Fact: J Balvin is a fashion icon. Apart from inspiring millions of fans with hit after hit, the reggaetonero is well known for his iconic looks that also inspire his stans. Whether its leopard print-dye hair or a fashion-forward collection in partnership with Guess, Balvin is an artist with an eye for pretty much everything.

With such an outrageous and fashion-forward aesthetic, many fans may be surprised to see where the Colombian superstars calls home.

The ‘X’ and ‘Mi Gente’ singer owns two properties in Colombia — a loft in the city, and a massive, Japanese-inspired country house.

In a recent interview with Architectural Digest (AD), Balvin introduces the world to his two beautiful homes in Colombia. The Grammy Award-winning artist has a loft apartment in Medellín and a country home about thirty minutes outside the city.

He says that he designed the homes with hosting friends and family in mind, but that the space has also been a peaceful place to quarantine during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. 

“I really enjoy that it is a place where, basically, I’m living now,” he says in the video. “Now that quarantine has started for like three months now, I’m really happy that I created the place that I wanted. It’s not a place to show off, it’s a place for my soul to rest.”

In an interview with Architectural Digest, Balvin opens up about his personal style and how he gets inspired.

Balvin tells AD that “architecture, music, fashion – they’re all forms of expression,” and he holds that belief close to his heart. He adds that “a house should be a place where you can rest your spirit. I’ve tried to create places that feed my soul, not my ego.”

Given the clean and luxurious aesthetics of both of his homes, it’s obvious that Balvin enjoys neutral spaces that allow him to connect with his artistic side.

His Medellín loft-style apartment is the home that many dreams are made of.

In his Medellín apartment — which Balvin describes as one giant “man cave” — high ceilings, concrete floors and a muted color palette give the space an industrial feel, allowing his art collection to shine.

Paintings and sculptures by artists like KAWS, WhIsBe, Josh Sperling, and Takashi Murakami splash color in an otherwise spare space, and give structure to the open floor plan. (There is only one door in the loft — to the bathroom). 

A garage-style door leads out to the apartment’s private pool, where Balvin likes to kick back. He describes the urban sanctuary as “a place where I can vibe with art and architecture, the things I love.”

His country home – no less luxurious – draws inspiration from his love for the energy and culture of Japan.

Tucked 30 minutes outside the city amidst a jungle landscape in Llanogrande, Balvin’s country home is similarly artful, but is more family-focused. Balvin says that the home’s design was influenced by Japan because he loves the energy of the country. 

The majority of the expansive, one-level property — which is surrounded by lush jungle — is designed with black and oak wood features. Bonsai trees can be found both inside and outside the home. 

In a video tour, Balvin shares that he never actually sleeps in his bedroom. Instead, the main suite is equipped with a massive walk-in closet that houses his 850 pairs of sneakers. “I like to sleep around the different rooms… I don’t like to get bored of my own places,” he says.

The bedroom, like many of the rooms in the house, has a glass door that leads outside, allowing Balvin to take in his natural surroundings, with ample greenery providing plenty of privacy. He says he likes to sit outside and meditate, drink tea and think — often by the swimming pool, which runs down into a reflecting pool surrounded by areas to dine and lounge al fresco. 

Fashion consumers are calling out designer brands for their recent displays of Black imagery on their social media pages in light of the Black Lives Matter protests. Of course, representation is appreciated, but a recent post about “Shrill” actress Niccole Thurman is pointing out that such displays should not be treated as Fashion trends.

In a series of tweets shared with her Instagram page, Thurman held the fashion industry accountable.

every Fashion Instagram page looking like:
👩🏽👩🏿👩🏾
⬛️👩🏼👩🏼
👩🏼👩🏼👩🏼
👩🏼👩🏼👩🏼
👩🏼👩🏼👩🏼
👩🏻👩🏼👩🏼
👩🏼👩🏼👩🏼
👩🏼👩🏼👩🏼
👩🏼👩🏼👩🏼
👩🏼👩🏻👩🏼
👩🏼👩🏼👩🏼
👩🏼👩🏼👩🏼
👩🏼👩🏼👩🏼

— Niccole Thurman (@niccolethurman) June 16, 2020

Calling out the fashion industry for their past exclusion of Black people and people of color, Thurman tweeted a string of emojis, featuring white faces. Sparsely sprinkled into the white faces were a few images of Black emojis and other emojis representing people of color. Thurman captioned the image writing “every Fashion Instagram page looking like.”

Speaking about the fashion industry’s current display of Black models in their social feeds in relation to the global protests that have broken out across the country in response to the recent death of George Floyd. “Feel like this tweet will get me yelled at somehow, so let me just say I’m GLAD to see more beautiful black women in my feed,” Thurman followed up her tweet writing. “It’s just THEY’VE BEEN THERE. THEY’VE *BEEN* BEAUTIFUL. Why’re brands just now seeing them? Don’t think we’re not going to check in on you a month from now.”

Users on Twitter and Instagram were quick to applaud Thurman’s point.

Many people who saw Thurman’s emoji illustration agreed with its sentiment. “Yeees!! And every goddamn photographer (nature photographer aside) I follow probably frantically searched their picture archive for that one shot of a black model they have to post last week, like “Look! I’m good! I take pictures of black people once in a while!!” a user by the name of @LoveCrimeCat wrote in response to the tweet while another remarked that ‘It’s only a matter of time until they go back to regular programming. I hope not but for some of these brands, it’s all performance.’ 

Another user took the time to lambast the fashion industry for “It’s the truth. Half the time the clothes are cut to fit white model better. The only one who really had more models of color on their runways shows was people like Thierry Mugler before he became Manfred.”

In regards to this story, Mitú has reached out to Thurman and is waiting for a comment.