Austin Babbitt (born June 5, 1998), known by the alias Asspizza is an American fashion designer, artist, and internet celebrity best known for his eponymous clothing line.
Asspizza | |
|---|---|
 Babbitt in January 2022 | |
| Born | Austin Babbitt June 5, 1998 |
| Other names | "Austin Butts" “Pizza” |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 2013–present |
| Known for |
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| Website | asspizza |
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 to honor his album release, selling the collection in his first "Pablo" pop-up shop in New York City alongside his genuine merchandise.[2]
Early life
editBabbitt 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 low price clothing to customize and wear. He has stated 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
edit2014–2016: Spaghetti Boys and Early Soho
editBabbitt's start in fashion began while spending time with other fashion and art obsessed kids along an area of Soho formerly known as the ‘clout corridor’, between Mercer and Howard, and included stores such as Supreme, VFiles, Off-White, and NikeLab 21M in early 2014.[5] It was here that he met other likeminded teens, including Ray Martinez, Luka Sabbat, and Kerwin Frost.[6]
In 2015, Frost founded the Spaghetti Boys, a collective of artists, DJs and content creators, alongside Ray Martinez. Babbitt not long after became one of the main members alongside Martinez and Frost, with other teens in Soho contributing including future rapper Sheck Wes and filmmaker WhiteTrashTyler. The Spaghetti Boys collective released fashion collaborations with Off-White and Heron Preston, as well as promotional material for Nike Air.[7][8]
On December 22, 2015, Babbitt and Frost went viral for fighting rapper Playboi Carti, with video surfacing on social media showing the three arguing over apparent disrespect shown to the fashion designer Ian Connor (who narrates the video) by Babbitt in a former magazine interview.[9]
In 2018, the Spaghetti Boys held a pop-up shop in Tokyo at the Japanese boutique NUBIAN. This would end up being their last official collaboration.[10]
In late 2018, the Spaghetti Boys disbanded and began focusing on new solo projects.
2014–present: Asspizza
editBabbitt began his personal career while still part of Spaghetti Boys by drawing over and sewing patches onto old and new streetwear fashion garments from well known brands. These actions caused many teens and fans of the notable brands to be upset with Babbitt; beginning to further his fame and influence with young adults and teens on social media websites.[11]
He told The Fader in 2014, "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.'"[12]
In 2016 he relocated to Winchester, UK to work on Collection 1, his first official collection of clothing from his brand. While in the UK, he worked on a Blu-ray movie documenting the making of Collection 1 and created skits directed by Danny Dangle and WhiteTrashTyler.[13][12]
In 2016, 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 low-cost t-shirts; selling them outside the stores for twenty dollars. Kanye's creative 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 genuine album branded t-shirts, hoodies, hats and jackets, with Babbitt saying at the time “A lot of people just don’t get it because like they’re like, ‘Why the fuck would you buy a fake shirt?’ But it’s more real than the real ones, you know?”[2]
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 due to order fulfillment being 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]
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.[15]
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 incorporates Babbitt's scribble face design and the year 2021. After announcing the collaboration, 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.[16]
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.[15]
Announced in June 2022, Babbitt under his Asspizza brand, opened his first official art gallery in New York City. Located at 481 Broadway and entitled “ARTIST OF THE WORLD”, the gallery featured art pieces produced by Asspizza (including embroidered canvas made to look like spray paint), live music, tattoo artists, and exclusive merchandise from his brand throughout the month. The gallery was stated by Babbitt to be one of a kind, with signs stating "PLEASE TOUCH THE ARTWORK", along with the exhibits changing daily so people could constantly revisit.[17][18]
Babbitt has stated all of his clothing items are handmade, and each individual item can take upwards of 75 minutes to complete.
Typical iconography of Babbitt's brand include the number 730, jack-o'-lanterns and pumpkins, the star logo from the fast food brand Carl's Jr, the phrase Nothing Matters, and a scribble face design somewhat resembling Daniel Johnston's alien on the cover of the album Hi, How Are You.
Personal life
editIn 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 has stated he believes in Magicka, Spiritualism, The Law of Attraction, and Positive Thinking.[19]
Babbitt says he abstains from all drugs and has never drunk alcohol.[15]
References
edit- ^ Grierson, Tim. Meet Asspizza, The 16-Year-Old.... Fader. November 12, 2014.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "LIVE IN NYC on Youtube "THE ASSPIZZA INTERVIEW - LIVE IN NYC". Twitter. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
- ^ Yeung, Helena (February 6, 2015). "Rolling Stone Takes Us Through a Day with Asspizza and the Cool Teens™". hypebeast.com. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
- ^ Petrarca, Emilia (January 24, 2018). "The Soho Intersection That's Become a Streetwear Destination". The Cut. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
- ^ Schube, Sam (January 10, 2020). "Kerwin Frost Is About to Do Some Wacky Stuff with Adidas". GQ. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
- ^ Falconer, Austin (April 19, 2018). "The Spaghetti Boys World Destruction Tour". Medium. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
- ^ "Masters of Air: Spaghetti Boys". Nike. March 11, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
- ^ Connor, Ian (December 22, 2015). Playboi Carti vs Asspizza (Kerwin) (Youtube Video). New York: UNKNOWN CARTEL on Youtube.
- ^ "Spaghetti Boys Head to Tokyo For Special Pop-up at NUBIAN". HYPEBEAST. April 20, 2018. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
- ^ "ASSPIZZA TALKS PAINTING OVER SUPREME, COPYCATS & LIKING SOULJA BOY BEFORE YOU". highsnobiety. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
- ^ a b Raiss, Liz (April 13, 2014). "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Asspizza Opens The Door To His Design Studio For The First Time". No Jumper on Youtube. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
- ^ a b c "Asspizza x Supreme Drop on Melrose & Shows us his New Studio". No Jumper on Youtube. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
- ^ "AssPizza's Custom Triple Box Logo Inspires Official Supreme Collab". Modern Notoriety. April 5, 2021. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
- ^ "bliinngg on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
- ^ Babbit, Austin (June 8, 2022). Come to my first art show, 481 Broadway • Gallery will be evolving throughout the month with special events every weekend • thank u (Instagram Video). New York: @asspizza Instagram.
- ^ "Asspizza x Supreme Drop on Melrose & Shows us his New Studio". No Jumper on Youtube. Retrieved April 23, 2021.