inspiration. Hip-Hop's Love Affair With The Fashion Industry
Fashion And Hip-Hop's Relationship Goes Deeper Than Celebrity Clothing Lines And Endorsement Deals
Bet you didn't know the relationship between hip-hop and fashion go way, way back! Circa 1980's to be exact. The unlikely pair have been connected since hip-hop went mainstream. Rappers started wearing designer clothes in their music videos and during press events. Hip-hop music has created its own distinct place in the fashion industry.
Recent events bringing together the world of hip-hop and fashion include Kanye West's line for French label A.P.C., which launched in July. Before trying his hand in the fashion industry, Kanye worked his way up in the fashion industry by starting as an intern at Fendi.
Designer Tom Ford is the essence of Jay-Z's latest track, which is also named after the designer. The song features on the rapper's new album, Magna Carta Holy Grail.
Hip-hop inspires trends and in turn the trends inspire the music the artists create. Not only did the late Tupac Shakur walk in a runway show for Gianni Versace fashion back in 1996, but his family claims he was incredibly close friends with the designer.
The king of all things Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld, starred in Snoop Dogg's music video for the song "Saint Tropez". Check out the video!
In an interview with the website The Coveteur, A$AP Rocky modestly speaks about what fashion means to him. "Fashion is almost like a religion, for me at least...I get it, I identify with it." says A$AP. And while he name drops designers in his lyrics, it's the labels he wore back in the day gives him the street cred. "I was a fan of Raf [Simons] way back when. Like, I was wearing Rick Owens and they were looking at me like, 'What the f*ck is on your feet? You have space boots on!'"
Azealla Banks, the outspoken artist, teamed up with T By Alexander Wang to promote her debut album last year. See Azealla perform Van Vogue in the fall 2012 campaign video below!
