Alex Restivo

Interview with Alex Restivo

My process in fashion comes out of doing. I don’t really have a solid idea before I start on a piece. I just start and refine and refine until something cool comes out.– Alex Restivo

I met Alex Restivo last year at DLite’s Emerging Artists Fashion Showcase that featured young up and coming talent. Alex played music while he showcased his line of clothing and I was immediately hooked. I absolutely love when people are multi-passioned and combine their passions together like this! Especially ambitious and driven young individuals.

Alex Restivo
Alex Restivo

Let’s learn more about Alex!

My earliest memories stemming around fashion had to be light up sneakers and superhero underwear. Loved that stuff as a kid it made me feel cool, I was always excited to show off stuff like that.

I remember having a Spiderman costume as kid and loving it so much. I don’t think I put very much thought into fashion when I was a kid though, it was pretty much just t-shirts and cool sneakers. An image that comes to mind off the top of my head is the 50s modern house I grew up in with its flat room, two floors, and floating staircase, stained blue concrete floor, open layout. My mom is an interior designer and my dad is an architect, they always had lots of amazing modern art in the house, paintings and sculptures.

My parents have supported me heavily. Very grateful for them. They’ve always helped me in my artistic endeavors.

As far as music, I remember listening to CD’s in the car mainly. I took a couple drum lessons when I was 6, and then started guitar lessons when I was 10, and have kept guitar up since as my main instrument, and drums as a secondary instrument. Guitar started out as sort of that same feeling of thinking “oh this is cool, I want to show off” or something. Now, as an adult, I’m happy to say that I am tutoring a new generation on the art of guitar.

Listen to Alex’s recent Livestream!

My style is sort of all over the place because I love so many different styles, same with music. I definitely take heavily from a sort of punk style, safety pins, studs, patches, leather jackets, and DIY aesthetics accomplished by thrifting. But I also take from a sort of jazz style with suits, and long coats, and more upscale clothing.

Additionally, I find inspiration from a a sort of hip-hop streetwear sort of style, I love sneakers, t-shirts, puffers. These styles relate heavily to music because in every music scene there are distinct styles. Most known for their distinct appearances are people associated with the music scenes listed; punk, jazz, and hip-hop. My goal is to take the the most aesthetically pleasing aspects of these styles and morph them into something amazing.

Alex Restivo
Alex Restivo

I attended Berklee College of Music for 2 years from 2017-2019. I learned a lot about music theory and music production there. Conversely, as far as designing, I have no education.

I draw inspiration from so many different sources. I think that everything I experience in my life is a source of inspiration and influences my art in one way or another. I draw a lot of my inspiration from other artists. Some of my biggest musical inspirations are Thundercat, Aphex Twin, Radiohead, Flying Lotus, John Coltrane and so many more musicians that inspire me… far too many to list here.

Visually I draw inspiration from Stanley Kubrick, there are so many shots in his movies that stick with me such as the film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

2001 Space Odyssey
2001 Space Odyssey

2001 Space Odyssey

Another one of my favorite movies I draw inspiration from is Akira.

I see myself having several amazing music projects out. I see myself touring. I see myself putting on my own fashion shows. Having an awesome brand that is inclusive, and forward thinking. I see myself creating art in all mediums.

Alex Restivo
Alex Restivo

My process in fashion comes out of doing. I don’t really have a solid idea before I start on a piece. I just start and refine and refine until something cool comes out. It is similar with music, I just start, add and refine. When I work with a vocalist I usually have them lay down their vocal tracks over a simple chord progression then I’ll go in and try and capture and emphasize their vocals with a certain chord progression, voicings, and rhythms.

Check out the EP I have out with Indigo, and the single I have out with N3ptune. Also feel free to DM on my Instagram Rusty_Steve_ if you want a custom piece of clothing.

 Instagram: Rusty_Steve_ and 4.u.clothing