Asspizza

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Asspizza
Born
Austin Babbitt

(1998-06-05) June 5, 1998 (age 23)
Queens, New York, U.S.[1]
Other names"Austin Butts"
Occupation
  • Fashion Designer
  • Blogger
  • Artist
  • Internet Tastemaker
Years active2013–present
Known for
  • Asspizza
Websiteasspizza.com

Austin Babbitt (born June 5, 1998), known mononymously as Asspizza is an American fashion designer, artist, and internet tastemaker best known for his eponymous clothing line.

His work has been recognized by Kanye West, Lorde, Wiz Khalifa, Ty Dolla $ign, ASAP Bari, Yung Lean and the New York-based streetwear brand Supreme. The former of which, Kanye West, premiered bootleg "Pablo" clothing made by Babbitt himself to honor his album release, and began selling the collection in his first "Pablo" pop-up shop in New York City alongside his genuine merchandise.[2]

Early life[]

Babbitt from an early age had an interest in creating, beginning with an interest in graffiti artwork at a young age and shopping at local thrift shops for clothing to customize and wear. He has said living and being from New York was a major factor in his upbringing and creative interests.[3]

In 2014, Babbitt dropped out of high school.[4]

Career[]

2014–2016: Spaghetti Boys and Soho[]

Babbitt began mingling with other fashion-obsessed kids along the so-called ‘clout corridor’, an area in Soho that stretches between Mercer and Howard Streets, and includes stores such as Supreme, VFiles, Off-White, NikeLab 21M, among others in early 2014.[5] It was here that he met other likeminded teens, including Ray Martinez, Luka Sabbat, and Kerwin Frost.[6]

In 2015, Kerwin founded the Spaghetti Boys, a NYC-based art-content producers-DJ collective, alongside Ray Martinez. Babbitt became an honorary member along with other fashion focused teens at the time in Soho. The Spaghetti Boys collective released fashion collaborations with Off-White, Heron Preston and Sprayground, which included t-shirts and work shirts. A capsule collection was launched at the Tokyo boutique NUBIAN.[7][8]

In late 2018, the Spaghetti Boys disbanded and they began focusing on new projects.

On December 22, 2015, Babbitt (along with Kerwin Frost) went viral for fighting rapper Playboi Carti, with video surfacing on social media which shows the three arguing over apparent disrespect shown to the designer Ian Connor (who narrates the video) by Babbitt in a former magazine interview.[9]

2015–present: Asspizza[]

Babbitt began his career by drawing over and sewing patches onto old and new streetwear fashion garments from popular brands. This caused many teens and fans of the brands to be upset; furthering his fame and influence.[10]

He told The Fader, "I just wake up and see all the clothes that are spread out on my floor and I say, 'Oh, I'll just wear the same jeans as everyday and I'll wear a random T-shirt.' And then people are like 'Whoa, you're an icon.' And I say 'No, I'm not.'"[11]

In 2016 he worked in Winchester, UK to work on Collection 1, his first official collection of clothing from his brand, with Nitin Paul Mehta and Carlina Mehta.

He worked on a Blu-ray movie while in Winchester documenting the making of Collection 1 and created skits directed by Danny Dangle and White Trash Tyler.[12][11]

In 2017, approaching the release of The Life of Pablo, Kanye West began premiering "pop-up" shops with his "Pablo" merch line being sold. Babbitt began producing mock-ups of these designs on cheap t-shirts; selling them at the pop-ups for twenty dollars. Kanye's team, including Virgil Abloh and Heron Preston, spotted the bootleg merch and liked it so much that it was decided to be put inside the actual pop-up stores alongside the real Yeezy t-shirts, hoodies, hats and jackets, with Babbitt saying "All Kanye’s people said Kanye loved it and shit, all Kanye’s people have a shirt."[2]

Babbitt produced a very limited, unreleased collaboration shoe with the footwear brand Nike in 2016. As of 2021 the collaboration has never been released.[13]

In early 2019, Babbitt moved to a basement in Lexington, KY with his close friend Tyler Webb (known professionally as KentuckyBoyTyler) to work on his brand Asspizza and focus on fulfilling online clothing orders (which is a common complaint among fans of Babbitt). Describing it as a "painful time" due to the immense number of orders, Asspizza began selling clothing in limited and capped quantities on his self-named website to help free himself from the backlog of unshipped clothing.[14]

In 2020, Asspizza relocated to a new studio in New York[14]

A typical Asspizza branded t-shirt with associated iconography.

