High-Tech Streetwear Designer Iddris Sandu Makes Clothes with Connectivity — Rihanna, Beyoncé and Jay-Z are Fans (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Iddris Sandu.Photo:Courtesy Spatial Labs

Courtesy Spatial Labs

If these clothes could talk.

“We’ve created this incredible chip that makes anything smart, intelligent,” says Sandu of the technology used on his new line of sweatshirts and sweatpants. “Clothing items that we buy have just been something that we own at one point and we eventually discard. Now what we’re doing is we’re giving all those objects that we associate with the ability to hold our stories in a unique way.”

Spatial Labs Core Collection.Courtesy Spatial Labs

This is far from the first time Sandu has pushed fashion towards the future. Born in Ghana and raised in the states, “I was always a more technologically proficient kid, dating back to elementary school when I was winning awards from Boeing.” After teaching himself to code in over 10 programming languages, he found himself consulting for Google at age 13 and Snapchat at age 15.

But it was a chance encounter with rapper Nipsey Hussle at a Starbucks that brought him into the world of music and fashion. “I was modifying some code and then comes this super tall skinny rapper with chains on,” he says of the late star. “He looks at my computer and says he thinks this is the universe saying we need to work together. Fast forward, we launched the world’s first smart store together.”

Iddris Sandu and Nipsey Hussle at Marathon Clothing.Courtesy Spatial Labs

After partnering with Hussle on his Marathon Clothing Store, which featured QR-coded clothing tags leading to augmented reality experiences, Sandu went on to consult on tech for record labels as well as Rihanna and Beyoncé’s brands. Soon he was connected to Jay-Z, who is now a multi-million dollar investor in Spatial Labs.

Jay-Z.Kevin Mazur/Getty

Kevin Mazur/Getty

“When we met, he felt a bit of his own energy when he was my age and the hurdles he had to kind of overcome and obviously wanting to make it easier for the next generation,” recalls Sandu. “He was like, whatever it is you’re doing, I’m investing.”

He’s also become a mentor. “For me, being a founder of color, we don’t have the blueprints of that. So with Jay, a lot of the advice I’ve asked him about has been around how to continuously innovate and build that scale while still being connected to the culture, which I think he’s done very, very well.”

Spatial Labs Store in Culver City, Calif.Courtesy Spatial Labs

“We were thinking in 2050, when you see a cool kid just standing out, what type of garment do they have on,” says Sandu.  “I wanted to create that perfect medium to where a kid in culture could see this and be like, ‘nah, it’s lit.’ But someone also in technology could be like, ‘nah, it’s lit.’ It’s a fusion.”

source: people.com