Austin Babbitt (born June 5, 1998), known by the alias Asspizza is an American

fashion design Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has varied over time and place. "A fashion design ...

er,

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

, and

internet celebrity An Internet celebrity, also referred to as an Internet personality, is an individual who has acquired or developed their fame and notability on the Internet. The growing popularity of social media provides a means for people to reach a large ...

best known for his

eponymous An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

clothing line. His work has been recognized by

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

Lorde Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known professionally as Lorde ( ), is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. She is known for her unconventional style of pop music and introspective songwriting, and has been referred to ...

Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter and actor. Raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he signed with the local independent label Rostrum Records to re ...

Ty Dolla $ign Tyrone William Griffin Jr. (born April 13, 1982), known professionally as Ty Dolla Sign (stylized as Ty Dolla $ign or Ty$), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Griffin gai ...

ASAP Bari Jabari Shelton (born December 23, 1991), better known as ASAP Bari (stylized as A$AP Bari) or Young Lord, is an American streetwear designer and entrepreneur. He is known as a co-founder of the New York hip-hop collective ASAP Mob, which he for ...

Yung Lean Jonatan Aron Leandoer Håstad (born 18 July 1996), known professionally as Yung Lean, is a Swedish rapper. Widely cited as one of the most influential figures in the early cloud rap era, Yung Lean rose to prominence in 2013 with his song " Gins ...

, and the New York-based

streetwear Streetwear is a style of casual clothing which became global in the 1990s. It grew from New York hip hop fashion and Californian surf culture to encompass elements of sportswear, punk fashion, punk, Skateboarding#Culture, skateboarding, 1980s no ...

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 Pop-up retail, also known as pop-up store (pop-up shop in the UK, Australia and Ireland) or flash retailing, is a trend of opening short-term sales spaces that last for days to weeks before closing down, often to latch onto a fad or scheduled e ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

alongside his genuine merchandise.

Early life

Babbitt from an early age had an interest in creating, beginning with an interest in

graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

artwork at a young age and shopping at local

thrift shop "Thrift Shop" is a song written and performed by American hip hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring vocals from American singer Wanz, released in 2012, as the fourth single from the former's debut studio album, '' The Heist'' (2012). The lyr ...

s for low price clothing to customize and wear. He has stated living and being from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

was a major factor in his upbringing and creative interests. In 2014, Babbitt dropped out of

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

Career

2014–2016: ''Spaghetti Boys and Early Soho''

Babbitt'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 Mercer may refer to: Business * Mercer (automobile), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925) * Mercer (consulting firm), a human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City, US * Mercer (occupation), a merchant or tra ...

and Howard, and included stores such as Supreme, VFiles,

Off-White Shades of white are colors that differ only slightly from pure white. Variations of white include what are commonly termed off-white colors, which may be considered part of a neutral color scheme. In color theory, a ''shade'' is a pure color mi ...

, and NikeLab 21M in early 2014. It was here that he met other likeminded teens, including Ray Martinez, Luka Sabbat, and Kerwin Frost. In November 2014, Babbit and his friends appeared in

’s music video for " Yellow Flicker Beat" of '' The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1'' soundtrack following a brief conversation between them on Instagram. 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 Khadimou Rassoul Cheikh Fall (born September 10, 1998), known professionally as Sheck Wes, is an American rapper. He is best known for his 2018 song "Mo Bamba (song), Mo Bamba", which went viral online before peaking at number six on the Billboa ...

and filmmaker WhiteTrashTyler. The Spaghetti Boys collective released fashion collaborations with

and Heron Preston, as well as promotional material for Nike Air. On December 22, 2015, Babbitt and Frost went viral for fighting rapper

Playboi Carti Jordan Terrell Carter (born September 13, 1995, or 1996), known professionally as Playboi Carti, is an American rapper. Known for his eccentric vocal style and fashion, he is considered an influential figure in modern Hip hop music, hip hop a ...

, 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. In 2018, the Spaghetti Boys held a pop-up shop in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

at the Japanese boutique NUBIAN. This would end up being their last official collaboration. In late 2018, the Spaghetti Boys disbanded and began focusing on new solo projects.

