Hip-Hop and fashion go way back. Like way waaay back.
From the days of designer Dapper Dan customizing Gucci clothing for the hustlers to the new streetwear brands we see today, fashion has been a staple.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise then that fashion brands have created a new generation of hip-hop billionaires. After all, it couldn’t be music alone. Artists get pennies on the dollar for song streams, and generally have predatory deals that stop them from generating this type of money.
Nevertheless… Let’s talk about FASHION.
Kanye West Breaks The Glass Ceiling
Kanye West has an affinity for fashion. That much has been clear since his ascent in 2004.
In fact, the sneaker world was excited to see his first collaborations with Nike come to life. Until this very day, the Red Octobers (my personal favorite) still go for a pretty high price on re-selling sites. Take a look at em. They’re fire:
Red Octobers aside, In 2013, Ye let world know just how unhappy he was with his Nike partnership.
Why was Kanye disgruntled?
Well. Because he was already a global icon with a cult following.
Despite that, NIke wouldn’t allow him to receive a royalty on his shoe because it was unprecedented (as if that should matter)
At the time, people thought Kanye was just another rich person complaining about their lot in life. No one knew that he was actually $53 million dollars in debt, and they couldn’t see his vision.
But then, he found someone to believe in him, or in his words, someone to “back him like the Medichi family”
IT WAS ADIDAS.
In 2017 Adidas signed on to do a joint venture with Kanye that allowed him to own his Yeezy imprint and create a fashion and clothing line in partnership with the iconic lifestyle brand.
You’ll never guess what happened next….
Adidas’ stock price over the few years doubled, and the success of the Yeezy imprint was so massive that Kanye West not only got out of debt, but in the process he became a billionaire.
Then, Virgil Abloh Revolutionized LVMH
Virgil Abloh was the true and verifiable bridge between “street” fashion and high fashion. Without him, you don’t get this new billionaire class, and without the rise of off-white we don’t see have proof of concept for future urban creatives to hop in the field.
Virgil’s path is deeply intertwined with Kanye West’s path. They both jumped into fashion simultaneously, but after Virgil secured an internship with Fendi, he became friends with Kanye and the Creative Director for G.O.O.D. Music for a while. After a stint with G.O.O.D., VirgIl eventually founded his own imprint Pyrex Vision, which was super dope, by the way. (I wish I had a few pieces from that era, but alas I was in college and my refund would only stretch so far).
Nevertheless, the success of Pyrex Vision led to Virgil’s name buzzing in the world of street fashion.
Shortly after launching Pyrex Vision, In 2014, Virgil re-branded it as Off-White – a name which according to Wikipedia (yes, I’m quoting wikipedia) signifies “the grey area between black and white as the color off-white” to the fashion world”
The presence of Off-White took the fashion world by storm so much so that after numerous fashion shows, and partnerships he garnered the attention of some of the top art buyers in the world including Bernard Arnault.
Yep. That’s right. Virgil’s success brought him to Bernard Arnault, the CEO of LVMH (the parent company of Louis Vuitton, Dior, and more). That led the streetwear designer to become the Artist Director of the Menswear line starting in 2018.
And this is just my guess, but I think Bernard noticed a new market that he’d previously neglected. Virgil’s success set the stage for another powerful entertainment mogul to start her own line (of course, you know who it is, but more on her later).
And, Rihanna Created Fenty
Around 2019, Rihanna decided to take a break from music – again, rightfully so; because during her time away from music, she focused on other ventures. But what was one that propelled her to billionaire status?
FENTY.
In 2019, Rihanna struck a deal with LVMH (who we talked about earlier as the biggest fashion house in the world) for her Fenty imprint.
Fenty Beauty took the world by storm by making fashion more inclusive. Not only did Rih have skincare products that were friendly to all skin tones, especially those with darker skin, but she also created clothing that was friendly to all genders, and body types – a move that many beauty brands shy away from, often staying in line with more “traditional” standards of beauty.
Though fans are still waiting on music from Rihanna, they’ve been more than satisfied with watching her break barriers with Fenty and Rihanna’s presence in the fashion world continues to pay dividends.
THE AFTERMATH
With the success of Rihanna’s Fenty, Ye’s Yeezy imprint, and Virgil Abloh’s (RIH) Off-White, the fashion world has been transformed. More or less, the presence of each of these moguls now serves as proof of concept for what hiphop (Rihanna is Hiphop to me) and black artists can create with the proper backing.
What’s next from here? Who knows. But, I think it’ll be something special.
See y’all at the Next Yeezy raffle.
Peace.