my favourite and absolutely iconic magazine covers, most recently Beyoncé for Gentlewoman) with Dazed & Confused co-founder (and KNOTORYUS hero - listen to his words about magazines & longevity here) Jefferson Hack acting as Creative Director.
This morning, after returning from the accompanying Studio Africa Tour (Paris, London, Berlin), our friend briefly talked to us about the collaboration...
Baloji:
"In August 2012, I travelled to Senegal for this shoot and it was a wonderful experience. Jefferson and Alasdair are obviously at the top of their game and it was incredibly interesting to work with them. Jefferson is a great talker and I love his clear view on menswear. He looks at the bigger picture. We had a lot of conversations, so I was able to bounce ideas off of him and discuss upcoming projects which he was really into. We are still in touch. In fact, immediately after my performance at Paris Fashion Week -that Kanye West apparantly attended, but everyone saw him except for me- Jefferson sent me an email saying he watched my show together with Bono and his wife Ali and that both of them were really impressed, so that's cool."
(above image : Alasdair McLellan and Baloji)
"My favourite piece in the Diesel + EDUN collection is probably the denim jacket. I really appreciate the effort that both Renzo Rosso and Ali Hewson put into this collection. A lot of brands are going on about "conscious fashion" and producing "ethical clothes" without doing the work or research. EDUN walks the walk and Renzo is taking enormous risks which he kind of doesn't have to do anymore. I mean, he owns Margiela ... (laughs). The only thing I would say is that I'm hoping for a less cliché approach to what people think African style is about. But I love the whole Studio Africa project : it is giving me worldwide exposure for which I am grateful. And please keep an eye on my calender because big things will be happening in the next couple of months. "
(Above image by Kenji Takahashi)
