Fresh To Death: The Impact Of Black Brands On Hip Hop Fashion

In the past five decades of fashion and jewelry in Hip Hop culture, there has always been a sense of opulence coupled with gaudy excess no matter which decade you choose. From the raw sheepskin coats tailored by Italian leather makers on Delancey Street to Dapper Dan’s monogram Gucci, Louie, Fendi and MCM, Hip Hop’s fashion instructional manual was based on foreign exclusivity until the birth of the Black fashion brands.

Kangol hats, Playboy and Wallabee Clarks, all made in England, were all some of the hottest fashion brands during Hip Hop’s inception. Even sneakers such as Adidas and Puma, which both have their roots in Germany, were the flyest kicks money could buy until Nike revealed the Air Jordan in 1985. Interestingly enough, only American made jeans were “fashionably fit”, such as Lees and even Jordache Jeans, which has its origins in Bushwick, Brooklyn. It wasn’t until the late 80s that American made brands made by Black people became fashionable and was popularized by Hip Hop artists and notable celebrities.

Talented, pioneering clothiers such as Karl Kani, FUBU and Cross Colours were some of the first to launch mainstream clothing brands that were embraced by Hip Hop, but their fearlessness ushered in a wave of fashion entrepreneurs in the next decade to come and they had the Hip Hop community locked in as consumers. Def Jam co-founder Russel Simmons’ Phat Farm, which debuted in 1992 followed by Baby Phat in 1999, was the first authentic fashion brand to come from under the fold of Hip Hop.

It wasn’t long before Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs came behind Simmons and perfected Uncle Rush’s prototype with Sean John in 1998. It was a tremendous boost for the Sean John brand that DIddy had some of the hottest mainstream artists on his Bad Boy roster at the time, including Black Rob, The L.O.X., Ma$e, Faith Evans and this was only a year after the untimely death of the Notorious B.I.G. Wu-Wear popped up in 1997 and rode the wave of the WTC fame well into the turn of the century. It wasn’t long before Sean John saw competition with Jay-Z’s Roc-A-Wear brand, which seemed to dominate over all of the other brands created by Hip Hop personalities, but there were many more to follow. Nelly gained popularity with women with his Apple Bottom Jeans, while 50 Cent’s G-Unit Clothing had a run during his Get Rich Or Die Tryin‘ era, even taking a stab a G-Unit sneaker manufactured by Reebok. Within the next few years, Snoop Dogg, Outkast, Eve, Eminem, Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Ruff Ryders all had their own line of clothing, virtually over saturating the market and killing the demand.

There were many Black brands that played their own role during that era including Dada Supreme, PNB Nation, Mecca, Shabazz Brothers(Big L and Swizz both wearing Shabazz Brothers leathers above), Enyce, Willie Esco, Lugz, Akademiks, D-Lo USA, Walker Wear, RP55 and more paved the way for brands such as Billionaire Boys Club, Yeezy, Essentials(Fear Of God), Denim Tears, Off-White and the popular Black brands that have carried on the tradition of Hip Hop fashion.