Hip Hop Fashion Statement

Run DMC quoted “All of these clothes are connected to what it means to be young and black in america”. Hip Hop fashion is also known as big fashion. Men usually wore denim jeans, hooded sweatshirts, athletic warm up pants, Mock turtlenecks, etc. Major Contributors to hip hop clothing were Marc Ecko. Marc Ecko was the founder of Ecko unlimited. Also Avirex played a part in the hip hop fashion which was considered a hip hop brand started as a military clothing brand founded by Jeff clyman in 1975.

In the 1980’s heavy jewelry was very popular. While men were so focused on heavy gold chains, Women was on large gold earrings. Believe it or not but music played a big part in the way people dressed during the 90’s. Celebrities were known as fashion icons, especially rappers such as Tupac, Snoop Dogg, and even LL Cool J with the Kangol hat in the 80’s. Fashion in the 90’s slowly evolved from the 80’s as the hip hop community wore African American dressing. Bright colors, Large pants and headwear were the inspiration of dressing in the early 90’s. Now let's skip to the Mid-Late 1990’s where Tommy Hilfiger was one of the most well-known brands along with Ralph Lauren polo, Calvin Klein, Nautica, and DKNY. In the late 1990’s artists and fans went from big gold chains to platinum and silver jewelry with diamonds. Rappers such as Juvenile and the Hot Boys were largely responsible for that trend. Plenty of people did not support the fashion trends throughout the years.

One publicist stated “Celebrities should try showing less expensive brands so people will know that they don't have to hustle, steal or kill for flyness”. In the late 1990’s Guru of gang star was robbed of his rolex at gunpoint and prodigy was robbed of $300,000 in jewelry. Later on in the 2000’s no matter if you were hooping or not, Sweatbands were very popular. Another big fashion statement was Tall Tee’s. Tall Tee’s were so cheap you could buy a couple of them for a dollar, Literally.

Most people saw Tall Tee’s as a sign of drug dealers, for that reason they was banned from clubs. Tall Tee’s were on of the most worldwide trends. The founder Henry Abadi, a syrian native who traveled to New York in 1971 to be trained as an engineer, seemed to be into Tall Tee’s. Once Abadi could not find work as an engineer he opened a clothing store for kids. The store was a success so he turned it into a wholesale store. Once he launched the “40 inch Tee’s they were a huge success. Abadi started receiving calls Nationwide for the Tall Tee’s.  

Cite this page