This article originally appeared in Hypebeast Magazine Issue 35: The Wavelength Issue.

Fashion can be exhausting, especially when it’s force-fed at the unhinged, hyperspeed pace of the internet. Fortunately, at least one designer agrees—and he’s countering the chaos in meticulously-executed style. Greg Ross’s resistance to the fashion industry’s endless churn isn’t just a creative stance; it’s a mindset, in part shaped by his unusually fated entry into the apparel business. Just over a decade ago, Ross, then a second-year student at Otis College of Art and Design in LA, interned at the notably fabulous, crystal-applique-forward fashion house Libertine. The experience gave him a foundational understanding of the fashion world’s inner workings and, more importantly, led to a chance connection with fellow intern Elizabeth Hilfiger—yes, that Hilfiger.

The two became friends, and their connection ultimately led to Tommy Hilfiger taking notice of Ross’s nascent design aesthetic. Tommy then set up a face-to-face meeting for young Mr. Ross with Kanye West just months before Yeezy Season 3’s release. It began a near-decade-long collaboration with West and his brand, during which Ross both shaped and absorbed the aesthetic and approach of Yeezy’s golden era.

Many of the looks synonymous with Yeezy began as sketches in Greg Ross’s notebook, and he carries the same one-step-ahead approach into his eponymous label, launched in 2023. His signature mix of soft-to-the-touch washed jersey, big, boxy shoulders, cropped sweatshirts, distressed fabrics, and motorcycle jacket-type cuts continue to influence his eye-catching silhouettes. More than just designing clothes, Ross aims to use his platform as a commercial and creative commentary on the inescapable noise of fashion weeks, overhyped collabs, and generalized social media frenzy.

Though fashion at large has caught up to many of his early ideas, Ross is not content to rest on his laurels. And his latest capsule is proof—showcasing his distinct eye for fabric, color, and cut in an era overflowing with ephemeral trends.

You turned a lot of heads with your first couple collections, but you’ve been relatively quiet lately. Why is now the right time to drop your next capsule?

Greg Ross: So many brands have so many clothes, and there are constant shows and seasons. There’s just so much shit, always. I don’t want to be constantly shoving clothes in everyone’s faces. That’s what every brand does, and it’s exhausting.

Definitely, but aren’t there downsides to that approach? Especially when it comes to dollars and cents?

My brand can come off as inconsistent, and I hate that, but I don’t just do this all day. I’ve been working on a lot of Travis Scott projects with my friend Peri Rosenzweig and I do stuff with Drake and his stylist Drew Ferguson, too. I’m constantly trying to make money for this so I can pay for that. I think a lot of designers have to deal with that give and take, and it’s stressful. I’m not trying to come off like another one of these brands that floats around and is just putting out clothes to no one. I don’t even know who buys a lot of them. In LA, everyone either has a brand or is thinking about doing one.

To that point, when we’re in this world where there’s so much noise, what are the deeper levels of what defines a Greg Ross piece aesthetically? How do you approach that?

With Greg Ross, I focus a lot on color and texture, and I pick fabrics with a lot of intention. I also spend a lot of time trying to ensure things look good on someone. A lot of brands’ products look so cheap. I try to do the opposite of that.

What’s your creative process like when you’re working on a collection?

I go to stores all the time. I go to the Balenciaga store. I go to Ferragamo. I’m very nosy. I want to look at everything. I touch everything. When I go to a store, I really examine every brand that I’m interested in. I don’t like when things feel too new, so I like my brand’s garments to feel like they already have a story to them.

Do you like to take something that’s super new-looking and distress it, or do you like to take something that already has that vibe and enhance it?

I do both. It’s easy for me to make something look old because I work with wash houses in LA, and they can make something look old in a day. Before, I would buy old things and alter them. I just like it when things are already lived in, you know?

Totally. Do you remember the first time you wanted to make your own clothing?

One of the first things I wanted to make was a hoodie because I’ve never liked new hoodies. Even when I was in high school, I would buy all my hoodies from the thrift store. At one point, I really liked the fit of this old Philadelphia Eagles football team hoodie and I cropped it. This was a long time before it was cool to crop all your shit. I wore it to school every day and eventually spilled plaster on it. It looked disgusting, so I wanted to recreate it. We actually did kind of recreate it at Yeezy by cropping an old Carhartt hoodie that Kanye really liked. That style got recreated for one of our collections.

What was working at Yeezy like?

It was hard to be at Yeezy for a long period of time. I learned to have a lot of grit and tenacity, as well as how to put up with a lot of stuff. It was a very competitive atmosphere. You have to be really determined to get something done there. That time has helped me immensely with my brand because I just don’t give up if the first thing doesn’t work. If you really want it, you’ll figure out a way. That’s how Yeezy was.

How did you and Kanye initially connect?

I was going to Otis College of Art and Design in 2013, and I started interning for this LA brand called Libertine. It’s a really crazy, over-the- top brand; everything’s covered in crystals. When I worked there, I met Elizabeth Hilfiger—Tommy Hilfiger’s daughter—who was interning there, too. We became close friends, and I used to work on projects at her house. We would make clothes because she had a little sewing room. We would just have fun and make stupid shit and hang out after work or on the weekend. Her dad came by one day just to say hi. I was wearing a Kanye merch hoodie cause I had just seen him at FYF Fest and her dad came and said, “Oh, I’m actually connecting with Kanye tonight. He wants me to give him some advice on Yeezy.” And I was like, “Oh, that’s cool.” Then Elizabeth said, “Oh, Greg really likes Kanye.” The weekend after that, Elizabeth told me Kanye wanted to talk to me. Her dad had shown him some of my designs and he liked what he saw. I was so not prepared. It was not something I was ever expecting to happen.

What was that first meeting like?

Really weird. It was right before Yeezy Season 3. I had no experience with anybody from Yeezy and I didn’t know what to expect. I had to drive to Calabasas and the meeting was in a very blank corporate building, no signage on it, nothing. There was a girl there, I think she was a receptionist. She was like, “Oh, yeah, well, Kanye or Alistair [Carr, the Yeezy creative director at the time] will come back in a while.” Finally, Kanye showed up. He had looked at my Tumblr, and he really liked it and he liked my sketches and everything. And he said, “I think you should just start today.” And I was like, “OK, cool.” Then Alistair came, and he and Kanye reviewed my portfolio. Kanye was like, “What do you think?” They were both sitting in front of me. And Alistair was like, “No, I think he’s too inexperienced. I don’t think we need anybody like that right now.” I was so devastated, and then Kanye was like, “I like him, he’s staying, he’s going to start today.” And then Alistair just said, “OK,” and walked away.

So I started that day. I stayed there till 10pm to print reference photos. Kanye wanted me to start printing ideas, sketching things, and showing him references for accessories and shoes. I came back every day. Nobody told me what time to be there. Nobody told me if I should be there. Nobody told me anything. I just started putting up ideas and waiting for him to come around and look at them.

There are a lot of young folks who look at designers like you, hear your story, and get excited. Do you have any advice for people in terms of how to move in the fashion world?

I’m not the best advice giver, and I can definitely come off as very negative towards this industry. I think that if you can stay genuine, it’ll give you a perspective that a lot of people don’t have. If I were just starting, I would have to shut off everything that’s going on around me. It does suck to be involved in this industry sometimes, but it also can be really rewarding.