2014–present: ''Asspizza''

Babbitt began his personal career while still part of Spaghetti Boys by drawing over and sewing patches onto old and new

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. He told

The Fader ''The Fader'' is a magazine established in 1999 as an outlet for Cornerstone Agency, a marketing and public relations firm established by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. History and work It is owned by T ...

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.'" 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 Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

movie documenting the making of Collection 1 and created skits directed by Danny Dangle and WhiteTrashTyler. In 2016, approaching the release of

The Life of Pablo ''The Life of Pablo'' is the seventh studio album by American rapper Kanye West. It was released on February 14, 2016, through GOOD Music and distributed by Def Jam Recordings. Recording sessions took place from 2013 to 2016, in Italy, Mexico, ...

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 Virgil Abloh (; September 30, 1980 – November 28, 2021) was an American fashion designer and entrepreneur. A trained architect, Abloh founded his own line of luxury streetwear clothing under the moniker Pyrex Vision in 2012, which he transfor ...

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?” 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. Asspizza opened up an official office and studio named "730 Studios" in April 2021 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, CA. It includes offices, a recording studio, and areas for art and clothing to be made. Though not officially announced by Supreme, Babbitt through his brand ''Asspizza'' collaborated with the famous

clothing brand 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

and

hand-delivering the tees to people. The item was not available for sale anywhere online or in-store, leading some to question its authenticity. In 2021, Babbitt embarked on an impromptu tour of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

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 Denim is a sturdy cotton warp-faced textile in which the weft passes under two or more Warp (weaving), warp threads. This twill weave produces a diagonal ribbing that distinguishes it from cotton duck. Denim, as it is recognized today, was f ...

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. Announced in June 2022, Babbitt under his ''Asspizza'' brand, opened his first official

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...

. Located at 481

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

and entitled “ARTIST OF THE WORLD”, the gallery featured art pieces produced by Asspizza (including

embroidered Embroidery is the art of decorating Textile, fabric or other materials using a Sewing needle, needle to stitch Yarn, thread or yarn. It is one of the oldest forms of Textile arts, textile art, with origins dating back thousands of years across ...

canvas made to look like

spray paint Spray paint (formally aerosol paint) is paint that comes in a sealed, pressurized can and is released in an aerosol spray when a valve button is depressed. The propellant is what the container of pressurized gas is called. When the pressure hol ...

), 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. 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'-lantern A jack-o'-lantern (or jack o'lantern) is a carved lantern, most commonly made from a pumpkin, or formerly a root vegetable such as a mangelwurzel, rutabaga or turnip. Jack-o'-lanterns are associated with the Halloween holiday. Its name comes ...

s and pumpkins, the star logo from the

fast food Fast food is a type of Mass production, mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. ''Fast food'' is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheat ...

brand

Carl's Jr Carl's Jr. Restaurants LLC is an American fast-food restaurant chain store, chain owned by CKE Restaurants, CKE Restaurant Holdings, Inc., who also owns Hardee's, with franchisees in North and South America, Asia, Oceania, Europe, and Africa. ...

, 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

Babbitt has stated he believes in

Magicka ''Magicka'' is an action-adventure game developed by Arrowhead Game Studios. It was released via Steam for Microsoft Windows on January 25, 2011. ''Magicka'' is based on Norse mythology. Up to four mages of a sacred order travel to fight agai ...

Spiritualism Spiritualism may refer to: * Spiritual church movement, a group of Spiritualist churches and denominations historically based in the African-American community * Spiritualism (beliefs), a metaphysical belief that the world is made up of at leas ...

, The Law of Attraction, and

Positive Thinking Positive thinking or Positive Thinking may refer to: Common uses * New Thought, a new religious movement that coalesced in the United States in the early 19th century * Optimism, an attitude reflecting a belief or hope that the outcome of some spe ...

. Babbitt says he abstains from all

drug A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via insufflation (medicine), inhalation, drug i ...

s and has never drunk

alcohol Alcohol may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control 1998 births Living people American fashion designers Artists from Queens, New York