André 3000 Is Back & — This Time He’s Wearing Tretorns

It’s been a minute since André 3000, the poetic half of rapper-duo OutKast has been in the spotlight. But after some time away for what 3 Stacks — as he’s also known — calls “fac[ing] that shit,” in the latest issue of GQ magazine, the man born Andre Benjamin is back. And this time he’s tapping into other artistic pursuits.

On Monday, the 42-year-old rapper debuted a new capsule collection in collaboration with Tretorn. Dubbed, “I André Benjamin will not draw in class,” the collection features 10 styles that update the look of Tretorn's classic silhouettes. Benjamin created his pieces after “just freestyling in a sketchbook and seeing what came from the pen to the paper,” from there, "it was all about translating the actual sketch to a Tretorn shoe,” he tells Refinery29.

Benjamin was inspired by New York City’s “frantic and forward” energy. He would sit outside, take everything in, and sketch all his surroundings, from the different cultures he’d observe near his apartment to the kids lining up for the latest Supreme drop. “I can kind-of take something from every culture because I’m a person who likes style in general, not a particular style,” he explains, of living in NYC.

As for how he’s styling his collab with the Swedish brand, Mr. Ice Cold says it’s all about comfort. “I’m going through a phase where I don’t wear a lot of new clothes,” he says, “I try to find just everyday pieces.” He explains that when he does shop, he hits up places like vintage dealer What Goes Around Comes Around. “It’s more like an ‘unfashion’ kind of fashion because I’ve spent so many years [focused on clothing], so now it’s now it’s the opposite.” The key to wearing the sneakers, according to Benjamin, is to let the colors shine — and “don’t be too matchy-matchy.” As for those Anita Baker tees that had the internet aflutter a few weeks ago? “Very soon, we’re in the middle of making a deal with the t-shirt delivery person to make it happen.”

In the meantime, click through to shop the artist’s first sneaker collection with Tretorn.