Q&A with S.P. Badu on Day 3 of Toronto Fashion Week

Day 3 of Toronto Fashion Week upped the cool factor with S.P. Badu’s Fall/Winter 2018 collection. Toronto-based designer Spencer Badu launched his millennial streetwear line in 2015 with a goal to break gender boundaries and challenge traditional fashion constructs. The brand went viral when A$AP Rocky wore a pair of S.P. Badu trackpants last summer and it’s been full speed ahead ever since. We sat down with Badu after the show to talk brand evolution, the colour pink and feminine power.

How would you describe S.P. Badu and who you design for?

“In everything we do, we just want to challenge. It’s a unisex brand, so we definitely want to break boundaries in terms of gender perception and traditional garment creation.”

What was your inspiration for this collection?

“I just try to stick to what I do, which is very minimal and very aggressive, and every season I just try to progress. This collection is called “Mother,” so there are a lot of feminine elements paired with masculine silhouettes. I incorporated colours that you might normally find in womenswear, like pink. I never really used colour before, I used to stick to mostly black. But when I walked into the fabric showroom, this pink wool was just screaming to me. I didn’t even know how I was going to use it — I just ordered it and I figured it out after.”

Why is the collection called “Mother”?

“When I look around at societal structure and corporate culture it’s a lot of men at the top, and I guess there’s this perception that men are powerful? But when I look at life in general, at least for me, it’s usually the women in my life that are the strongest and are the rocks of the family. So I wanted to honour that in the collection.”

 

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