jefferson john babasa asked: What’s the first thing that comes into your mind when you hear the word “Hip Hop”? The first thing that anyone would think about when they hear the word hip hop is music and guys wearing baggy pants and shirts, with shiny big things around their necks, ears, and hands. Hip hop music has brought many changes in fashion trends, particularly with clothes.
Back in the 70’s and 80’s, baggy pants, oversized athletic jerseys, sneakers, and oversized accessories called the “Bling-blings” are the most common thing that the fans of the hip hop culture are sporting. These things was sort of a uniform for them because you’ll clearly see them walking down the streets, wearing those oversized clothes, oversized name tags made of gold dangling from a necklace that looks more like a chain and oversized earrings. Now although hip hop generation were founded by American-Africans, it soon traveled all over the world, across every country and every place.
Some branded clothing line manufacturers had taken this hip hop thing very seriously, which added to the hip hop culture’s popularity. Bright tracksuits, leather bomber jackets and sneakers were now being manufactured by big brands in the business.
Hip hop in the 80’s and 90’s still retained its baggy and oversized shirts and accessories. The only thing that added to its trend is vivid hairstyles and looks. Different types of braided hairdos and dreadlocks have taken over the scene.
Today, many hip hop artists and executives started their own fashion labels and clothing lines. This includes sean john combs and his sean john clothing, Beyonce and her dereon, Damon Dash and Jay-Z and their rocawear, Nelly and his apple bottoms, 50 Cent and his G-Unit Clothing, Eminem and his Shady Limited, 2Pac and his Makaveli, OutKast and their OutKast Clothing, and many more.
Hip hop’s popularity way back in the 1990’s was primarily the work of sean john combs, or locally known around New York at that time as the “Shiny Suit Man”. Sean John brought elements such as loud, flashy PVC aviator inspired suits and platinum jewelry to the forefront of hip hop in an effort to add a new vivid dimension of color and flash to the videos produced as a marketing tool.
After this, sean john started his own clothing line which he called the sean john clothing. There was a resurgence of traditional African-American hairstyles such as cornrows and Afros, as well as the Caesar low-cut.
This era also saw the split of hip hop fashion between the men and the women, which had previously been more or less similar. Wearing tighter jeans such as those from the house of dereon and apple bottoms collections of jeans are the current trends in female hip hop fashion.
Today, Hip hop clothing is now produced by popular and successful designers such as sean john, Beyonce, or Nelly, who charge significant amounts for their products. Hip hop fashion is the now the most popular culture of all, worn by a significant percentage of young people around the world, with a significant number of retailers that are dedicated to the sale of hip hop inspired fashions.
Here is a list of popular hip hop fashion clothing lines that are currently making a buzz in the world of fashion clothing.
Sean John
Music mogul sean john combs, has created a fashion empire with his urban fashion sense. Through the success of sean john clothing, Combs has gained recognition through the traditional fashion industry with their urban clothing lines. Clothing collection of sean john has urban clothing ranging from jeans, hats, shirts, wovens, socks, jackets, and now suits.
Apple Bottoms
The unique clothing line founded by Nelly is a clothing line that caters to females of all shapes and sizes who are trendy and fashion forward. The apple bottoms is a clothing line that specializes in providing a way for plus sized women to finally be free and to feel the natural curves of a woman’s body. The clothing collection within the apple bottoms has grown from an original denim collection to include a variety of clothing styles that include mini skirts, jackets, sweat suits and an array of tops that are flexible and offer the customer a variety of choices.
House of Dereon
The house of dereon was specifically made to be worn by the women. Founded by Beyonce Knowles together with her sister Solange Knowles and mother Tina Knowles, the house of dereon is known for accentuating the womanly curves from neck to toe. Exquisite detail paired with passionate attitude makes this collection the must have fashion brand.
Rocawear
The rocawear clothing lines is an urban clothing label created in 1995 by Jay-Z and Damon Dash. Jay-Z, being the head of the hip hop label Roc-a-Fella Records, has conceptualized the idea of the rocawear to fit in nicely in the world of hip hop fashion and trends.
Akademiks
Akademiks created denim with a street twist that is still apparent, but they now offer an entire line of urban clothing. That line has now grown to include a women’s line, endorsed by R&B songstress Keyshia Cole. By remaining authentic and genuine to the hip hop lifestyle, they have become a major hip hop clothing brand. The women’s line is huge, including everything from jeans and capris to tank tops, jackets and shirts.
Phat Farm
The Phat Farm brand marvel took off when fans saw their favorite hip hop artists swaying away in their videos putting some Phat Farm on. That’s all that the fans needed to know what Phat Farm is and well, ever since then, Phat Farm clothing has been bangin its way to the top of the hip hop fashion world.
G-unit
G unit clothing label was founded by hip-hop superstar 50 Cent. Back in 2003, 50 Cent teamed up with Marc Ecko, the acclaimed designer and founder of Ecko Unlimited, to create the G Unit Clothing Company. Today, G Unit is one of the best selling brands in hip hop genre. We all know 50 Cent, and love his music. So why not to wear the clothes he helped to design?
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