Deep within the luxurious confines of Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills, independent clothing designer Bluboy set up a table where he hand painted and customized MCM (a leather luxury goods brand founded in Germany) items bought at the store. In addition to Bluboy’s table, the event included a bar that offered complimentary champagne, sparkling water and football-shaped cookies. In the back corner of the room, Producer Val Fleury spun fresh beats that emulated the vibe of Blu’s art.
When I first entered the event, Blu was in the middle of drawing on an MCM iPad case worth several hundred dollars. In Blu’s signature style, the iPad case was covered in ghosts, blue faces and a psychedelic scribble of his mantra, “Art is War.” Blue ghosts are a common theme in Blu’s work, made evident by the ghost-covered cardigan he rocked. In addition to ghosts, his art typically includes blue hand-drawn figures, each wearing a unique outfit reminiscent of street-wear fashion. The smooth contours and vivid colors give his art a psychedelic feel that juxtaposes the various monsters he includes in his work.
After I grabbed a glass of champagne, I headed in the direction of Blu’s table. Before I got the chance to say anything, Blu took a pause from drawing on the iPad case and introduced himself. His vibrant personality emitted nothing but positivity, as if he had been waiting to chop it up with a longtime friend. Blu’s ability to make his fans feel welcomed as they entered the room parallels his desire to inspire others and demonstrate the accessibility of visual design.
Blu is a visual designer from Atlanta, Georgia. He created his fashion brand, WNTD (What Not To Do), in 2012. As a college dropout from Georgia State University, he decided on the name “What Not To Do” due to his lack of a formal education in fashion and art. Lacking an official degree enables Blu to feel open and free with his art. Without the pressure of a professional criticizing his methods, he feels he can do what’s instinctively right for him. “When you know all the rules, you kind of play by the rules, and I don’t know any of the rules,” Blu said.
When Blu creates art, he illustrates exactly what he feels instead of adhering to standards other professional designers establish. Just as he is able to impose his distinctive designs onto an article of clothing worth several hundred dollars, he succeeds in invading common spaces and makes them his own.
WNTD embodies Blu’s unorthodox approach to art, as he strays away from the boundaries re-enforced by traditional practices. “If I mess up, or something’s wrong, it’s what not to do,” Blu said. “I wanted to approach this game my way… make my own rules. I used to do a bunch of rookie things and things that are, like, not textbook, so… that was my loophole.”
When Blu first enrolled in community college, he met his mentor, Professor Moser. Professor Moser helped Blu understand the lack of influence a design degree would likely have on his career and urged him to drop out after one semester. “I already didn’t want to go to school,” Blu said. “But hearing it from a professor, someone who dedicated his life to education … telling me ‘get out of here and do your thing’… it was amazing.”
Blu eventually used Professor Moser as the main model for his fifth collection. “It was just, like, a full circle moment, because I was so successful from the moment he told me to leave,” Blu said.
As an independent artist, Blu handles the entire workflow of his company himself. He first felt that he was popping off as a designer when 2 Chainz hired him to design his merch and help with the rollout. When Blu received his first big paycheck, he used the money to finance his third collection, which helped catapult his Instagram fanbase to surpass 60,000 followers. Later in his career, Blu contributed to the merch for Kanye West’s project, Donda, and even gave Kanye the first copy of his lookbook, ART TO LIFE 3.
In 2021, Blu was hired to design a limited-edition Sprite can. Fashion designer Jeff Staples made an Instagram post asking followers to tag their favorite designers. After tons of people tagged Bluboy, Sprite revealed that it was a test to employ a designer for their talent team.
Blu sees his involvement with a billion-dollar company as a way to represent artists and give back to the creative community that has supported him throughout the years. In addition to his own design, Blu received the opportunity to suggest five more artists to design cans in the future.
Blu lives by the mantra, “Art is War.” He believes that there are a lot of battles artists push through daily in pursuit of their dreams. “If you’re creating, you know how tough it is,” Blu said. “This is what you sign up for. There [are] tons of challenges that you’re going to have to face to chase your dream in the creative field.”
According to Blu, “Art is War” refers to the three biggest struggles an artist faces. YOU vs. YOU is the struggle of constantly having to outdo yourself as an artist, YOU vs. PEERS is the battle you continually face against others working toward the same opportunities and YOU vs. YOUR LOVED ONES is the battle to prove to your friends and family that your dreams are attainable.
Now that Bluboy has reached a place in his career where he feels the security of a devoted fanbase, he strives to inspire others just as others inspired him when he started creating art. He understands that he was able to figure out life goals he wanted to pursue due to growing up with fashion and music videos from his favorite artists, such as Kanye West, Migos and Pharrell.
Now, Blu believes it’s his turn to serve as a role model for those who aren’t yet sure what they want to do in life. “I got to figure out what I wanted to do for the rest of my life through all these amazing artists that did great things in the world,” Blu said. “I want to be that thing for other people… I want… kids when they’re coming up and they see what I’m doing, they’re like, ‘damn, I want to do that.’”
The event held at Saks Fifth Avenue gives Blu hope that more artists will continue to strive towards their goals when they see an artist with such creative freedom collaborating with a multimillion-dollar fashion brand by freely drawing on luxury items.
“I’m literally like everyone else in their bedroom making art, doing things, and we in Saks Fifth, so I just feel like it’s just a testament to how far you can really take it,” Blu said.
Bluboy is currently working on his sixth collection, which includes clothing and accessories such as blazers, handbags, cardigans, watches and more. To view more of Bluboy’s art, visit www.bluboynfts.com, or check out his Instagram: @bluboy___.