Photo Credit: Hennessy
On Tuesday night at Industria in New York, A$AP Ferg and contemporary graffiti artist Felipe Pantone came together to unveil their new collaboration for Hennessy—the REMIXED cocktail kit, as well as Pantone‘s new Limited Edition Series bottle. The latter is based on the artist’s original artwork “W-3 Dimensional Three Stars,” a piece inspired by Hennessy’s past. The former is a reimagination of the traditional Hennessy V.S cocktail—an homage to Pantone’s bottle aesthetic and vision of “Remixing the Present.” The Dimensional cocktail—available August 1—is vibrant in color and delivers a nuanced taste that marries both artists’ minds and palates. We chatted with Ferg and Pantone about their collaboration, why partnering with Hennessy is the perfectly balanced fit and what new projects both artists have in the pipeline.
A$AP FERG
Photo Credit: Hennessy
Can you give us a few reasons why your brand (and you personally) aligns with the Hennessy brand so perfectly? I.e. why is Hennessy so perfect for the “King of New York” (and do you still stand by that? If not, how would you refer to yourself)?
I am the King of New York. The partnership with Hennessy fits perfectly because they are the best in cognac and it only makes sense the best rapper in NY should align himself with a reputable brand. They also have a long line of lineage that I can relate to. My dad created the bad boy label, and my grandmother is known for her work within the community.
What can you tell us about your upcoming release?
Floor seats is amazing it’s the floor seats to my life. I have dope collabs/features such as Rico Nasty, City Girls, Asian Doll and my own artist Antha. This project is about uplifting women, and I’m showing creating anthems with these women.
What are your top five luxuries in life at the moment?
1 The new pinky ring I designed.
2. Suit collection
3. Brand new house.
4. Celine bags.
5. Grills, iced out in white gold and white gold.
Felipe Pantone
Photo Credit: Hennessy
What does remixing the present mean to you?
I think it’s very important, I mean with my art career and everything, it was very important for me to study art history. So ever since I realized what happened before in art, I could do something about it and figure out what I wanted to do. So, it’s important to remix the present, I mean, also the past to come up with something interesting. I think Hennessy has been doing ever since 1775. They’ve been like a very traditional brand but nowadays they like supporting young people like myself and many other artists and are trying to remix their product and try to come up with new ideas and new concepts. So Yes, it’s important to see what’s been done before, but also add something to create a new present.
What would you say was your inspiration for the new Hennessy Bottle design?
We started collaborating over a year ago, and so I went to Cognac and Paris a bunch of times and I got to understand how they make the product. I managed to see all the archives. It was very interesting to go, especially as n visual artist and a designer, to get to see all that graphic heritage that’s been going for like a couple of centuries. It’s been very interesting. So I got a few elements after browsing the archives, like the three stars, because Hennessy Very Special used to be called Hennessy three stars, and also the quilted pattern that’s been very present all over in the design which is something they used in the past, and they still use in the [macaron/market] over here. And everything obviously through my perspective and my vision which is like what at least I try to convey which is a very present aesthetic. And that’s how I made my remix. I made specific use of elements that I never use in my own work that I made for them, and also It was really fun playing with the logo. I usually don’t do a lot of things with letters that I don’t create. And this time I used the logo, and The beauty of it was that they let me distort it. Which is something that is very present in my work. I’m all about dynamics and transformation, distortion, perception. Most of my works deal with perception in an important way and the fact that they let me distort the logo for me was very very cool.
Why and how would you say that art and alcohol play off of one another?
I guess alcohol has to come in a package, the same as many other things. Graphic design is very important to support what’s in the package. Say like perfumes, or anything else. I think it’s very cool to support what’s inside with graphics and hopefully, you get to inspire even the taste itself and different things the brand may want to communicate with the product. I think they play well together.
How to Make “The Dimensional”
Photo Credit: HennessyRecipe:
· 1.5 oz Hennessy V.S Cognac
· .5 oz Ginger Liqueur
· 2 dashes Hella bitters Ginger
· 2 oz. Hibiscus tea
· .5 oz Lemon juice
· .5 oz Pomegranate Grenadine
· Garnish: Candied ginger
Method: Add all ingredients to a shaker tin with ice and shake to chill, strain into a Collins glass with fresh ice, garnish with candied ginger and pomegranate seeds.
