Byron Mason: We’re here with Maddy Green, crazy style. What are you wearing today?
Maddy Green: I got my [Nike] Uptempos on. I chose these just because I don’t see people rocking these. They came out [awhile] ago and their Pippens and people don’t know that. I wear them and people are like “what are your shoes.” I dig the throwback stuff, but I also like the new wave; like hypebeast stuff. The shirt’s a Supreme shirt.
BM: Were you into Supreme before it blew up and got all the attention it has now?
MG: I used to shit on it so hard. I like fashion. I always have, but I never got my sh*t together until last year. My boyfriend really influenced all of this ‘cause he’s kind of a little hypebeast. And I used to give him crap for it. I’m like “you’re really spending money on this Supreme stuff?” But it’s cool and it’s different. It’s something you could purchase online for one day for ten seconds for a normal price and then an hour later, everything is a crazy price. And I love collabs.
BM: What kind of collabs are you into?
MG: I have a pair of Comme de Garcon Converse. Honestly Supreme has some dope collabs. Supreme just had the Comme de Garcon Air Force One collab that dropped. Polo and Palace had a collab that dropped today.
BM: Where do you get a lot of your stuff?
MG: I don’t buy stuff that often from Supreme. Most of my stuff is honestly used. Thrifting but also Poshmark and Depop. Most of my stuff is honestly used because who’s got money to spend actually? We are college students but I am tryna flex.
BM: You said your style switched up last year. Was that only because of your boyfriend?
MG: No, definitely not just because of my boyfriend. He made me want to flex more I guess. He was like “you have good stuff, you have good style.” You need to actually wear that. If you wanna wear it, wear it. I kind of found myself when I came to college. And I think that’s what made me find my style. I’ve always been a tomboy and trying to buy stuff that girls wear. Recently, I’ve just been like I’m gonna wear whatever I wanna wear whenever I wanna wear it. And I don’t care if it’s made for boys or girls. I don’t care if people think I look weird. I’m gonna wear what I want because I like it.
BM: So it doesn’t matter to you, as far as your femininity goes. It’s just who you are.
MG: If someone looks at me and they’re like “that looks like a boy, I’m not gonna care as long as I look fresh. I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t care. I was always a tomboy and people were like “you need to straighten your hair, you need to do this, you need to wear this.” You need to fit. I tried and it sucks.
BM:You found yourself when you got to college. Was that through your art?
MG: I like oil painting. I never took an art class in high school. I was just on stucco and painted big things for people whenever we needed something for an event. And I painted something sometime my senior year and someone was like “you should be an art major.” And I’m like “that’s BS I’m not gonna make any money. And I came to school and I took a painting class and it was with Drea [Cofield] And she was a guest teacher and she graduated from here. And she’s doing crazy things. She opened my mind up to what I could actually do with an art degree. She’s a DePauw alum and she went to Yale, the number one art school in the country. And now, she’s living in New York as an artist. And she’s painting on cars for people and opening galleries. She’s doing her art thing and being completely herself.
BM: Does your art affect your style at all versus what you want to create?
MG: I like color. You can see that in my paintings so much and you can see that whenever I dress. Tyler the Creator, he’s a huge inspiration. I painted him and stuff like that--it all intermingles.
BM: So hip-hop and music influences your style too?
M: Tyler, Noname, definitely Smino. Smino is definitely a huge inspiration. He’s the reason I bought neon green Air Force One’s. Hip hop’s style--it’s kind of funny I’m this white girl, but I love hip-hop. I love how it’s this whole entire world. No other music is like that. The way it takes over society; the way we talk and the way we dress. We talk about “dab,” that is Migos. Hip-hop shapes society. Tyler the Creator wrote the music for the Grinch.
BM: What you think about people who take things from the hip-hop culture, but don’t give it credit?
MG: It’s so dumb. Like durags-- a white person obviously cannot wear a durag. I like hip-hop and I like the style. But I’m not about to go buy a Gucci durag. And white people saying the n-word. The way hip-hop affects society is positive, but it’s also negative. Kids are 13 years old and they’re all saying the n word. They’re gonna think that’s ok until they go to college.
