On the Podcast: Revisiting Our Freewheeling Conversation with Erykah Badu

Chioma Nnadi: Ms. Badu.

Erykah Badu: Yeah.

Chioma Nnadi: So good to have you in the studio with us. Tell us how your Fashion Week has been.

Erykah Badu: My Fashion Week has been eventful, successful, tiring. It’s a lot of work. I’m super grateful for it.

Chioma Nnadi: I spied you across the room at Thom Browne.

Erykah Badu: Oh, I didn’t see you.

Chioma Nnadi: Yeah. What do you love about Thom?

Erykah Badu: I love that he makes me feel like, when wanting to do something really creative and whimsical and imaginative, I would want to do it, but think I’d get in trouble for it, and he does those things that we think we’ll get in trouble to do. And he’s courageous and always imaginative and uninhibited. That’s what I like about him.

Chioma Nnadi: Tell us what you wore that day.

Erykah Badu: I wore Thom Browne that day. Thom’s look was inspired by the actual look itself. I looked at a photo of the full look, and I interpreted it in my way.

Chioma Nnadi: I love the curlers.

Erykah Badu: Thank you.

Chioma Nnadi: Yeah, they were really great.

Erykah Badu: Thank you. There were curlers in the original look, but they were very small, little red and blue ones, so I thought that…

Chloe Malle: You upped the ante.

Erykah Badu: Yeah, just a little bit.

Chioma Nnadi: Weren’t they from this young designer duo in Brooklyn?

Erykah Badu: Yes, Elle and Chantelle.

Chioma Nnadi: That’s it. Very, very cool jewelry brand.

Erykah Badu: Yeah, two very talented twin sisters, originally from Nigeria.

Chioma Nnadi: You’re like a jewelry connoisseur. I feel like you always have incredible jewelry, that you have either custom made or you’ve commissioned.

Erykah Badu: Yeah, I love it. I think it creates, sometimes, the look. It’s all you need, really, those little accents and things that enhance the silhouette, but not take away from it.

Chioma Nnadi: So now, we’re dying to know, how do you decide? Is it a mood thing? Is it a vibe thing?

Chloe Malle: You wake up, you’re naked, not necessarily, but how do you build, I feel like you’re painting a picture with your clothes every day, how do you build your outfits?