It’s been a busy year for NIKI. The 26-year-old is down to the last two months of a world tour in support of her latest studio album Buzz, and tonight, she’s set to perform her second sold out show in Manila. The energy outside the arena and backstage are, quite literally, buzzing, and the 88rising staple is more than ecstatic to show her fans night two’s theme of “Mystic Force” – taken from a lyric from one of her favorite songs “Magnets.”

The motif is presented alongside a customized outfit created by NIKI, her stylist Katie Qian and designer LVDF. The classic adidas track pants is upcycled as a pair of baggy pants with other adidas denim, leather and heavy patchwork pieces, and paired with a custom corset top that’s also crafted with adidas pieces such as an ombre T-shirt and Teamgeist apparel. “It’s really cool. It’s one of my favorite outfits that we’ve ever made,” she proudly tells Hypebeast. That’s not to say that she doesn’t care about comfort – if anything, she puts a strong emphasis on feeling comfortable as someone whose life is all about moving. “My buzz words are ‘comfort’ and ‘movement,’” she shares. “I personally love just putting on my adidas Superstars because it feels so comfortable. I would say 95% of my life is spent in sneakers.”

She sees her wardrobe as an extension of her personality, and as a natural born storyteller, it’s important for her to create an immersive world for her fans. “I always say that before I’m a singer or producer, the first thing I identify with the most is being a writer. That’s why I’m passionate about visuals, aesthetics, styles and themes,” she says. “I want [fans] to understand the project and the universe that I imagined it to be in.” she continues, “Fashion and visuals are, in and of itself, artistic languages.” NIKI is intentional in developing the synergy between her visuals and her sound, seeing them both as complementary languages that have potential to be extremely powerful when it strikes that sweet spot. She heavily credits her team of collaborators and friends, naming the likes of director Isaac Ravishankara for bringing her storytelling to life, “My North Star is communicating with fans so they understand where I’m coming from.”

It’s been almost a decade since she first burst into the scene, becoming one of the pillars of the powerful 88rising collective. Nowadays, NIKI’s focused on staying true to herself and drawing from her inner wellspring, “Even in designing my outfits, I try to tap into what brings me joy and what’s exciting to envision. It’s like, ‘What do we want to communicate?’ and that sparks my creativity.” This mantra is heavily reflected on the creation of Buzz, which she shares taught her more about nuance and the realization that “we can be two things or even more at the same time.”

“Everyone has really cool and unique ideas in the digital age, but in my opinion, trying too hard is the antithesis of originality.”

“We’re not just one version of ourselves, and it’s really important for me to express my individualism through the kaleidoscope of all of my personalities. The easiest way to achieve this is through my wardrobe. Sometimes I’m an ethereal siren on stage like last night, and sometimes I’m a Cyberpunk city girl. Sometimes I’m in jorts and adidas Superstars,” she says, pointing to her outfit and monochromatic black and white Superstars (her personal favorite), “but all of that is equally me. I think it’s a disservice to each of us to box ourselves into one thing, because are we really ever just one thing?”

It’s imperative to the young artist that she remains an Original, and her personal definition of originality is simple: being her most honest self. As adidas champions individuality, originality and creativity, she sees all three as snowballing and feeding one another. “It’s so cliche, but it’s important to trust yourself and to believe in what you’re capable of. It’s taken time for me to do what I believe in creatively with conviction, but once you really tap into that keyword there – if you do something with conviction – and it comes from a place of joy and not a place of pressure or stress, you can be original, an individual, and creative.”

“Everyone has really cool and unique ideas in the digital age, but in my opinion, trying too hard is the antithesis of originality,” NIKI states.