Rap artists call the tune in urban wear
edonline
Posted on Wed, May. 26, 2004
FASHION TRENDS
Rap artists call the tune in urban wear
BY LISA TOWNSEL
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Hip-hop fashions aren't all they're rapped to be. They're a lot more and
growing with the climb of each new CD that edges up the urban charts.
What might have begun as an underground trend that appealed to young men
waxing poetic and looking cool as they played street ball has grown into a
$2 billion-a-year industry (according to NPD Group NPD Fashionworld, the
division of New York-based NPD Group that tracks sales and marketing
details). It boasts of, yes, oversized everything and some high-fashioned
tailored pieces, too.
Trucker caps, Timberland boots, triple-sized tops and sagging denim bottoms
(often held in place with buckled-belts) have long been the uniform of this
genre that continually refines itself as it finds acceptability among a
larger fan base. Today's urban wear still stocks such staples, but as clubs
and dance halls place restrictions on tennis shoes and sports jerseys, many
lines and customers have gravitated toward higher-end apparel made with
finer fabrics and designs.
The powerhouses behind this mostly male-driven fashion trend? With few
exceptions, rap artists.
Grammy Award winner Nelly launched his own male urban sportswear line,
Vokal, in 2002. Then came the ladies' clothing line, Apple Bottoms. Chingy
is said to have a clothing line in the works, too.
Then there are the stalwarts, the ones who helped to establish the music and
now the racks full of merchandise that followed, the Russell Simmons/Kimora
Lee Simmons of the world. He is the co-founder of the rap label Def Jam
Recordings and chairman of Rush Communications. His wife is a former model.
They are the brainiacs behind the Phat Farm and Baby Phat line that they
built based on smart, sporty streetwear pieces for men in the Phat Farm
collection and sex-kitten, clubby pieces for women in the Baby Phat line.
Recently, both lines were scooped up by Chesterfield, Mo.-based Kellwood
Co., for an estimated $140 million.
Rap sensation Jay-Z along with Damon Dash and Kareem ''Biggs'' Burke struck
gold with the launch of their Rocawear collection of urban apparel in 1999.
Sean ''P. Diddy'' Combs' Sean John line, which moves from fluid street wear
to upscale tailored pieces made of leather, fur and other lavish fabrics,
continues to rake in big dividends. That's while the music mogul continues
to perch atop his Bad Boy Entertainment empire.
Jeans lay at the crux of most urban-wear lines, and the primary customers
remain men. But many collections have added sultry, waist-cinching pieces to
their collections to appeal to women interested in the style.
`NOT AS BAGGY'
''It's a lifestyle. If everyone around you is dressing this way . . . And,
the videos play a big part,'' reasons Kathryn Whelan of The Lark at St.
Louis's Northwest Plaza about the popularity of the look. ``The music has
changed our whole style completely.''
While oversized pieces still are status quo for urban wear, Whelan says the
focus is really on downsizing the look -- some. ''It's not as baggy,'' she
contends. ``They won't wear anything that's fitted, but it used to be four
sizes bigger, and now they're wearing things two sizes larger. I think pants
will stay loose for the next five years.''
But everything is given to change. Wearing sports jerseys over T-shirts had
long been the fashion for many following the hip-hop trend. But when rapper
Jay-Z rhymed ''I don't wear jerseys . . . I'm 30-plus, gimme a crisp pair of
jeans . . . (and) button-ups,'' on The Black Album, the look took a leap.
''Everybody around 29, 30, then started wearing button-ups (shirts),''
Whelan says. ``Jay-Z has really cleaned up the game, like wow. He took you
from a $440 jersey to a $220 dress shirt.''
Not all of the looks in urban wear were spawned from musicians. The Ecko
Unlimited lines of women's and men's wear were produced by designer (and
former graffiti artist) Marc Ecko. Enyce, which was once owned by Fila USA
Inc. and then Sport Brands International, was recently picked up by Liz
Claiborne Inc. Sportswear line Fubu, founded in 1992 as a mostly urban-wear
line, continues to add to its stable and to move further away from the urban
designation. In 1997, Craig Tanner developed Oakland, Calif.-based Urban
Golf Gear, a golf-inspired apparel line with urban styling.
LOOKING OVERSEAS
Many artists now look to the future, hoping now that their fashions appeal
to fans outside the United States.
Other artist-turned-entrepreneurs continue to raise the bar. Russell and
Kimora Simmons, along with M. Fabrikant & Sons, will start up Simmons
Jewelry Co. soon. And Damon Dash of the Roc-A-Fella empire (that encompasses
Rocawear) plans to launch Tiret New York jewelry and accessories soon.