Read the story behind the shots by Jay Seba
Read the story behind the shots by Jay Seba
TYLER THE CREATOR
Meeting this man was one of the most important moments of my life. For those who don’t know, Tyler massively influenced my life from the age of 16 years old too the present day. Being the reason I started skateboarding, listening the certain music, became unafraid to be myself and the reason why I believed me and my friends could live creatively just as he and Odd Future did. His crew of oddballs felt like they would fit right in to our group of quirky black kids from Slough.
After being luckily asked to film the last runway show of Virgil Abloh’s Louis Vuitton, FW22, Myself and my DOP found ourselves in Paris, watching the dress rehearsal at the Le Carreau du Temple.
Suddenly we look to our left and there is Tyler the Creator standing a few feet away, next to composer Benji B.
We had no idea at the time that Tyler would end up riding his bike through the show and that had arranged and produced the music for the show.
After heading back to our hotels for the night, speculating on what tomorrow would bring and preparing questions for all of the expected celebrity interviews, What was Tyler doing there definitely crossed my mind.
Fast forward to the 1st show which was for the public, and I spy him in the crowd standing close to another one of my team members. It was during this time whilst he was talking to composer Benji B and the conductor Gustavo Dudamel, that I Realised he must have been involved in the arrangement / production of music for the fashion show.
Even more of a surprise was during the second show, closed off for Virgil Abloh’s close friends and family, was seeing Tyler riding a bike (obviously decked out in full LV from the collection) around the show.
After 3 tries we managed to get the perfect shot as Tyler rode past and looked directly in our direction.
Immediately after the show, our task was to interview a number of the esteemed guests as they chatted amongst each other
Those on the list that were successfully interviewed were the likes of Luka Sabbat, Evan Mock, Legendary model Naomi Campbell and Tyler the creator himself.
Whilst waiting on the sidelines for a photo op to end, we chose our moment to carefully inflltrate the conversation between Naomi, Tyler and Dave Chapelle.
During which Tyler explained how inspired he is by Dave, “He’s 25% of me” he said. I also asked him how Virgil had helped him during his time. Tyler said they He Helped him in ways he could not even put in to words, from introducing him to manufacturers in the fashion business to giving him life advice.
Just before he left he decided to grab me and kiss my forehead, it was as if he knew how much he meant to me. I took my chance to tell him that he is the reason I started skateboarding and why I still wear white socks every summer., To which he responses “Oh me too! Always!” Before pulling up his pants to show his own socks.
