Tyler, the Creator is reintroducing Golf le Fleur.
The fashion brand — his third following releases under Odd Future (his music collective before going solo) and Golf Wang (the skate-inspired label he unveiled in 2013) — has been rooted in collaborations. Now, Golf le Fleur is all its own, offering high-end apparel, footwear, accessories and expanding into beauty — a first for the creative, born Tyler Gregory Okonma.
“It just felt right,” said the music artist, rapper and producer of the new release, calling from home in Los Angeles.
The line includes $200 round collar short-sleeved button-ups; $250 double-pleated shorts; $495 mohair cardigans, and a $1,100 leather jacket (in partnership with Schott NYC) on the highest end, along with $305 loafers and accessories that range from a $35 hair pick to $250 sunglasses.
Okonma’s signature pastel-centered palette is seen throughout, with a soft blue and orange as the focus, showcased on items, details and packaging. The shades are also the two main colors featured as part of the beauty release, a $55 three-piece nail polish set (“Geneva Blue,” “Georgia Peach” and “Glitter,” $20 each). Along with nails, Okonma unveils a fragrance, “French Waltz,” priced between $40 for 10-ml and $200 for the larger 100-ml bottle. It was developed with CPL Aromas, the international fragrance house headquartered in the U.K.
“It was just mirroring my life,” Okonma went on. “I love perfume. I’ve always loved perfume. So, I was like ‘Man, I want to make a perfume. Yeah, I’ll do it on the Golf le Fleur tag.’”
Describing the scent, he brings up summertime as a kid, the exhaustion and heat felt getting out of a pool. Or being on tour, the sense of adventure, riding bikes while in the middle of nowhere.
“Just relishing in an amazing moment where you feel the freest, and it’s that moment you’re going to remember for the rest of your life,” he said. “That’s kind of what the smell is for me.”
Dropping at 11 a.m. ET on Dec. 13, the collection will be available on Golf le Fleur’s e-commerce. This past weekend, Okonma hosted a special viewing of the line in Malibu, Calif., a Golf le Fleur pop-up that he designed himself. It’s open this Friday through Sunday by appointment only.
“I wanted people to go somewhere,” he said of the location. “I wanted people to get out of the city a bit, travel just a little bit out of their comfort zone, with most stores in Beverly Hills or Hollywood. I was like, ‘Man, we should definitely make people kind of leave.’ And when they get there, it’s either worth it or it was a waste of f–king time. But either way, they’ll feel some type of emotion.”
If Golf Wang was his official entry into fashion, Golf le Fleur, in comparison, has tapped into a world beyond skate culture. Okonma’s first design for the offshoot label was a sneaker in partnership with Converse. He’s since teamed up with a variety of companies, from Lacoste to Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams.
“Honestly, I think it really just plays into my taste with it,” he said, explaining his initial differentiation between Golf Wang and Golf le Fleur. “I treat [Golf Wang] like my core skate rat, BMX — it’s more T-shirt heavy, more graphic heavy.”
It’s “pure happiness,” he said, when asked about the value of collaborating. “I’m excited on what the end result will be, as a fan…I’m excited to see it in person, and then take a picture of that. That’s what I get from it. And that’s with anything I do. It’s usually just because I’m a fan and excited to see it in person and for it to exist. That’s my number one.”
Like with music, Okonma has created a world that’s distinctively his own in fashion, attracting fans along the way (some who are embracing polos and sweaters for the first time). It’s one where he establishes the rules — there are none, particularly when it comes to adhering to social conventions. He does what he likes.
“I don’t expect everyone to get it,” he said of Golf le Fleur’s higher price point. “Making some of this stuff wasn’t cheap. Some of it is expensive, and that’s why some of these things will be expensive.”
The late Virgil Abloh, the groundbreaking designer who brought streetwear to luxury, helped Okonma source certain materials from Europe, he said.
“I’ve known Virgil for a long time,” continued Okonma. “And when he was doing what he was doing at first I was kind of iffy on it. I’m like, ‘Bro,’ — and over the years we’ve grown a relationship, especially the past few years, and it really bummed me out, the news I got. Some of these Golf le Fleur clothes are made in Italy and are handmade, and do you know who set all that up for me? He did. He was on calls and emails setting this stuff up for me in a world that I didn’t know, schooling me on so much, and [with] the launch, I wanted him there so bad so he could see what his helping hand turned into. It really helped me with this, and I was like, ‘Oh, I wanted him to see it.’ And just be proud of where I’m taking this. But now, I just got to go harder. I just got to really take it there, because I believe he would want to see me continue to get there.”
Looking forward, Okonma hopes to expand into more shops.
“At some point, man, I want to hit a lot of my favorite places in the world and allow them to experience this,” he said. He currently runs a Golf Wang shop on North Fairfax Avenue in L.A. “I think brick-and-mortar is such the move, at least for the apparel.”
Of the new direction with Golf le Fleur, he added: “You know, the target consumer isn’t my fans or my previous customers. It’s for whoever’s going to like it…I don’t expect people who liked my previous stuff to like it and get it and want it. This is its own thing. And I’m super hyped on it, just f–king in love with it. I’m so excited…I want people to live in these clothes. Scratch it up, get a hole in it. Live in these pieces.”