He makes jackets from trash & shorts from forks. Meet KC designer who styled A$AP Rocky

Jenna Thompson
·6 min read

Right place, right time.

It’s a story that’s almost too coincidental: Cory Johnson, now 22, was sitting in Kansas City’s Town Topic burger joint last summer when a stranger approached him.

“Where’d you get those clothes?” the man asked, the smell of sizzling hamburger patties hanging in the air.

Johnson, a fashion designer operating under the moniker “Cory Infinite,” explained that he’d made them. His unconventional pieces are conversation-starters: jackets made of belts, origami masks, pennies fastened into pants.

“I got this dude I’m shooting a music video for in town,” the stranger said, then asked if Johnson would like to come to set and style the artist.

“Who is it?” Johnson asked.

“A$AP Rocky.”

Not what Johnson was expecting to hear.

A kilt worn by musician A$AP Rocky in a music video the rapper filmed in Kansas City is showcased among a collection of clothing designs made by Johnson.
A kilt worn by musician A$AP Rocky in a music video the rapper filmed in Kansas City is showcased among a collection of clothing designs made by Johnson.

He loaded up a suitcase full of pieces he’d sewn and collected, then lugged it to the shoot the next day. And just like that, he found himself on the set of a multiplatinum, Grammy Award-winning rapper’s music video in the West Bottoms.

In the “Riot (Rowdy Pipe’n)” music video, A$AP sports a red kilt Johnson picked up at a thrift store. A few of the models wore pieces he’d made, though Johnson said those didn’t make the final cut of the music video.

“It was really cool being part of production on that scale. … It was like a full-blown movie production,” Johnson told The Star in a recent interview at his Kansas City home.

In some ways, Johnson said, it was confirmation that his career path was the right one. He’s had a few of those validating moments since launching his full-time clothing business under the Cory Infinite brand.

“Once you’re pursuing something that was meant for you, I think it’s just inevitable that stuff like that happens more and more.”

Making clothes from keyboards and bottles

Johnson’s house contains a hodgepodge of fabrics, unfinished garments and sewing machines. A pile of old clothes, ready to be cut up, sits in the corner of his living room.

He finds a good chunk of his inspiration at thrift stores and antique shops, looking for old and unusual items and just “following whatever his eye is attracted to.”

Cory Johnson, who is also know as Cory Infinite, showcases his clothing design called “Trash Jacket.” Johnson made the jacket from cans and bottles picked up at a local clean up day.
Cory Johnson, who is also know as Cory Infinite, showcases his clothing design called “Trash Jacket.” Johnson made the jacket from cans and bottles picked up at a local clean up day.

He pulled out the kilt from the A$AP video and laid it across a computer chair. With two hands, he held up a large jumpsuit, every inch of it covered in hundreds of black computer keys.

Altogether, Johnson said the keyboard suit took 500 hours to create. His dad’s office was looking to get rid of a bunch of old keyboards, so Johnson commandeered the stash. Each key was individually drilled and zip-tied to the garment.

He’s particularly proud of that piece. It’s currently listed on his website for $100,000.

Deep in his garage are several other garments, including a jacket made of — well — trash. He slid his arms into the jacket, one after the other, then shook it around. Dozens of bottles and cans rattled.

LEFT and TOP RIGHT: Johnson models his garment made with plastic forks and a pair of shorts. BOTTOM RIGHT: The tagline for Johnson’s brand is “Be you, Be infinite. It’s a play off of the name Cory Infinite which he is known by as an artist.
LEFT and TOP RIGHT: Johnson models his garment made with plastic forks and a pair of shorts. BOTTOM RIGHT: The tagline for Johnson’s brand is “Be you, Be infinite. It’s a play off of the name Cory Infinite which he is known by as an artist.

“I had a trash cleanup in the West Bottoms,” Johnson explained. “There were probably 25 people that showed up. I just told a few of them, ‘If you see cans or plastic bottles, save them for me.’”

It’s not unusual that he gets stopped on the street for something he’s wearing. He tries to don at least one of his custom pieces every time he goes out — free advertising. Plus, Johnson said, he enjoys connecting with others through his clothes.

He knows his pieces are out there. It’s intentional.

Artist Cory Infinite showcases his clothing design made from a table runner on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in North Kansas City.
Artist Cory Infinite showcases his clothing design made from a table runner on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in North Kansas City.

