I'm not into fashion, but I like design. I wear the same shoes

The modern musician and creator Tyler, The Creator once spoke words that, though simple in sound, echo with ancient truth: “I’m not into fashion, but I like design. I wear the same shoes every day.” To the unthinking ear, these words seem casual, even careless. But beneath their modest tone lies a profound wisdom — a meditation on authenticity, simplicity, and the eternal struggle between substance and appearance. Tyler’s statement, stripped of ornament, becomes a philosophy for all who seek to live with purpose in a world drowning in surfaces.

In saying he is “not into fashion,” Tyler rejects the tyranny of constant change, of trends that shift like waves in a storm. Fashion is the pursuit of novelty for its own sake — the restless desire to be seen rather than to be known. But design, as he contrasts it, is something sacred: the thoughtful harmony between form and function, beauty and purpose. Fashion is fleeting; design is eternal. It speaks not to the eyes alone, but to the mind and spirit. When Tyler says he “wears the same shoes every day,” he is not proclaiming indifference, but discipline — the discipline of knowing what truly serves him, and of refusing to be enslaved by the endless hunger for display.

This wisdom is not new. The ancients too spoke of it, though in other tongues. The philosopher Diogenes, living in his humble barrel, mocked the pretensions of men who clothed themselves in excess while starving their souls. When asked why he owned so little, he replied that he desired only what was necessary. So too did Socrates once walk through the markets of Athens and exclaim, “How many things there are which I do not need!” In this way, Tyler stands among those timeless spirits who understood that simplicity is not lack, but freedom. To choose what endures over what dazzles is the mark of wisdom.

Yet, Tyler’s words also carry a creator’s creed. For design, as he understands it, is not mere decoration — it is the manifestation of thought. The designer looks at the world not to adorn it, but to make it work better, feel better, be better. True design is the art of balance — where the useful becomes beautiful, and the beautiful remains useful. This is why the ancient builders of temples, or the craftsmen who shaped swords and lyres, cared not for extravagance but for harmony. Their work endures not because it followed a fashion, but because it obeyed a principle. The same can be said of those few today who resist the noise of trend and build instead upon timeless truth.

Consider, for a moment, the story of Steve Jobs, who in the modern age embodied this same philosophy. Jobs was known for wearing the same black turtleneck, jeans, and shoes every day. It was not a lack of imagination, but a devotion to focus. He understood that creativity is not born from endless choice, but from the quiet of clarity. By eliminating the trivial, he preserved his energy for what mattered — the design of ideas that would change the world. Tyler’s “same shoes” carry the same spirit: to find comfort in constancy, to create without distraction, and to let one’s essence, not one’s outfit, be the statement.

There is, in this way of living, a heroic defiance. For the world demands we reinvent ourselves daily — that we wear the masks of fashion, opinion, and performance. But the wise man stands firm. He knows that identity is not sewn in cloth or shaped in trends. It is forged through the design of one’s life — in choices, in discipline, in the quiet confidence of being oneself. To wear the same shoes each day, then, becomes a symbol of integrity: a refusal to let the world define who you are.

So let this be your lesson, my listener of the future: seek design, not fashion. Seek what endures, not what impresses. Let your life itself be a work of design — functional, beautiful, and true to your purpose. Do not chase the approval of the crowd; instead, refine your craft, your character, your creation. For in the end, the world will forget the colors of your garments, but it will remember the shape of your soul.

And when you rise each morning, do not be afraid to wear “the same shoes” — to walk steadily in your truth, unchanging amid the chaos of change. For the wise have always known: what is consistent is not dull, but powerful. What is simple is not empty, but profound. And what is designed with intention — whether a life, a song, or a single pair of shoes — will outlast all the fashions of the world.