Kicking off the 2019 soccer season, Adidas and Major League Soccer hosted Seams, a sporty fashion show in downtown LA’s Fashion District. The MLS jersey-inspired runway looks, courtesy of the day’s MVPs—emerging fashion forces Sara Gourlay of Frankie Collective, Corey T. Stokes, Pierre Davis of No Sesso, and stylist Andrew Andrade—reflected a stadium-meets-street aesthetic, ranging from athleisure to the avant-garde.

Hardly in competition, the featured designers’ aesthetics played off each other in game-changing harmony, from Gourlay’s ’90s body-con looks à la Sporty Spice to Corey T. Stokes‘s suggestion of wearing jerseys under sharp suiting. No Sesso, whose clientele hews artistic and musical rather than athletic, subverted sporty iconography with a floor-length, genderless take, while Andrew Andrade cut and sewed jerseys into billowing capes, garnishing them goal netting.

Played in sprawling suburbs and compact LES parks alike, U.S. soccer represents a tapestry of new and old traditions. As a first-generation American, soccer lover and stylist, Andrew Andrade embodies a similar mix. V sat down with him to chat about growing up and his greatest inspiration, Kanye West.

Was soccer a part of your life growing up?

I started playing when I was 5 years old and I never stopped. Naturally, as a Latin American person, soccer players are our superheroes. I did not have someone referencing Latin America or the Latin culture. I didn’t have a superhero to look up to. You have this one sport growing up.

What was your favorite team and who was your favorite player?

Naming my favorite player is a very hard, hard task. I can name a bunch historically. Maradona, Ronaldo. Ronaldinho might be my favorite player of all time. As far as my favorite soccer team, I grew up on Arsenal. So the Gunners are definitely my favorite team.

Tell me about the process in your designs. I took a little peep and noticed collaged cutouts on your Instagram.

We definitely reconstructed the pieces and added some elements because the actual clothing itself in MLS is very tight-fitted. We took a lot of references from vintage soccer [uniforms], which were looser with long sleeves and collars, and incorporated [modern] MLS as well. My brother Guillermo helped me [with the] design. He is a designer and I am a stylist and we both play soccer. So this project was a great time to collaborate as a team.

Who is your fashion icon?

Kanye West.

Quick answer!

Yeah, Kanye West. Kanye for me, is the most influential person in my life as far as culture is concerned, period. Without a doubt.

How so?

He encourages people to be themselves. He encourages people to reach for more and he encourages people to live out of the norm. He helped me build my own ideology in what it is to consume and be creative. When I was young, I didn’t have any reference to fashion. When he started speaking about fashion in his songs, it changed my life.

So you got your fashion education through Kanye West?

I wasn’t raised on the Beatles or the Rolling Stones. My rock stars are hip-hop artists. Because my background is [that of a first-generation American], I adapted based off my environment. When my parents moved from Guatemala to the States, they inherited a completely new culture, which meant that I was kind of left on my own. I was the first American-born child. Naturally, hip-hop music was something that I could relate to. And it is what helped me form my identity. I respect [mainstream culture], but it wasn’t my reality. My reality is a lot different.