Freestyle sway: Hip-hop has been breaking fashion rules for the longest time

Pharrell WIlliams (left) and Jay-Z worked the crowds at the Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2024 menswear show. Photo: Louis Vuitton

This year marks the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. As much as the music genre is regarded as a cultural influence, it has also birthed fashion trends.

The high-low style of dressing – where one pairs preppy and casual clothing together – is said to have originated from hip-hop.

Just take a look at some of the celebrities in the scene.

You will spot sneakers being worn with suits, for example. Tracksuits, a more “street” staple, can even be dressed up with a tailored trench coat.

Such looks define the very idea of hip-hop music – which, in itself, has a freestyle vibe.

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It probably all started in the 1980s and 90s, when hip-hop stars such as Run-DMC, LL Cool J and Salt-N-Pepa started turning heads with their loud styles – gold chains and all.

Kanye West (before his downfall) also played a huge role in how hip-hop came to conquer fashion.

At the peak of his career, West had scores of people emulating his style.

West once interned at Fendi, alongside the late Virgil Abloh (who went on to become one of fashion’s most celebrated designers).

He also founded his own brand, Yeezy, back in 2009. Plus, the man has rubbed shoulders with numerous designs heads of luxury fashion houses in the past.

Hip-hop's streetstyle fashion encapsulates the idea of mixing and matching clothing items to give a perfect preppy yet edgy look. Photo: Rocawear

Cult streetwear brand Billionaire Boys Club has even worked with other known labels like Moncler. Photo: Moncler

In 2011, West presented Phoebe Philo (creative director of Celine at that time) with an award at the CFDA Fashion Awards.

The year before, he rapped his appreciation for Philo on the opening track of his album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.Jay-Z, another legendary hip-hop figure, is also a famous name that helped bring hip-hop into mainstream fashion.

His 2013 song, Tom Ford, references the renowned fashion designer, who served as the head of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) for three years.

Jay-Z has his own streetwear label, Rocawear. Plus, he is married to Beyonce, another style icon.

At the recent Louis Vuitton menswear show in Paris, Jay-Z performed on stage with Pharrell Williams. The two (together with Beyonce sitting in the front row) made headlines in all the fashion magazines.

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The occasion was Williams’ debut as Louis Vuitton’s menswear creative director.

This brings us to Williams, who really illustrates how hip-hop has fashion in its grasp. Making the move from a musician to heading a design division at one of the oldest fashion houses is no small feat.

Williams succeeded Abloh, showing that luxury brands are not turning away from hip-hop anytime soon.

With his own brands, Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream, which kicked off in the early 2000s, Williams is certainly proving that hip-hop and its subcultures, like skateboarding, graffiti art, breakdancing and rapping, are unreversibly intertwined.