Kid Cudi Brings His Members of the Rage Archive to New York Fashion Week

September 10, 2024

Image may contain Kid Cudi Clothing Glove Adult Person Coat Jacket TShirt Knitwear Sweater Balloon and Footwear

Outer space looms large in Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi’s imagination. So much so that Mescudi, who’s best known as the Grammy winning rapper Kid Cudi, has often turned to the vast possibilities of the cosmos for inspiration for his many creative projects—from his Man on the Moon albums to his Netflix series, Entergalactic. Perhaps it should come as no surprise then that when Mescudi began thinking about an archival exhibit for his clothing brand, Members of the Rage (MOTR)—which also boasts a Nigo-designed logo that features a UFO—it materialized on Monday night in SoHo with a brightly colored Mission Control-esque console as a major focal point.

Image may contain Lamp Person City Urban Publication Shop Architecture Building Office Building and Bus

The exhibit showcased 15 of Mescudi’s otherworldly looks from his past three MOTR collectsions, and marked a rite of passage for the artist: his first time experiencing New York Fashion Week as a designer.

“It was always a dream of mine to be here,” Mescudi told Vogue at the exhibit’s opening, while sporting a colorful varsity jacket from MOTR’s upcoming collectsion and a Murakamsi-inspired chain. “I've been to NYFW several times, and I always used to be like, ‘Man, it'll be so dope to have my own shit here.’ This is crazy because Anna [Wintour] asked me to bring the brand here. To have her support is priceless.”

The exhibit, Mescudi was quick to note, was not a presentation. He showed pieces, which ranged from a delicately beaded suit in an abstract watercolor print to a futuristic acid green varsity jacket, from MOTR’s fall 2023, spring 2024 and fall 2024 collectsions, that originally debuted in showrooms during Paris Fashion Weeks past. According to Mescudi, the brand’s first show (which will also include the brand’s first collaboration) will be in Paris this January, a momentous occasion that he’s been biding his time for while fine-tuning his skills as a designer. While Mescudi has always dabbled in fashion, from his early days working at the BAPE store to walking in Virgil Abloh’s inaugural Louis Vuitton show, his work with MOTR marks his first foray into fashion as an artistic director, a responsibility he doesn’t take lightly.

“The first two seasons were definitely a learning curve,” he said, noting that he starts the design process by sketching most of the looks by hand. “Learning the structure of designing a collectsion, from figuring out its story to learning different techniques, became more and more fun as time went on—learning fabrics, working with different silhouettes, playing with colors. It was really about just exploring and learning.”

Image may contain Person Child Adult Clothing Footwear Shoe Glove Electronics Speaker Mannequin and Helmet

As a brand, MOTR is a sartorial fever dream, powered by technicolor hues, bold silhouettes and psychedelic prints. There’s a throughline of playfulness and positivity, and an undeniable affinity for vibrant colors in Mescudi’s designs, which he says he was inspired to create because he couldn’t find clothes that fit his style.

“For a while I was going out shopping and I was coming home underwhelmed–I wasn't finding the things I wanted to wear,” he said. “One of the things that a lot of people say is that they love the colors and that's not what you're getting in fashion right now from a lot of brands. I think MOTR is getting people to think outside. Mescudi wants to make it clear that he’s deeply invested in the craftsmanship of the line, noting how his commitment to his art in other mediums like music and filmmaking have prepared for this task and that his multihyphenate status shouldn’t be a reason to count him out as a serious designer.

“When you hear a Kid Cudi song, you take it serious, you know?” he said. “Because you're like, ‘okay, Cudi talks about real shit.’ I want people to take this brand serious. I don't want them to think that this is just some shit I'm just doing or I’ve got people designing all my shit—I'm really in there designing shit, drawing shit, making shit, every collectsion! I just want to get better, because I'm still new to all this. And I want to make sure that what I'm doing is pushing things forward. I can't do something that I already did in previous collectsions—it always has to be a step forward.”e the box. I thought color might hurt me, but it’s kind of my superpower.”

Image may contain Kid Cudi Accessories Bag Handbag Clothing Coat Person Bracelet Cheap Replica Handbags Adult Footwear and Shoe

For Mescudi, the MOTR archive exhibit during NYFW was doubly significant because it also provided an opportunity to bring more awareness to a cause that’s deeply close to his heart—youth mental health. Currently, he’s auctioning off a custom Givenchy cardigan that he co-designed with Matthew Williamson for Mescudi’s 2022 “TO THE MOON” tour; the proceeds from the sale of the sweater will be donated to the Center for Youth Mental Health. Mescudi, whose own struggles with depression have led to him being a vocal advocate for mental health awareness, used the screens of the exhibit’s space console to prominently feature information about the auction and the youth center, as well as a QR code where users could bid on the sweater.

“I put both events together because I wanted to put eyes on the Youth Center through MOTR,” he said. “I'm really happy to be doing something and giving back in this way. Because people know me, they know my struggles, they know what I've been through. With my music, I've always been trying to connect to the youth and guide them and give them support.”

Ultimately, the whole exhibit was an event that had Mescudi over the moon.

“I'm definitely raging tonight, because I have a lot to celebrate,” he said with a wide grin.