RICCHEZZA FOREVER is the streetwear brand you wish you had, worn by all the hottest names in the rap game. If Young Thug, Migos, Gunna, Jacquees, Lil Durk, Chance The Rapper, and Chief Keef are rocking your gear, you know you’re doing something right.

Insert Ropa, the young CEO and fashion designer who started his own clothing line, taking it from the underground to the mainstream in what seems like a matter of seconds. Being a both a businessman and trendsetter comes with its own perks, and having the relationships in the industry speaks volumes to your character. Creating and building everything from the ground up, the Chicago-bred, Atlanta-based entrepreneur arrives equipped with a relentless work ethic, undeniable energy, and pure talent when it comes to the fashion industry.

Don’t get it twisted, Ropa had to put in the work—which includes taking an entrepreneurship class in 7th grade and reading a book called How To Start a Small Business. As a freshman in high school, he landed an internship at LEADERS, a streetwear shop in the Chi known to push the careers of rising rappers. After absorbing knowledge and wisdom from the OGs, Ropa moved to the A in 2012 and later obtained his Bachelor’s in Business Marketing at Clark Atlanta. That same year, Ropa launched his first RICCHEZZA drop ever.

Fast forward to 2020, the brand released its exclusive summer collection titled Luv Language, inspired by the emotional swings of young romance and relationships. Regardless, he makes it a point to keep RICCHEZZA as high on the pedestal as possible, delivering top-notch quality when it comes to design, material, and overall customer satisfaction.

Flaunt caught up with Ropa via FaceTime to discuss the meaning behind Ricchezza and its logo, moving to Atlanta and meeting Jacquees, his love for music, dropping a deluxe to his Luv Language summer collection, and more!

Being from Chicago, what was the household like growing up?

I grew up on the South Side of Chicago with an older sister and younger sister. Chance The Rapper, Vic Mensa, we all grew up together. It was right when the drill movement was going up, in 2012. Grew up around that era and all those cultural influences.

What was your relationship with Chance in high school?

We went to different high schools, but we grew up in the same neighborhood on the South Side, an area called Hyde Park. We all had mutual friends, it was one big family. In sophomore or junior year, I came up with the name Ricchezza. It means wealth in Italian. I didn’t sell any clothing at the time, just had the logo and wore it around. I was already fresh, people knew. Everyone’s always asking me “what’s that? What’s that?” I didn’t even know what I wanted to do with it for real, but I’m branding it subconsciously. When Chance was first blowing up, like his 10 Day mixtape, he asked me to wear it to his shows. I even did his first merch ever with 10 Day: Ricchezza x 10 Day mixtape. We used to go to hella parties and kickbacks together, when the kickback wave first started in 2010.

How did you come up with the logo?

I went to Italy my freshman year of high school. I missed my first 2 weeks of high school, we planned the family trip since I was in 7th grade. I liked how Italy’s ahead their fashion, their fashion sense is way ahead. We were still wearing baggy shit, they’re already on some Euro cut type shit. I didn’t know that I wanted to start a brand, but I knew whatever I did I wanted it to be influenced by their culture. Ricchezza means wealth, so you can see where I got the dollar signs.

What was the reality of getting your brand off the ground in Chicago?

I was already popular, I was never a ‘came outta nowhere’ type dude. I was always in the mix. I was always fresh, always had shoes. I had 3 t-shirts and I’d always wear them. People kept asking “damn, when you gon’ sell it? Let me get that.” I started letting a few of my close friends wear it, then with social media: Twitter, Instagram was first starting to get poppin’. It just spread. When Chance started wearing it, my other homie Spenzo started wearing it. He had a real big single called “Wife Er,” so he’s famous.

I came to Atlanta for college and met Jacquees my first week out there. He started embracing it, putting it on. That’s really how it went, off my personal likeness and people gravitated towards it. It was a wave. In high school, a lot of people were wearing it. You go to basketball games and shit spread naturally, kind of like music.

Slatt binezz 🤧

I know that you were reading entrepreneur books, how much did you think that helped?

That’s crazy, my mother sent me that picture in the 7th grade, I was 12 years old in my school’s entrepreneurship class. I was reading a book about small businesses and entrepreneurship. The newspaper took a picture, I was on the front page. I never really connected the dots, but I always knew I wanted to be a businessman. I didn’t know it’d be clothes, I just always had an entrepreneurship mindset.

