Eddie Huang proves that the greatest things come to those who are truly, wholly themselves. After working briefly as a lawyer to appease his parents, Huang changed careers and opened BaoHaus, a Taiwanese bun shop in New York City's East Village, a successful move he followed up with a torrent of creativity. First, he started a blog, Fresh Off the Boat, which he later turned into a poignant, hilarious memoir detailing his Orlando upbringing with Taiwanese immigrant parents. Now, Fresh Off the Boat is an ABC sitcom, receiving good reviews for its nuanced, humorous dealings with race, adolescence, and what it means to be American. In its refusal to rely on stereotypes, Fresh Off the Boat, which airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on ABC, is an undeniably pioneering portrayal of the Asian American experience, the likes of which hasn't ever appeared on TV before.
Fresh Off the Boat takes place in the early '90s, and also happens to contain some great hip-hop fashions of the time, as young Eddie, played by Hudson Yang, parades across the screen decked out in Wu-Tang and Biggie T-shirts trying to talk to girls, fit in, and live up to his parents ideals. We talked with Huang about the early influences that inspired the character's style, his favorite Air Jordans, and the pain of longing for purple Girbaud jeans that only a '90s kid could understand
On His Earliest Style Influences:
"I was just always into Michael [Jackson], Bart Simpson, and basketball."
On His Favorite '90s Basketball Player:
"Charles Barkley was an ill trouble maker."
On Being Born to Dress Hip-Hop:
"I always had to wear husky. I was chubby and short, so my body just fit right into that style. I never wore straight-leg jeans. I was always into baggy."
On Jodeci, Girbaud Jeans, and Adolescent Longing:
"I had an older cousin and he put me on to Jodeci and those colored Girbaud jeans. The purple Girbaud jeans are the first things I ever wanted. I used to go into the store and pick up the purple Girbaud Jeans carpenter shorts and like touch them and smell them and shit."
On Being Asian and Wearing Supreme:
"You can quote me. Walking down the street with your Asian friends in Supreme, you look like a kung-fu school."
On Bespoke Suits:
"I only wear Martin Greenfield suits. Martin took my measurements about 3 years ago in New York. Now every time I'm in New York, they come to my hotel room."
On Bespoke Suits Made to Wear With Air Jordans:
"I had Martin make the coolest suit. It's a houndstooth suit, but the bottoms are like sweatpant bottoms and I wear them with Jordan XI's."
On Sean John and Denim Suits:
"In the early 2000s Polo got boring for a while, so you know what I wore? A lot of denim-on-denim. Like Sean John denim suits."
On Getting Back Into Vintage Polo:
"I got back into vintage Polo when I was at a party at Sutra for Just Blaze's birthday. Just Blaze walked in with the Snow Beach pullover and that was the first time I saw it in real life."
And, Finally His Top 5 Air Jordans of All Time:
- Air Jordan V "Fire Red/Silver Tongue"
- Air Jordan XI "Concord"
- Air Jordan XI "Space Jam"
- Air Jordan IV "Bred"
- Air Jordan VIII "Aqua"
