The Story Behind Erykah Badu’s Billboard Booty Suit

How did this collaboration with Erykah Badu come about?

The collaboration was a natural progression of the work I’ve done with her. We’ve been working together for five years now, so we’re constantly sharing references and ideas with each other. She’s supported me since my senior year of high school and bought some of the first clothing pieces I ever made. She’s seen me develop and understands where my strengths lie. A lot of my work has played with body proportions and mimicked anatomy in the past, so Erykah suggested I make a piece that really pushed that. We had a few other ideas about what we could use it for, but then the Billboard Awards came up and it was sort of kismet. Especially with the focus being on women in music and with her receiving the icon award, it really just felt like the right time. 

How did you develop the look together?

It was a process of making individual body parts and piecing them together. We wanted some proportions to be smaller, so if you saw it at a glance it could look like she was naked. I made some boob options, then the legs and some butt cheeks. I would pin them together in different combinations and in different placements to get to the final form. It’s great working with her because she really trusts my vision, she gave me the idea and let me run with it. I think I checked back maybe four months later after our original conversation and then sent it off last week. It’s a process based on trust. We’re at a point now where our taste and understanding is super aligned. It’s such a privilege to have that when working with a collaborator. It’s also informed some of the development of my graduate collection at CSM, so the look will make an appearance there as well. 

Can you tell us a bit about the wider concept behind the piece?

I don’t want to say too much about the concept, which is something that Erykah and I have agreed upon. We would prefer people to come to their own conclusions and interpretations. That’s the joy of art, everyone sees it in a different way. I will say that it’s been amazing to see the discourse around it, especially about the historical connotations and general attitudes around how women’s bodies are talked about. Sparking these kinds of conversations is the ultimate goal. 

How long did it take you to make?

I’ve been working on it for about a year on and off. It’s entirely crocheted by hand, so after my internships I would come home and put in two to three hours each night. In total, I think it took me over 200 hours. I was living in such a small space, I wasn’t able to actually put it together and see how it looked until a few months ago. Last week, my intern Rehoboth and I decided to remake the legs, so we quickly turned those out on a knit machine. At the last minute I decided it needed some boots as well, so I quickly threw those together a day or so before I sent it off. It really came together in segments. 

What were some of the challenges you faced while making the piece?

I have never worked on a piece as long as I have on this, so that was challenging. It was in pieces for such a long time, then it was put together and sort of just lived on my bed for a few months. By the time I sent it off and people started reacting to it, I was somewhat surprised. After looking at something for so long you can forget that it’s really impactful. It was just a strange little creature in my room for so long I forgot how it might look to other people.