Pharrell Williams - Designer, Creative Director of Louis Vuitton Menswear

[alwaysademo]

Not be to critical as I totally get your point but your examples would make believe that the Hip-Hop/Fashion conversation only happened in the 2010’s when it was already digested and integrated in the fashion conversation in the 90’s. Rappers name-dropped luxury brands in the 90’s, wore the brands. Some were invited in shows. Some designers embraced artists whether they were rappers, producers or singers…

When Pharrell became the face of Vuitton in 2006, i think that conversation was done.

However the real shift in the 2010´s was that the mass consumed HipHop in a bigger way. It was just a subculture before.

So of course, having something HipHop coded and treated as a novelty in 2024 is odd because fashion has digested the subject for years now.

For me the biggest shift in the fashion/hip hop conversation was Riccardo Tisci doing menswear for Givenchy. It was the game changer.

Virgil was maybe a symbol but in reality, without the work of Riccardo, his hiring wouldn’t have been credible.

@Lola701 please, be critical away Lola I'm eager to read your point of view always. it's very educational and fun to read.

I totally agree re Tisci. His tenure was a breakthrough in multiple ways and though hugely popular, i feel he has not been appropriately rewarded within the fashion system, much like Vivienne Westwood before him 2 decades prior. But, that's another story.

My examples weren't trying to be smart or intellectually stimulate anyone. I simply jolted down a list of lyrics and trivia I can remember of hip hop songs that I personally listen to and that maybe most people know (which explain that 2010s period) to exemplify the unrequited enthusiasm hip hop artists have consistently shown toward fashion for a long time. Kanye was really the face of chic Hip-hop for much of the past decade so I put an emphasis on him and his very daring entry into high fashion circles. To say it was "integrated" ever since the late 90s or even early 2000s is difficult to agree with as much as I'd like to entertain the idea. Black culture was always treated as a token ingredient and it had never seemed to be a cultural mainstay pre-2008. Things really truly took a left turn with Obama. Vogue Italia's Black issue & Tisci all happened around that period after the inauguration and all sorts of conversations around diversity came bursting the fashion bubble. Vuitton's Pharrell ad in 2006 was just another naive exercise in cultural appropriation from the upper echelons of fashion at that point.

I believe fashion's elitism really hindered itself from recognizing allies in hip hop, as you pointed out it was mostly deemed a "subculture" and naturally the association with the movie business was deemed far more gratifying and on brand. Now that everything becomes more horizontal with sm, old hierarchies are forced to change very fundamentally, as we all recognize the importance of numbers in staying relevant in this business, so as the pillar it is today in mainstream culture hip hop has a new yield on influence it did not have before.

On a personal note I feel like black culture has always expressed itself through fashion in an authentic way. I don't have time right now to find my tattered D.V. book but Vreeland said something about how she always noticed the superior style black folks around her had compared to their white counterparts.. The last Pharrell show really showed me that while savoir-faire belongs still largely within the fashion machine, tastemaking can come from outside for new directions.

 

[PDFSD]

Yes I know...but I have always found songs which mention or even repeat the name of brands totally childish.

But it's within the context of the genre with the idea of being ahead or flex etc it has to do with reaching goals etc etc and every genre has cringe parts even classic music i agree but yet if its not for me i don't feel to have much thoughts on it even if i understand the appeal of even techno ravers balenciaga crowd per example.

Taste is personal and not objective in a way.

 

[PDFSD]

Often hip hop artist don't get the credit with wearing and pushing the boundaries of masculinity as well in the mens fashion landscape ...Tupac at versace show 1996 in yellow velvet suit and like him many more examples, even kanye pushed allot of ideas with wearing the leather kilt from givenchy years ago much like rock stars do gender bending.

Also has to do with the dominance for only regarding eurocentric culture and influence as chic or relevant, that it took a italian man at a paris HC house to put hip hop on the map in high fashion ...mmmm

 

[visvim2001]

Lol, a timberland collab, basic boots are like 2k usd. Check out the damier monstrosities with the ‘gold’ logo buckle. And the monogrammed pyjamas above. Truly a ghetto brand now, quite representative of Paris.

 

[PDFSD]

Lol, a timberland collab, basic boots are like 2k usd. Check out the damier monstrosities with the ‘gold’ logo buckle. And the monogrammed pyjamas above. Truly a ghetto brand now, quite representative of Paris.

Nothing new for LV even before Pharrell or even Virgil (women's RTW is same full of logo´s)...no tears to cry ...not my fav nor for me but you don't go to LV to be discreet lol

 

[Irere]

Lol, a timberland collab, basic boots are like 2k usd. Check out the damier monstrosities with the ‘gold’ logo buckle. And the monogrammed pyjamas above. Truly a ghetto brand now, quite representative of Paris.

If characters were wearing that outfit in a Saturday Night Live sketch, I'd think, That's just too over the top...