![]() His Harlem swag and penchant for popping tags were a natural fit for high fashion. “I had to work my way up to the ranks of even being noticed.” The rapper used to design his own accessories-worn by Swizz Beatz and Chris Brown-and buy off the rack in the early days. “I had to get on their radar, of course,” he says. Every time he places the garment on, he’s making headlines,” says Zoe.įollowing the success of A$AP Mob and A$AP Rocky, Ferg had to prove himself as a solo force among the fashion cognoscenti. The garment was heralded as a gender-fluid moment by Women’s Wear Daily, Huffington Post and Snobette. Some people want their stuff on artists that are hot off the presses.” Dupree shares that Thug mostly buys his own clothes but the establishment has taken notice of the reaction the rapper receives for his daring, avant-garde style, such as the pale blue Alessandro Trincone dress that he wore on the cover of Jeffrey. “They want to get their stuff onto people in the media or people constantly doing stuff. “Some pick and choose if you’re not the It guy or It girl,” says Zoe Dupree, a wardrobe stylist and creative director who has worked extensively with Young Thug. Rappers-especially new artists or those without mainstream recognition-need to prove themselves. But let’s be clear: There’s still a velvet rope. Still, the overall success of rap figures in the upper echelon of fashion has lowered the barrier to entry for today’s hip-hop crop. Years after Kanye West first began calling himself the “Louis Vuitton Don” he landed a signature sneaker with the French brand in 2009. Lil’ Kim became muse (and best friends) with Marc Jacobs while behind bars in 2005. In 2003, Jay-Z and Pharrell-who would later make the humongous Vivienne Westwood buffalo hat his staple-were bopping with Naomi Campbell and supermodels in the music video for “Change Clothes.” That same year, Diddy won the Menswear Designer of the Year Award for Sean John from the prestigious CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America), besting vets Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors. ![]() By the late 1990s, hip-hop was packaged as “ghetto fabulous” and “bling” was on the tip of everyone’s tongues. The “rich, White people” took notice and worlds began to bleed into one another. ![]() “When something is hot and makes money, people want to now figure out how to do business and get down with it,” says Hylton. Fashion brands realized hip-hop was beneficial to the bottom line. Sums up Luu, “I mean, let’s call a spade a spade: It’s a bunch of rich, White people who work in fashion.”Īs hip-hop gained momentum-both financially and as the cultural force of cool-the pendulum began to sway. Back in the late 1980s, he faced lawsuits on allegations of copyright violation and was raided on behalf of Fendi. “Luxury stores in the past didn’t treat people of color with the dignity I think they deserve,” Dan told The New York Times in March 2018, two months after opening an appointment-only boutique with Gucci. “Early on we had many strikes against us, as far as being African-American, young and unknown,” says Hylton, who went on to work with artists like Lil’ Kim, Missy Elliott and Diddy. The fact that the majority of luxury brands are old, European houses has likely fueled ignorance (and even flat-out racism) against rappers and the communities of color that they reflect. Having the right garment on a problematic celebrity can spell backlash. Many were-and still are-notoriously guarded over which celebrities get to wear and subsequently publicize their clothes. There isn’t one definitive reason why luxury brands weren’t fucking with hip-hop. “I decided to design and create garments that I wanted, and that I knew my clients would love.” Luxury designers weren’t willing to create relationships with me.” Hylton, like Dan, leveraged her talents to create custom looks to bypass the bottleneck in the system. “There weren’t many doors that were open. “For me, pulling clothes was almost nonexistent in the beginning,” she says. Misa Hylton, fashion architect and founder of Misa Hylton Fashion Academy, remembers the challenges of getting past gatekeepers at brands and publicity firms to gain access to clothes-referred to as “pulling”-for clients like Mary J. ![]() Harlem tailor extraordinaire Dapper Dan famously created counterfeits of Gucci, Fendi, Louis Vuitton and MCM to serve his clients like Big Daddy Kane, Rakim and Salt-N-Pepa. Because of this, rappers in the early days had to get plucky. Hip-hop has embraced looking fresh since its inception-Run-DMC’s unlaced Adidas to LL Cool J’s Kangol hat and ubiquitous rope chains worn by artists like Slick Rick-but luxury brands were wary to work with what was seen as a fringe genre or even a passing fad.
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