Central Cee Will Never Not Dress Like Central Cee (EXCLUSIVE)
Central Cee is specific about what he wears. As he tells me during a short email exchange about his signature style, “Clothes are like your skin. You can’t let anyone else choose your skin.”
His distinct style is an eclectic mix of UK tracksuit culture heavily dosed with luxury luggage and the occasional Labubu, an approach that Cee has been developing for years. Even if given the chance to swap wardrobes with anyone (dead or alive), he tells me he’s unwilling to trade.
When we speak, the most-streamed rapper in the United Kingdom is fresh from performing in Manchester, taking the stage in an all-black Nike Tech Fleece sweat suit, Nike’s new “Mandarin” Air Max 95 shoes, and two diamond-encrusted chains spelling out his catchphrase, “Live Yours.”
It’s a variation of an outfit he's worn countless times, a uniform synonymous with Central Cee as a public figure.
And though debates about Cench’s influence on demand for Tech Fleeces are ongoing, his love of a comfortable tracksuit is undeniable.
He was performing in JD’s new Manchester store at Trafford Centre, its biggest-ever outpost, and when I asked him what items caught his eye in this sprawling 41,000 square feet sportswear emporium, his answer is amusingly predictable: “[I’ve] got to check for the new Nike Techs.”
Rare is the moment when you're not catching Central Cee wearing either a two-piece tracksuit from Nike or his label SYNA World. He’s even blended the two together, launching a limited-edition Nike x SYNA Tech Fleece last year alongside collaborative Air Max 95s. “That [sneaker’s a piece of] heritage, especially for the UK,” he says.
“I’ve always had a vision for how I wanted to present myself, from music to clothes,” the 27-year-old rapper says. “I grew up in tracksuits and trainers, that whole culture. So SYNA felt like just putting my stamp on something I already live in.”
That’s not to say he’s unwilling to experiment beyond tracksuits, however.
Earlier this year, he attended the Met Gala wearing an all-black suit custom-made by Jacquemus in apparent contradiction to his own lyrics: “I ain't puttin’ no suit and tie on, I turned down the Met Gala,” Cee rapped on the 2023 track Our 25th Birthday. It was even a stark contrast to the tracksuits he’s opted to wear on other red carpets.
But things have changed for Cee. Slightly. Amidst the forest of fleece, he'll occasionally find room for trompe l'oeil Acne Studios jeans or cardigans from Japanese label KAPITAL.
And SYNA World, like its founder, is also more than sporty two-pieces.
“We’re not just making tracksuits, we’re building a uniform," says Cee. "Comfort, quality, and cold enough to step out in, every day."
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