A side hustle comes with the territory of being a musical artist these days, and for award-winning, critically acclaimed rapper A$AP Rocky, this means a venture into homewares.
The hitmaker is turning his finetuned aesthetic - he's known for an impeccable sense of style, having graced the Met Gala red carpet this year - to a new 'decor studio' called Hommemade, which the artist is unveiling at Design Miami this week.
While the details of his design studio are limited right now, A$AP is launching Hommemade with a collaboration with Italian design brand Gufram, reimagining one of their classic pieces for a seriously limited edition run that's currently on display in an installation at Design Miami.
It begs the question, what does this premiere collaboration tell us about what we can expect from A$AP Rocky's perspective on interior design?
Say hello to the 'shroom cactus'
Gufram's Cactus is one of the Italian design brands' most iconic designs. The 67-inch-tall coat stand may have been originally designed in 1972, but its playful, somewhat kitsch form is just as relevant to today's maximalist interiors.
It's a design that has also had it's fair share of re-imaginations over the years, but for its 50th birthday celebrations, the brand has collaborated with both rapper A$AP on the 'shroom cactus' and the Andy Warhol Foundation of Visual Arts on colorful, pop art-inspired interpretations.
So what does this almost surreal, mushroom-covered cactus say about Rocky's creative vision? 'This is the first collaboration from my Hommemade decor studio, and since I’ve always advocated for mushrooms it was only right that we made a cactus with them,' the artist explains. He's referring to the psychedelic drugs, which he's been vocal in supporting in the past. In fact, you can catch him in Netflix's 2020 documentary Have a Good Trip: Adventures in Psychedelics recanting a somewhat NSFW tale of his own psychedelic use.
Gufram describe the collaboration as being 'genuine and incredibly easy to bring to life' thanks to A$AP Rocky already being a fan of the brand. 'He know the values very well, but more importantly, is a big, big collector of our pieces,' says Charley Vezza, Gufram's Global Creative Orchestrator.
The collaboration is limited to 9 pieces, each with hand-painted mushrooms adorning a custom green Cactus, though you'll need deep pockets if you want to buy one. Though we don't know the exact price, Gufram's Cactus tends to run to several thousand dollars for a standard version, while the Andy Warhol Foundation collaboration can be found on 1st Dibs right now for between $6,000-$7,000.
What we don't know is if A$AP Rocky's plans for his 'decor studio' will mean more high-end collaborations, or something more accessible, too, but for now, you can see the 'Shroom Cactus' at Design Miami, where it's been installed alongside grassy mounds and a psychedelic sky filled with mushrooms. Sounds like a trip worth taking to us!
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