Since breaking into the music scene, Troy Ave has established himself as a respectable MC with a fashion style that is true to his city of New York. The Brooklyn rapper has been seen in the past sporting over-sized fur mink coats, soccer jerseys before the hype of the 2014 World Cup and Adidas jogger pants, and has even taken us down memory lane with his Coogi sweaters. All in all, Troy has become a trendsetter in the hip-hop community and several clothing brands have taken notice. One of the companies that has appreciated Troy's sense of fashion is Coogi, which is looking to make a major splash once again in the fashion industry by relaunching the brand.

Most recently it was announced via the BSB rapper's Instagram that the 29-year-old MC was partnering with Coogi for a limited cardigan run that consists of 100 pieces. According to the "All About The Money" rapper the first official sample should come out within two to three weeks. The Troy Ave x Coogi collab will be around the price range of $550 and will be sold exclusively at Kith and Bloomingdales.

XXL caught up with Troy Ave during one of his visits to our offices and asked about the Coogi partnership, his fashion style and more. —Roger Krastz

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XXL: What influence did the Coogi brand have on you growing up?
Troy Ave: Coogi was one of those classic "Get Money" brands. We were too young to have cars and Rolexes, but Coogi up there with a Mercedes Benz and a Rolex. Biggie put the brand on national mainstream and all the older heads in the street were rocking Coogi. That was the fashion in the streets when I was growing up in the '90s. Just being a kid you idolize and you want to acquire certain things when you get older. My mom would spoil me, too, so I would wear Coogi and shit like that and now just to be having my own Coogi collaboration is incredible. Anything is possible if you set your mind to it.

You’ve been spotted before wearing the Coogi brand during interviews, photo shoots and shows. Do you feel like you’re responsible for bringing the brand back?
I wasn't really trying to bring it back. I was just being me and doing my thing. I was wearing it the right way and some people were wearing it, but they would wear it corny, you know what I'm saying? When I wore it on the Freshmen cover that was the feel that I had with my BSB Records hat and I was just styling and profiling, and then I had one that I wore in the "All About The Money" video. I have a couple of other Coogi items that I wore around town and I guess it just caught on and people wanted to do what Troy Ave was doing because I’m a dope nigga.

How did you end up linking with the Coogi brand for this collab?
When I would post pictures of me wearing Coogi, people would just hashtag the Coogi brand on my pics and I think the Coogi brand posted one of my pictures on their IG. From there somebody reached out to me from Coogi and I sent them to [my manager] Hovain. We didn't think much of it, but Hovain stirred up the pot and he ended up linking with Willie Esco, a reputable brand and person in fashion. Once they explained the idea to Hovain and the ideas of a collaboration, we were all in after that.

When should we expect to see the first sample of this collaboration?
We’re in the process right now of pulling samples and seeing the colorways, so I would say look for the first sample to drop within two to three weeks.

troy ave coogi collaboration
Photo Credit: Lexi Lambros
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How involved are you with the creative process?
I’m 100 percent involved because that’s how I am with everything. I am there with the engineer when they’re mixing my music. I’m always involved with everything I got. I get my hands dirty, I roll my sleeves up because at the end of the day they’re not going to say, "Yo, Coogi put out a wack collab," they’re going say, "Oh yeah, that Troy Ave collab was wack," you know what I'm saying? So you have to be hands-on, so the fault is on you if it ain't dope.

Will you collab with Coogi once again after the first release?
I’m open to the idea of another collab with Coogi, but my main focus is knocking this one out. This is like a playoff game. I want to knock this playoff game out and go to the championship. I mean just from my recent history, everything that I put my mind to shows that it comes into fruition than most expect, and Coogi is a classic brand. So if we put both of our minds together I feel like we’re going to do something incredible and I’m definitely looking forward to it. Right now we’re doing a cardigan. I might want to do a short sleeve piece next which is one of my favorite Coogi’s. Just fly shit.

You keep it very Brooklyn when it comes to your style. From Coogi sweaters to soccer jerseys and fur mink coats, you like to switch it up with the seasons. How would you describe your sense of style?
You know I was the first one out here wearing furs. It’s been well documented, man. I was wearing furs because I was cold and that kept me warm. I didn’t want to wear a bubble coat, but my style is dope boy fresh. It’s Troy Ave. It’s how we do when you out running around and getting money. You gotta rock the furs. It goes with the Rolex, and the Rolex goes with the Mercedes Benz and just different fly looks like that. I ain’t with rocking whole leather outfits or stupid shiny sneakers and dumb shit like that. That ain’t no fashion to me. That’s costume-ish. That’s how the soul singers were dressing in the '60s or the '70s, or like the early rap groups that used to wear the leather jackets with mad spikes and all that crazy shit.

Run-DMC came through and changed the game by wearing Adidas, all black and gold chains, you know what I’m saying? That’s who I am. I’m like Run-DMC, a newer updated version. I come through wearing what I rock in the streets. When I hit the stage, I ain’t gotta put on a costume or wear something with shine or some spikes, or a bunch of other buffoonery shit. We ain’t with that. Over here at BSB Records we stay on deck and we do our own thing. Our fashion sense influences the city, and the city influences the culture when it’s done right.

Related: Troy Ave “Fake Butt Busta”
Troy Ave Featuring Jeezy And Rick Ross “All About The Money (Remix)”
Troy Ave Is Not Beefing With iLoveMakonnen
T.I. Says That Troy Ave Is “Definitely Hustle Gang”

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