As a fan of Idris Elba and his immaculately tasteful collections for Superdry, I was really glad to see this interview and feature with Tiggs da Author go live with PORT magazine to celebrate the label’s AW/17 collection with the powerhouse actor. It’s been over two years now that Superdry and Idris Elba have been working together, creating something ultimately British but fused with the internationality and global appeal of Idris himself. The collections are always super cohesive with the Superdry audience, and the positioning of Idris Elba as a visionary throughout these last two years is something that more British brands should take a note of.
Onto Tiggs da Author, his latest release is Work It Out which super heavily samples The Caesars’s “Jerk It Out”, which is cute and clearly the perfect timing for a nostalgic sonic comeback for the track. The video features a nice little cameo from Chris Martin himself. The interview with Port sees Tiggs talk about studio freestyling, Tanzanian jazz, and sampling the 2003 hit for his current single.
The Port photoshoot features the AW17 Idris Premium Range for Superdry, worn by Tiggs Da Author. Standout pieces for me include the dark green Winter jacket and the biker leather jacket. The full collection can be shopped at Superdry.com.
You can read the entire interview by clicking through to PORT magazine, here, but I’ve included a couple of questions below…
Would you say you were a London musician? How much influence has being in London had on your music?
I was born in Tanzania, and I moved to London when I was eight. London has had a massive influence on my music as it’s where I pretty much grew up. Everything I know is influenced by in my environment, but in the later stages of my music I went back to my roots and got more and more inspired by Tanzanian music – so both sides play a part.
Your new single, ‘Work it Out’, how did that come about?
It was one of the first songs I loved when I heard it on FIFA ages ago. I came across it again a few months ago, and I thought I’d cover it and do my own version. I performed it a couple of times and got a great reaction, so I thought I might reach out to Caesars and work with them to rework the beat and make it more fresh. So I went out to Sweden and worked on that and we just loved it.
The AW/17 Idris Elba + Superdry Premium Range, designed by Golden Globe-winning actor Idris Elba, is a capsule collection of versatile, creative and far from predictable pieces made for those who want to express themselves with confidence.
Photography featured by Lewis Khan, styling by Will Johns, hair & makeup by
Ditte Lund Lassen using Redken, Skincare and Make-up provided by Dr. Hauschka. All clothing Superdry.