Cody Ross has no hesitation welcoming guests to his West Village fortress of madness— joint home and studio workspace— where he’s hosted celebrities like Cassie and M.I.A., and fashion-industry insiders. Filled with knick-knacks from severed prosthetic hands, and porcelain statues of E.T., to stuffed skulls and Hello Kitty pillows, his surroundings fuel the quirky gears that constantly turn in his head. But amidst the kitschy chaos, unlike the mad fashion scientist he appears to be (with bright blonde upturned bangs and piercing green eyes), Ross is the sharp mind behind cult fashion label Priestess NYC, a line of edgy yet elegant streetwear which flawlessly blends classic silhouettes with a touch of his own eccentricity.

Now in the middle of designing his fourth collection, the 30-year-old’s distinct aesthetic— a happy medium between avant-garde and commercial, self-described as “not too Jeremy Scott, and not too BCBG”— has garnered an underground following, as well as the attention of such contrasting celebrity personalities like Bjork and Tyra Banks.

This native Texan (and former financier-turned-designer) has no trace of a Southern drawl, but he can whip out impressive Mandarin Chinese skills with ease, not only denoting his international lifestyle, but his forward-thinking dedication to a global fashion point of view. True to that, his womenswear and accessories have made their way to 55 stores worldwide, from Dallas’s Neiman Marcus and London’s Harvey Nichols to boutiques in China, Prague, and Dubai.

Amidst tchotchkes, inspiration boards, and fat-free biscotti, psychoPEDIA joined Ross to talk about his roots in punk rock and cowboys, and find out if everything really is bigger in Texas:

How have you seen Dallas change since you were a kid?
It’s turning into a rich melting pot. The demographic is shifting. It’s dynamic, and people are embracing all kinds of references and ethnicities. It’s geographically in the center [of the US], so you get spill-over from the East and West coasts, and it becomes a hybrid of those ideas. But it’s not super-pronounced, because it still is Texas. It’s not a London, Tokyo, or New York.

What fashions do you associate with Dallas?
There’s a cowboy, Wild West frontiersmen aesthetic— the chaps, spurs, cowboy boots. It’s like wearing a trench coat when it rains in New York. It’s institutionalized dressing there— the whole rodeo theme. Even in Dallas, a thriving metropolis where people are urban, sophisticated, and well-off, they’re still very cowboy-esque.

Did you ever get into the hometown style?
Sometimes I wear cowboy boots, but only when I go back to Dallas!

If not gun-slinging cowboys, what hometown influences set the foundation for your fashion sense?
I got into skateboarding when I was young, which morphed into punk rock. Punk rock morphed into anarchy, chaos, pierce everything, and die your hair pink. Then that got me into Malcolm McLaren, the Sex Pistols, Vivienne Westwood. I became interested in a whole international perspective from the point of punk rock.

Was there a big punk rock scene there?
You always have people who resist in the sub-cultural elements. When you’re in a place that conventional, and it’s so traditional and powerful, you try to accentuate what you’re doing in terms of rebelling.

How true is the slogan, “Everything’s bigger in Texas?”
In terms of consumer goods and food portions, that’s very accurate. Cars are definitely bigger, driveways are longer, and houses are gargantuan. Everything seems to be a little bit bigger.

How would you describe the city’s character?
It’s a generally ambitious town without the global perspective— very American-centric.

There’s a new Dallas slogan, “Live large. Think big.” Did you feel it always had this ambitious attitude?
Everyone in Texas aspires to be quite big. There are many huge companies headquartered in Texas, so they’re already thinking big in terms of business. I think that mentality was amongst all my friends. But after doing their stints in Europe or Asia, they went right back to Dallas, because they felt at home with those roots.

Are there core Texas values that helped you succeed in a global way?
Being honest is really important there, relative to other parts of the world. Generally, everyone I’ve encountered in Texas has a lot of integrity and character. Texans are pretty straightforward and transparent and will state their aims. If they say they’re going to do something, they’re consistent. There’s a community feel to Texas values.

Do you still incorporate Dallas influences into your designs?
Dallas is the very meat-and-potatoes-style American frontiersmen. It’s kind of wild in that sense, which I incorporate a bit of in my aesthetic, but my work is more about an attitude.

Having lived all over the world, what’s the biggest thing you miss about Dallas?
The grandiosity. Living in small compressed cities where density is so high, you’re bumping into people all the time. Texas is so spacious and very clean. You feel like more of an individual, because you’re not constantly interacting with other people. If I wanted to make a family, it’s ideal. It’s a very comfortable lifestyle.

~Leann Peterson