As a child, rapper Riky Rick begged his mother to buy him a pair of Tommy Jeans. Twenty one years later he finds himself in New York to meet the fashion designer behind the fashion brand he so desired, Tommy Hilfiger.
Rick took to Instagram to share an image of him shaking hands with Hilfiger and shared his history with the brand and what meeting Hilfiger meant to him.
"In 1998 we moved to Austria with my mother. The new school my brothers and I went to didn’t require uniforms so naturally our friends introduced us to new styles and brands that included a label by this man named @tommyhilfiger . We begged my mother to buy us a pair of Tommy Jeans but coming from where we come from and trying to raise 4 children in a foreign country doesn’t put you in a position to keep up with fashion labels. She did her best to keep us presentable at school but buying Tommy Hilfiger was out of the question, even though she would’ve if she could’ve."
"Meeting this man and telling him the story of how his brand was the reason I FELL IN LOVE WITH THE MPAHLAS was full circle. Thank you malume @tommyhilfiger for giving me time and bringing me out for your show, you are much appreciated🙏🏾🖤. ICON."
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A post shared by Rikhado "Riky Rick" Makhado(@rikyrickworld) on Sep 17, 2019 at 7:14am PDT
Rick also spoke of how the brand inspired his sense of style: "Ever since then the feeling of not being able to wear what I like has never left me and its one of the reasons I work so hard. It might sound silly to some people but all I ever wanted was to be fresh. Broke or not. No compromise."
"Fast Forward 21 years. Ive had the opportunity to travel the world, make friends and express myself through clothes BUT meeting this man and telling him the story of how his brand was the reason I FELL IN LOVE WITH THE MPAHLAS was full circle."