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Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.

How Fashion Picks Its Hip-Hop Style Icons

As fashion continues to tap into hip-hop for celeb marketing opportunities, it is searching for fresh faces beyond the same superstar partnerships.
Celebrity marketing around hip-hop stars continues to serve as a vital bridge between fashion and pop culture.
Celebrity marketing around hip-hop stars continues to serve as a vital bridge between fashion and pop culture. (BoF Studios)

It took 10 years for A$AP Rocky to reclaim his spot at the top of the Billboard album charts with the release earlier this month of “Don’t Be Dumb,” his long-delayed fourth studio album.

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Further Reading

What’s Next for Hip-Hop and Fashion

Hip-hop fueled an explosion of brands, collaborations and merchandise, but with fashion saturated with partnerships and rapper-led labels, and signs emerging that hip-hop’s cultural power could be waning, artists and their partners are finding ways to stand out.

True Religion’s Hip-Hop Powered Comeback

Even as the premium denim seller lost its hold on many consumers in the 2010s, hip-hop movers and shakers never wavered in their affinity for the horseshoe logo and signature thick stitching. That’s helping the brand mount a rebound today.

About the author
Lei Takanashi
Lei Takanashi

Lei Takanashi is a Correspondent at The Business of Fashion (BoF). He is based in New York City and covers menswear, streetwear, young consumer trends, and the intersection between fashion and culture.

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