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Notoriously press-hostile author Frank Ocean gave his first interview in two years, but he doesn’t even talk about music at all. Instead, he talks almost exclusively about Homer, his new “independent American luxury brand” (and soon a storefront on New York’s Lower East Side) whose first release is a collection of jewelry ranging from a pendant from $ 435 to a $ 1.9 million necklace. “I didn’t want our work to be cheaper than Cartier,” he told the Financial Times.
“My mother loved jewelry, but in the manner of a low-key Princess Diana,” Ocean says in the interview. “My godfather loved guns, but he also loved cars, and he bought luxury lifestyle magazines, which I obsessed with. They became a form of play for me when I was a child. It was the furthest thing from my real life at the time, and I started to trace ideas and a life in this universe. I would look at the yachts and I would like one. But I don’t have one because I’m seasick.
Ocean was born Christopher “Lonny” Breaux in New Orleans, Louisiana. “I have never forgotten that my last name is a byproduct of slavery in the United States,” he says of Breaux, a common name for African slaves brought in by the French in 1718. “ It has never escaped me that I do not have access to my real name. I can’t trace my legacy this far, which is why I’m interested in creating things that are mine, stay mine, and belong to my family. Things I can pass on.
This idea of creating a lasting legacy, of leaving something behind, is at the heart of Homer. Ocean chose the name Homer “primarily because it has five letters and dotcom was available,” he says. “But also because Homer is considered the father of history and history is meant to last – like diamonds and gold – and I know Homer used papyrus, but I always liked the idea of setting history in stone. “
Homer started in earnest in 2019 when Ocean invited 20 artisan friends to a “Summit” at a nearly empty Los Angeles home. “We had everyone from horticulturalists and electrical engineers and architects, to carpenters and metallurgists,” says Ocean. “We made tables and chairs, wired the lights, and then started working on other things for the house. “
Although Homer’s focus is largely on jewelry, Ocean still draws inspiration from furniture and architecture. “I have a Pierre Paulin sofa at home, and it’s futuristic, but also natural,” he says. “Paulin started out as a sculptor who was interested in flowers. I think there is something peaceful and high tech about the natural world. There is an interaction that interests me. I use green a lot because it is the stem of a flower and all colors work with it. I like Brazilian modernism. The furniture by Sergio Rodrigues is beautiful, warm and welcoming. It’s just… exciting.
“There are opportunities now for blacks that weren’t always there for us,” Ocean concludes. “I grew up in poverty. I’m grateful to my mom because she tried to expose me as much as she could regarding the bigger picture. I’m very lucky to be someone who can make someone else feel like they have possibilities, and I think that will make art and fashion richer.
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