His motto, “Be you, be infinite” aims to encourage others to pursue their passion — whatever that is, in whatever capacity they can.

“Be yourself and also try to be the best in whatever gift or passion that God gave you,” he said. “I think that’s what our job is here to do, to use the opportunities that you have and the different skill sets that you have that someone might not.”

Cory Infinite on the rise

With more than 350,000 Instagram followers, Johnson has garnered a fair share of internet attention from his creations. He’s even had a few celebrities reach out to him for pieces: R&B singer Erykah Badu and rapper Yung Lean included.

But Johnson’s first “big break,” so to speak, came four years ago, when former Dance Mom star and singer Kenzie Ziegler purchased one of Johnson’s sweaters.

LEFT: Medals on ribbons and trophies make up this creation from Johnson. TOP RIGHT: “Basket Weave Tie Pants” is the name for these pants made from neck ties. MIDDLE RIGHT: Johnson named this design “Smocking Jacket.” BOTTOM RIGHT: A jumpsuit called the “Mystical Forest Jumpsuit” was originally designed for musician Young Lean.
LEFT: Medals on ribbons and trophies make up this creation from Johnson. TOP RIGHT: “Basket Weave Tie Pants” is the name for these pants made from neck ties. MIDDLE RIGHT: Johnson named this design “Smocking Jacket.” BOTTOM RIGHT: A jumpsuit called the “Mystical Forest Jumpsuit” was originally designed for musician Young Lean.

A recent graduate of Liberty North High School, Johnson was working part-time at Hy-Vee. He took one fashion design class his senior year and decided he was going to skip college — start sewing instead of studying. So, he stocked groceries on the side.

While pushing shopping carts in the parking lot one day, he got the notification that Ziegler had tagged him in a post. More likes and follows began to roll in.

Johnson posed with a supply of denim fabric he keeps at his home to create some of his designs.
Johnson posed with a supply of denim fabric he keeps at his home to create some of his designs.

“I think I gained like 3,000 followers overnight,” Johnson said. “I was like, ‘I’ve gotta get out of here.’”

Johnson put in his two weeks the next day.

Since then, he’s been contacted by artists and brands. Converse reached out to him and asked him to reinvent a pair of shoes, so Johnson removed its canvas fabric and replaced it with computer circuits.

A budding designer

For the first three years of his career, his clothes were produced in the home of his father, Craig Johnson.

He moved in with his father after high school. Craig Johnson said he heard the humming and thumping of the sewing machine at least 18 hours a day. A reassuring noise to him.

“If anyone works that hard, they’re going to succeed,” Craig Johnson said.

While Johnson was always particular about his clothes, changing his outfits multiple times a day even as a toddler, Craig Johnson said he mainly recognized his son’s aptitude for art.

He recalled a time when Johnson, at 4 years old, grabbed two crayons and whipped out a near-perfect drawing of a cathedral.

TOP: Converse asked Johnson to create a pair of sneakers so he used computer circuit boards in the design. BOTTOM LEFT: Johnson turned old computer keyboards his dad’s office was disposing of into a suit covered in the keys from the keyboards. BOTTOM RIGHT: “Circulatory Jacket” is another one of Johnson’s creations made with computer circuitry.
TOP: Converse asked Johnson to create a pair of sneakers so he used computer circuit boards in the design. BOTTOM LEFT: Johnson turned old computer keyboards his dad’s office was disposing of into a suit covered in the keys from the keyboards. BOTTOM RIGHT: “Circulatory Jacket” is another one of Johnson’s creations made with computer circuitry.

“His brain is really interesting,” Craig Johnson said. “He sees details most people gloss over.”

With Craig Johnson’s carpentry knowledge, the two have worked together on some of the more complicated projects, like a hat with a rotating mirror attached.

Johnson said he gets his “engineering brain” from his father.

It’s tough for either father or son to say where Johnson will be in five, 10 years. New York Fashion Week? Stores in multiple cities? That would all be nice.

Not really what it’s about, though, Johnson said.

“‘I’m just trying to make art that brings smiles to faces or just makes them think, ‘What is this? Who is this kid?’” Johnson said. “Because that can just lead to them understanding that I’m just a person that’s trying to pursue the gift that I think I was blessed with and that they can do that, too.”

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