Though not officially announced by Supreme, Babbitt through his brand Asspizza collaborated with New York based clothing brand Supreme in April 2021. Inspired by his early work from 2015, the collaborative t-shirt features a tri-colored Triple Box Logo design (a logo synonymous with Supreme and design synonymous with Asspizza) printed on the chest, while the backside comes with Babbitt's scribble face design and the year 2021. After announcing the collab, Babbitt began going around New York City and Los Angeles hand-delivering the tees to people. The item was not available for sale anywhere online or in-store, leading some to question its authenticity.[15]

In 2021, Babbitt embarked on an impromptu tour of the United States in his car. He was accompanied by his friend and designer KentuckyBoyTyler and rapper Hazey. The tour started in early 2021 and was setup in local parking lots; Babbitt would post his location on social media and roll out yards of white denim for fans to come and paint, with the intention of making clothing from the tarnished denim. These locations are where Asspizza handed out his collaboration t-shirts with Supreme and also other rare clothing items to fans.[16]

Asspizza opened up an official office and studio named "730 Studios" in April 2021 in Los Angeles, CA. It includes offices, a recording studio, and areas for art and clothing to be made.[16]

Babbitt has stated all of his clothing items are handmade, and each individual item can take upwards of 75 minutes to complete.

In October 2021, Asspizza collaborated with the high-end denim brand Robin's Jeans [17]

Typical iconography of Babbitt's brand include the number 730, jack-o'-lanterns and pumpkins, the logo star from the fast food brand Carl's Jr, the phrase Nothing Matters, and a scribble face design some-what resembling Daniel Johnston's alien on the cover of the album Hi, How Are You.

Personal life[]

Babbitt has stated he believes in Magicka, Spiritualism, The Law of Attraction, and Positive Thinking.[18]

In 2017, Babbitt obtained a prominent and easily-identifiable face tattoo, written largely under his left eye. The tattoo reads "Follow Your Dreams" in bold black lettering.

Babbitt says he abstains from all drugs and has never drunk alcohol.[16]

References[]

  1. ^ Grierson, Tim. Meet Asspizza, The 16-Year-Old.... Fader. November 12, 2014.
  2. ^ a b Dazed (March 23, 2016). "How a 17-year-old got his fake Yeezy merch Kanye-approved". Dazed. Archived from the original on December 17, 2019. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
  3. ^ "LIVE IN NYC on Youtube "THE ASSPIZZA INTERVIEW - LIVE IN NYC". Twitter. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  4. ^ Yeung, Helena (February 6, 2015). "Rolling Stone Takes Us Through a Day with Asspizza and the Cool Teens™". hypebeast.com. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  5. ^ Petrarca, Emilia (January 24, 2018). "The Soho Intersection That's Become a Streetwear Destination". The Cut. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
  6. ^ Schube, Sam. "Kerwin Frost Is About to Do Some Wacky Stuff with Adidas". GQ. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  7. ^ "Spaghetti Boys Head to Tokyo For Special Pop-up at NUBIAN". HYPEBEAST. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  8. ^ Falconer, Austin (April 19, 2018). "The Spaghetti Boys World Destruction Tour". Medium. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
  9. ^ Connor, Ian (December 22, 2015). Playboi Carti vs Asspizza (Kerwin) (Youtube Video). New York: UNKNOWN CARTEL on Youtube.
  10. ^ "ASSPIZZA TALKS PAINTING OVER SUPREME, COPYCATS & LIKING SOULJA BOY BEFORE YOU". highsnobiety. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
  11. ^ a b Raiss, Liz. "Meet Asspizza, The 16-Year-Old Who's Got Makonnen and Wiz Khalifa Wearing His Designs". The Fader. Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  12. ^ "Enter Asspizza's Weird World of Cult Teenage Fashion". Rolling Stone. February 5, 2015. Archived from the original on April 1, 2016. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  13. ^ "Asspizza on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  14. ^ a b "Asspizza Opens The Door To His Design Studio For The First Time". No Jumper on Youtube. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
  15. ^ "AssPizza's Custom Triple Box Logo Inspires Official Supreme Collab". Modern Notoriety. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  16. ^ a b c "Asspizza x Supreme Drop on Melrose & Shows us his New Studio". No Jumper on Youtube. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  17. ^ "Asspizza on Twitter "Asspizza x Robin Jeans". Twitter. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  18. ^ "Asspizza x Supreme Drop on Melrose & Shows us his New Studio". No Jumper on Youtube. Retrieved April 23, 2021.

External links[]

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