Grammy-award-winning rapper, A$AP Rocky, is stepping into the design space with the launch of his new studio, HOMMEMADE.
HOMMEMADE is billed as a “furniture interior design studio” and the line’s inaugural release was done in collaboration with the Italian brand, Gufram. The “Fashion Killa” rapper formally introduced the brand to the world in a social media post last Thursday.
Gufram and A$AP Rocky joined together to redesign its iconic 1972 CACTUS®, which was originally designed by Guido Drocco and Franco Mello. The piece is celebrating its 50th anniversary and A$AP Rocky put his own spin on the classic design with the release of the Shroom CACTUS®.
The Shroom CACTUS® is a limited edition collection with nine pieces and includes multiple hand-painted mushrooms growing on its trunk. The reimagined design was displayed during Design Miami, which took place from November 30 to December 4. The decorative item was showcased in a space that resembled a utopian forest and featured a blue sky with fluffy clouds and gigantic mushrooms illustrated on the walls. Visitors were able to walk on grass-like carpeting with dozens of ceramic flowers scattered around.
A$AP Rocky referred to Gufram as a “perfect brand collaborator.” The rapper stated, “Gufram is known to be playfully innovative while not losing their luxury appeal.” Part of A$AP’s added innovation stems from his support of psychedelic drugs, which is why the shrooms were part of the new design. When speaking on the design A$AP stated, “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.”
Gufram’s Global Creative Orchestrator, Charley Vezza, summed up the collaboration with the Harlem rapper as a “good trip. When reflecting on his experience with A$AP Rocky, Vezza noted that “working with a multidisciplinary artist like Rocky has been incredibly inspiring for me.” The Gufram executive added that A$AP “knows the Gufram brand and values very well but, more importantly, is a big collector of our pieces. This made our collaboration genuine and incredibly easy to bring to life.”
Future plans and additional details on HOMMEMADE have not been made available to the public as of yet. However, the company has hinted that future releases from the design studio will continue to “push the boundaries of the home decor space.”