It's A Man's World: Andre 3000

The OutKast singer and dandy on style and grooming

England taught America to dress

You guys showed us how to dress smartly and then we made it cool. We made it less formal, though men know how to wear a suit in London.



I started a green revolution

People are always commenting on the green tartan trousers I wore in the Hey Ya! video. I designed those before I had my own label – Benjamin Bixby – using fabric I found in my hometown. I got a seamstress to sew them up for me, and then the year the single came out I started to see more and more green in people’s collections. I don’t know if there’s such a thing as a royal green, but that’s what I like to call it.



You can blame my mum for my style

She dressed me in a pretty classic style, but when I became a teenager I rebelled and started to wear the wildest things. As I get older, though – I’m 33 now – I’m finding the balance between wild and classic. Some days I feel like being a cowboy; other days I may want to be suited and booted, or perhaps I might be a Fifties biker. The rebel spirit is still there, but the classic is riding side-saddle.

I could see Prince Charles in one of my shirts – top dollar

Wills and Harry also rock. The princes are doing a great job with their looks. Maybe I can get them into some Benjamin Bixby and they’ll be even cooler. Winston Churchill was one cool dude, too. He always looked dapper.

The stage amplifies my attitude

When I’m performing, theatrics take over. If I’m in a stadium I have to be lively for people that are 100 rows back. A sober suit wouldn’t cut it for those dudes, so I like to have fun on stage and spice things up a little.

Benjamin Bixby is my muse

My collection is based on a fictional character. The Bixby range came from me seeing old pictures and documentaries of American college-football players in 1935. On the field they played this rough game, yet off the field they’d be dressed really nicely – I thought that was a cool pairing. I thought they were making a statement.

I don’t get it wrong often, but…

I recently saw a picture of myself when I was accepting an award, and I had an orange tie and an orange pocket square, and it just felt too matchy. I was like, ‘Ah, man, that is the sign of an amateur.’ Me and skinny jeans don’t get on, either – I have more of an athletic build, and you have to be one of those pencil-thin guys to make it really look good.

Fashion is crazier than film and music put together

It’s not like an artist who picks up a paintbrush and just paints. I have to make sure a technical designer gets it right, that a factory believes in it the same way I do and that it’s finished off the way I see it in my head. It has to go through way more hands, so that makes it harder to get right.

You can keep your bling. It’s not my thing

I’ll wear costume jewellery on stage, but I only actually own one piece of jewellery, and that’s a Native American beaded necklace that I wear all the time. I bought it years ago because my family has Native American roots – I’m part African, part Native American.

Hats are my crowning glory

My favourite is my straw hat, but unfortunately it’s on its last legs. I need to hurry up and find a new one. It looks like a shark bit it at the front, but I’ve had it for years and it has an attitude and life about it. And I love my fedoras – my favourite is my taupe-coloured one. That works really well with a lot of things.

It’s all about confidence

Look at Scottish guys wearing kilts – you could look at them and laugh, but the way they carry themselves, how can you? You can wear some of the weirdest things and be cool. If you believe in it, that’s what makes it cool.

I regret my tattoos

I had six silly tattoos done when I was young and I bitterly regret them. I’ve thought about laser surgery, but that leaves a scar, so I’m just leaving them.



Benjamin Bixby is available exclusively at Harrods; harrods.com



