Hip hop fashion - a brief history

Hip hop is not just a style of music; it's become a culture that has spread worldwide. With hip hop, music and fashion go hand in hand. As the culture of hip hop grew so a particular style of clothing emerged to go with it, the style was just a natural progression of the music. Today, everyone is familiar with hip hop culture, but where did it come from?

Hip hop, or rap music, is part of a cultural movement that began in the US in the mid-1970s. Hip hop culture includes not just the music which consists of rapping (MCing) and DJing (production and scratching). But also break dancing, graffiti art (or tagging), a distinctive language of its own (slang), and a certain look or style.

Hip hop began to emerge in the early 1970s in New York with the rise of the DJ and MC (emcee). New York DJs began experimenting with lengthening the percussion breaks in funk and disco music. When the MCs (emcees), whose role had been to introduce the DJ and the music, started speaking between the tracks, rap was born. It wasn’t long before big name DJs were pulling in big crowds and by the late 70s hip hop was starting to become really popular. It quickly spread from America to the rest of the world and by the 1980s had become so popular it was a major part of pop culture. During the 80s as hip hop became increasingly popular, it began to evolve into different forms with new styles such as gangsta rap emerging and new techniques like scratching developed.

As hip hop culture has become increasingly popular and mainstream, hip hop fashion has correspondingly changed and adapted. In the 1980s the big hip hop stars wore lots of big gold chains, rings and jewellery. Hip hop fashion was all about large glasses (Cazals), sneakers with oversized shoelaces (phat), Kangol hats, gold necklaces and jewellery. Think Run-D.M.C.! Popular hip hop haircuts were the Jheri curl in the 1980s (the film Coming to America in 1988 picked fun at this hair style) and the hi-top fade in the late 80s (popularised by Will Smith in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air). But by the 1990s the look was starting to change with the music. Baseball caps and bright or neon coloured clothes were in, as were baggy pants.

In the mid 90s, the influence of gangsta rap which had become one of the most popular styles of hip hop music could be seen in hip hop fashion. The dress styles of street thugs and prison inmates were emulated with baggy clothes and baggy pants worn without a belt (influenced by prison where belts are confiscated from new inmates), black ink tattoos and hoodies. Gold teeth became popular in the late 80s and early 90s. With the popular 1983 remake of Scarface the gangster influence could clearly be seen with fedora hats and alligator skin shoes becoming popular. A look adopted by rap stars such as Jay-Z. By the end of the 1990s the look was changing again and hip hop stars like Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs began wearing sharp suits and platinum instead of gold jewellery. The late 90s also saw the rise of the “bling-bling” lifestyle. This was a style which focused on the trappings of wealth; jewellery, fast cars, and high fashion clothing. In the late 1990s, hip hop had started to go mainstream and today many hip hop artists design and market their own clothing lines and Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs was one of the first to realise the potential of developing his own hip hop clothing line.

Women’s hip hop fashion was changing too, where they had previously emulated male hip hop fashion, now they followed stars like Lil Kim and Foxy Brown who popularised full on glamour and high fashion styles. Of course not all female hip hop artists followed this style, some such as Lauryn Hill favoured a more conservative look but it was still a distinctively feminine style. Clothing lines offering this glamorous, high fashion, feminine look sprung up. Hip hop stars such as Nelly, with his Apple Bottoms clothing line, have seen the potential in this market and his popular best selling Apple Bottoms jeans are popular with many celebrities, proving just how mainstream this fashion look has gone. JLO by Jennifer Lopez also offers a high fashion, glamorous range that’s affordable and within the reach of any ordinary women wanting to follow this look. Both JLO and Apple Bottoms also offer jewellery which has remained one of the most distinctive symbols of hip hop fashion.

Hip hop clothing is now high fashion! There are lots of famous hip hop clothing labels, think Jay-Z’s Roc-a-wear or Kimora Lee Simmons Baby Phat. It’s clear hip hop style has metamorphosed from a distinctive street style to a glamorous high fashion style favoured by the stars. Dedicated hip hop retailers such as Dr. Jay’s have emerged to offer purely hip hop fashion. Interestingly, Dr. Jay’s emerged around the same time and from the same neighbourhood as hip hop music! It has developed with hip hop over the last 25 years and with its online shop its influence has now gone global.

Hip hop fashion has changed enormously over the years. Today hip hop fashion is a major part of popular fashion across the world. Hip hop music and fashion have become inextricably linked, one goes with the other. It's how you identify yourself with the culture and it's instantly noticeable. The fashion just like the music is constantly changing and adapting and that's why the hip hop culture has endured. Hip hop is popular today because it still offers a unique way of expressing yourself, you can rap about anything as long as it's original and the look instantly identifies you with the culture. Hip hop music still remains one of the most popular and fast growing forms of music worldwide. Its influence is huge and with the rise of online media, it will continue to grow. So you can expect hip hop fashion to continue to influence the way we dress and look and the rise of hip hop clothing lines shows just how mainstream it’s become. Hip hop is not just high fashion, it's also popular fashion!
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