Lil Peep didn’t expect to be sitting front row at the Balmain men’s show at Paris Fashion Week in June, “not in 1,000 years,” he says. Yet there he was—a smiley 20-year old rapper from Long Island with copious face tattoos—seated next to Carine Roitfield and decked out in a gold-studded Balmain jacket. He was hard to miss elsewhere in Paris that week, like at Haider Ackermann, where he joined Luka Sabbat as a member of Haider’s fashion wunderteen crew. Others were probably just as surprised as Peep (born Gustav Åhr) was. Plenty of celebrities get kitted out by brands and post up in the front row, but few have the hyper-individualistic style of Lil Peep, or inspire as much incredulity over their work. (Last year, for instance, Noisey asked: “Is Lil Peep’s Music Brilliant or Stupid as Shit?”) Peep’s brand of sadboy emo-rap is not easily categorized, drawing on influences that range from Gucci Mane to My Chemical Romance. Lyrically, he leans heavily on the themes of getting fucked up, falling in love, falling out of love, and suicide. The video for his debut album track “Awful Things,” which dropped this morning, ends with Peep self-immolating in a high school hallway. Unsurprisingly, a guy with an enormous gothic-script “DADDY” chest tat knows how to traffic in shock value.
And while now his appeal makes the most sense in the darkest corners of Tumblr, Peep has ambitions to be a mega-star, an anti-Justin Bieber of sorts. He rose to the top of the drug-addled, generation Z SoundCloud rap scene with his first two mixtapes, which picked up millions of listens. Come Over When You’re Sober (Part One) breaks out of his syrupy SoundCloud mold and has received an enthusiasticcritical reception. Meanwhile Peep is off to a hot start establishing his fashion cred. We first met him on the European show circuit, where he also appeared on a few runways—for Marcelo Burlon and VLONE—and mingled with fashion insiders at Rick Owens. As with his lyrics, when it comes to Peep’s tatted-up emo-mall-rat aesthetic, provocation is the point. He’s also the kind of internet kid who could make waves in an industry that’s always incorporating the fringes of coolness into the mainstream—as long as fashion needs Peep as much as he thinks it does.
GQ Style: You’ve discussed your ambitions to become a bigger pop star. Is fashion part of that?
Lil Peep: Yes, absolutely, I want to have huge involvement. Eventually I want to have my own clothing line. A lot of people are afraid to do what I’m not afraid to do in fashion, so I think the fashion world really needs me right now.
What kind of things are you not afraid to do?
It’s my mixed influences and my morals. It’s kind of like no other hip-hop artists are willing to do the shit that I’m willing to do in fashion. I can say that with confidence. Breaking boundaries is my main goal.
When it comes to boundaries, you’re a fan of brands as different as Ed Hardy and Haider Ackermann. How would you describe your personal style?
Exactly. It’s an entirely different thing, but I can make both of them iconic. I never dress the same way for a week—I’ll dress like a whole other person the next week. I like to get weird and mix things. Not necessarily draw on the streets, but mix darker, dirtier cultures with high class shit. And kind of fuse them together and see how they can become one. And I think that already happens when I put on any really elegant piece of clothing, because of the way I look. You expect me to dress like a fucking punk.
Do you have any style influences?
The Casualties dress great, and Fat Mike from NOFX used to wear a fucking skirt on stage with clogs. Just crazy shit. And I think it’s mostly the punk influence that has me on the “whatever” attitude. As long as it makes you uncomfortable. In high fashion I love Marcelo [Burlon’s] work. The Balmain show was fucking amazing. I love the Gucci Ghost shit. But then it comes back to real clothes, clothes that are just one-of-a-kind that you’ll find at a thrift store, those mean so much more to me. I love thrifting. And then mixing thrift with Gucci. That whole vibe—it’s weird and people don’t do it. People are going to wear Gucci to wear Gucci and look classy.
You rapped about dropping two racks on Gucci shoes on your Hellboymixtape, then regretting it. Was that a real experience?
Yeah, I spent $2,000 on some Gucci shoes, why the fuck did I do that? Then I’m thinking—I know why I did it. Because I’m wearing some Katy Perry tour merch and cutoff Dickies and then some $2,000 Gucci shoes. That’s why I did it. I’m walking around getting complements on my shoes and everyone’s like, Oh, I love your Gucci snakes, and I’m like, Thank you, then they look up at the rest of my outfit and are like What the fuck? Especially with the iconic brands, like Dickies. Dickies will never die. Nike Air Force Ones will never die. And shit like that is what I like to mix in. Chief Keef does it all the time. He wears white Air Force Ones with every outfit. He’ll be wearing $40,000 in his jacket and jeans and ice, and then he spends $100 on shoes. It fucks with people’s expectations.
Where’s your favorite place to buy clothes?
Gas stations, dude! I love gas stations. Gas stations have some of the sickest clothes ever. T-shirts, hats, everything. I love getting T-shirts and hats at gas stations and wearing it with fucking Balmain jeans and Louboutin red bottoms. But a hat that says “The Trucker’s Life Is a Long Road” with an 18-wheeler embroidered on it—what is he wearing? I have this whole culture and life on my head and this whole culture and life on my legs. Just like what I am—’cause I grab influences from so many different places.
What was your first fashion week experience like?
I felt honored that these people were recognizing my $20 outfits, which is just crazy to me. I didn’t think people were gonna take me this seriously. I thought people would always see me and say, What the fuck are you wearing? You look insane right now. No one I’ve ever met dresses like you. But I think being confident in yourself as an individual is what makes people so fucking huge in fashion. I’m like, Nah, I’m Lil Peep, I’m going to wear this and everyone’s going to look at me.Would you rather conform or dress however the fuck you want?
If you could fuck up one thing in the fashion world what would it be?
I would bring more culture from people who have less money into the fashion world. Less upper class and elegant and throw some grit in there. That’s why I love what Marcelo is doing. It’s got that edge to it. I know some brands aren’t about that. But I would bring people who have a different perspective into the world—like me.
What’s next, music-wise? Is part two of Come Over When You’re Sobercoming out?
A part two is obviously coming sometime soon this year. I’m also working on another album that’s not part two, and I’m working on another with Makonnen. And then I’ve got a big-ass tour. It’s like 50 days. But it’s going to be fun.
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