Talk to us about your love for music as well, obviously that plays a huge role in your brand.

I love music. Always been in the mix with fashion and music, it's hand in hand. I always had close friends in the industry, directly. Was always cool with them, not through somebody else. My whole approach to how I drop or design, I always think about it like an artist. I try to treat my brand like an artist with drops and how it’s perceived, each design. I have to keep relationships with people, artists are the biggest influencers. Rappers make everything cool and I’m right in that mix. Back then I was cool with Chance, now my peers are Gunna, Thug, Offset.

How did you tap in with them?

The first week I moved to the A, the first music celebrity homie I met was Jacquees. Then I took a break from doing my whole line because I was in college and needed to make some money, so I was hustling. My vision: I want the brand to be on some upscale shit. I took a year or 2 off and was hustling, went crazy. Buying hella Gucci shit and taking trips, trying to build up my page to make it make sense. After 2 years of stacking up, I was ready to relaunch. That was in 2017, right after I graduated college.

When I finally relaunched, I got hella love on Instagram. One of Young Thug’s homies, I knew him from back in the day on some hustling type shit so it was mutual, he hit me up and said “we’re going to be at ComplexCon, where you at?” I was supposed to meet them there, wound up not meeting them. A month or 2 later, he randomly hit me up again. “Bro whenever you get some new shit, hit me up and pull up to the studio.” I said “I got some shit right now.” I was ready. I go to the studio, brought some shit. Thug’s looking at it like “man, I want THIS.” He’s showing me the pictures like “where this at?” I only had one of that piece, I hadn’t even worn it yet. I went back to the crib, grabbed it and brought it back. He took it and started asking like “who you do this shit with?” Who runs the brand, who puts up the bread for it?” I said “me.” He asked “how you do it?” I told him “I’ve been hustling bro.” He said “you don’t have to do that shit anymore, I’ma make sure you go up. Keep doing what you do, put 1000% of your energy in this.”

He literally took what I gave him and put that shit on, went on Instagram at that moment. The whole week, he’s in my shit. He did 2 or 3 videos that week. Gunna’s “Almighty” video, he’s wearing my shit. The Moneybagg Yo video, he’s wearing my shit. All that happened in a 2-week span. He kept telling me to come to the studio, I kept coming around. I met Gunna the same night. The next day, they both took pictures in the studio with my shit on. We developed a relationship. Before Drip Season 3. Gunna told me “I’m about to have a tour with Travis Scott, I want you to do my merch.” That November, we went on tour with Travis and Trippie Redd and I designed the merch. It was lit. I met Travis and Uzi. With me, music and fashion are key. The way I design, I’m listening to their music — even before I knew them. To have them overly embrace my shit, that shit’s different. It’s almost speaking it into existence.

Millions... off merch. 💯💰

Talk about your Luv Language summer collection being inspired by young love and early relationships.

You know how relationship shit goes. Summertime, you want to vibe out. This is the time you have the most complications with your significant other. I’m really trying to express feelings through fashion. People try to do that anyway, but I’m being more direct. I’ma have the shit on the shirt that you’re thinking, but you’re not going to say. I’ll have it on the shirt so you don’t have to say it. Everybody could relate to relationship shit. Not everybody can relate to a shirt that says “I made a million dollars” or “I came from nothing.” There’s rich people, poor people, people in between. No matter if you’re rich, poor, middle class, you’re going to have relationship problems. You’re going to feel some type of way about relationships, so it’s more relatable for everybody.

I see King Von rocking your brand, what does it mean to have people from Chicago rocking your shit?

That’s love, everybody wants to get that support from their home city. That’s key. Durk fucks with it. Polo G, that’s my boy and he rocks hella of it. The hometown support, that’s #1. I’m real appreciative of the support I get not even from them, but customers from Chicago who buy it too.

Anything else you want to let us know?

I got a deluxe collection on the way. Everything sold out in a week, literally. I was forced to do another. Everybody’s in my DMs and emails like “restock, restock, restock.” On the music tip, everybody’s doing deluxe on their albums so I’ma add some new shit in there. Do a small restock, hype it up and make it a deluxe collection.