Brisk and street-wear fashion line Mishka NYC joined forces this past Tuesday (May 19) in New York City to launch an exclusive limited edition apparel line created by both entities. The event took place at The Hole — a contemporary art gallery — in the artsy LES area of Manhattan. A mix of journalists and tastemakers as well as celebs like Empire’s own Bryshere Gray — the 21 year-old actor who plays Hakeem on Empire.
Mishka is thriving lifestyle brand that started in NYC back in 2003 and still continue to be purveyors of street style around the world. The venue’s white walls were dotted with colorful Brisk infused paintings mixed in with innovative arranged physical displays of Brisk cans. Not to mention the impressive live artwork made at the venue by the man behind the brand’s creative designs, L’Amoure Supreme.
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VIBE caught up with Gray in the green room of the gallery where he gave us some details on the upcoming season of Empire, among other things.
The Philadelphia-native revealed that he didn’t always know the show was going to do so well. “It feels so good, because we didn’t all expect it to be this big,” he says. “Maybe Terrence and Taraji did because they have been in the game longer than I have been alive. But for me it was like a roll of dice. I didn’t know that it was going to be that big.”
When asked if Hakeem and Cookie’s mother-son relationship will evolve in the show’s upcoming season, due to Lucious’ incarceration he revealed this: “Maybe she can become an alliance and in the whole hostile takeover Hakeem was trying to do in the season finale,” he said of the turnover the whole Lyon clan did on its patriarch. (With the exception of Jamal Lyon played by Jussie Smollett) “Or maybe Cookie is still disregarding the relationship.”
But there is another relationship Hakeem Lyon has on the line that left Empire watchers yearning for more. And that is his steamy romance with cougar Camilla played by Naomi Campbell, which was terminated since Lucious paid her to permanently exit his younger son’s life. Will she come back next season?
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“Camilla did say ‘when you die I’m coming back,’” he recalled. “So now that he is locked up we have to see if she is going to come back in Hakeem’s life, and try to take over the Anika situation—you never know. “
In addition to catapulting Gray into Hollywood super stardom, Empire has also giving him a platform to showcase his musical talents. Like in his recent performance at the Billboard Awards this past weekend.
“It was an amazing feeling,” he says of the performance. “I’m just happy and I’m honored to be finally living my dreams and doing things I’ve always wanted to do. I hit the same stage Mariah Carey did. I feel so blessed right now.”