Avant-Garde Hip-Hop Fashion

image from @billboard

It comes as no surprise to anyone that “having that ish on” has always been a core part of Rap and Hip Hop culture, but how did we get to 17-year-old rage rap fans low-balling Margiela offers on Grailed and your favourite

rapper wearing Chrome Hearts?

Time and memorial music and fashion have shared a storied history that has witnessed both mediums of expression influence each other, a natural point of intersection that has formed countless chicken and egg situations. From the 60’s psychedelic rock beatnik-inspired garms to the feral Crystal Castles indie sleaze aesthetic of the late noughties, both these forms of expression have served as a means of realising ideas about human identity in ways more accurate than other forms of art. Today, the most fashion-forward and chronically online among us have hopped on its latest prominent example, rap music’s appreciation for avant-garde fashion.

In the 80s, during rap’s infancy, DJs often sported tracksuits from sportswear brands, which were seen as grails. These various styles of dress became the uniform of inner-city black youth in America’s largest metropoles—youngins as always dictating the pace of contemporary fashion. However, brewing in other corners of the hip-hop sphere, notable names like Dapper Dan introduced luxury fashion houses to the roster of conspicuous consumption displayed in hip-hop music. Dapper Dan had a hand in creating looks for hip-hop veterans, such as Eric B & Rakim and LL Cool J.

In a curious case of the butterfly effect, the depths of these influences moved rap fashion towards a direction

separated from the aesthetics of West Coast-style gangsta rap. One product of this butterfly effect was Kanye West, 2000s upcoming producer and rapper from South Chicago who would redefine rap music and the fashion associated with it as a whole. Kanye West drew inspiration from the giants that stood before him when forming his image as a rapper. At the same time, Kanye came to the game with two things: a strong sense of self and an appreciation for all art forms, including fashion. Creating the Yeezy brand, specifically Yeezy season 3, would firmly stamp him as a melody maker, multi-disciplinary, and, most importantly, fashion designer. Other artists, much like Kanye, saw the need to transcend “flex culture” and adorn fashion as an extension of a collective identity. Collectives like ASAP MOB featuring rappers like ASAP Rocky put on designer brands such as Hood By Air, combining streetwear sensibilities with haute couture gothic influences.

Furthermore, the street goth style represented a natural progression of hip-hop fashion from streetwear to more

experimental fashion. Essentially, rappers innovated the Style surrounding the genre once again while fulfilling the core tenant of “being clued in”. These hip-hop artists brought to the forefront why rap fashion should be at the forefront of what dictates global fashion trends, filling positions not too dissimilar to those of the rockstars that came before them.

The significance of the third instalment of Kanye’s Yeezy brand lies in its beginning exploration of experimental and unconventional presentations of what avant-garde-influenced streetwear clothing could be. Yeezy season 3 gained the respect of significant figures within the avant-garde fashion space, including one of Kanye’s biggest inspirations, Georgian designer Demna Gvasalia. In a tweet in 2016, the Yeezy owner made clear his intentions to “Poach” Demna from Balenciaga. It comes as no surprise that Kanye and Demna have a mutual understanding of fashion design. Both have greatly appreciated avant-garde designers such as Raf Simmons and Martin Margiela.

In 2020, Mr West sported a Donda emblazoned bulletproof vest, reminiscent of Helmut Lang’s Fall/Winter 97 white bulletproof jacket. Demna Gvasalia has also cited Helmut Lang as a fashion inspiration. Kanye West went as far as commissioning Demna to work on the visuals of the DONDA album launch party at the Mercedes Benz arena in Atlanta in 2021, working along said SEX IS DEATH, Burberry Erry, Indiana 420 and Playboi Carti himself for the roll- out of Playboi Carti’s 2019 album Whole Lotta Red and 2025 album I AM MUSIC.

Sex is death’s work as creative director of the opium label has massively made an impact on the atmosphere

surrounding Playboi Carti. It takes no less than typing the term “Opium Core” on TikTok to discover how big the hype is with the youth. Sex is Death, or Rosemary Johansson, got her start creating Illustrations for various galleries in New York City. She draws from a cornucopia and ranges in broad and ranging styles, from punk fashion to tattoo styles such as cyber sigils—a lot of which she directly brought to the opium label. Her art directly depicts the shift in sound Playboy Carti made from SoundCloud Rap to to punk-inspired rage rap. Playboi Carti’s music video for Backrooms exemplifies this. The song’s name is a play on the 2024 trend of the same name, which involved the uncanny valley of liminal spaces gaining popularity. Johansson crafts this narrative of unease through the Style of editing implemented in the music video as well as the clothes Carti is wearing.

In the video, he was sporting a PLN jacket, Balenciaga Hummerer boots, and an Anna Bolina Headband.

Chrome Hearts insignia, image from Medium

Why Do the Kids Love It?

Many in the hip-hop underground see the opium movement as a genuine evolution of punk aesthetics; while not similar in ethos, it poses the same searing qualities that enabled its original counterpart to rebellious stardom. It is a subculture to which young, alternative rap listeners can ascribe.