Kanye West sporting one of his fashion lines.
Rap fashion doesn’t live or die by the dollar
For years, influencers in the rap industry have been seen wearing multi-thousand-dollar outfits and have defined their style as wearing what is most expensive and popular at the time, despite how it actually looks. However, is it worth spending hard-earned cash to look like a complete goof?
Artist like 2 Chainz, Gucci Mane, and Travis Scott have been seen wearing anything from complete Gucci Tracksuits, to even an $80,000 Christmas sweater woven with pure gold, and encrusted with diamonds.
Without the brand names or high price on these items, they would most likely remain unsold do to their sheer lack of style or any actual visual aesthetic. These artists are not buying these outfits for their function or actual look but instead to “flex on the haters.”
These expensive clothes are just another outlet for these artists to build up their image and subtly brag about how much money they have.
There are many other artists and examples of how to look good and be stylish without spending the big bucks.
Jonatan Leandoer Håstad, known by his stage name Yung Lean, is one of the most prominent figures in the cloud rap subgenre. He consistently is seen wearing very simple, many times dirty, clothes or an outfit that looks like it was picked by a blind man a thrift store.
This can be anything from a plain white t-shirt and cargo pants or to a windbreaker and bucket hat or even a dirty dress as seen in his music video for “Miami Ultras.”
It is obvious that Lean cares about how he looks but not about spending loads of money on his outfits. Many other artists are following this trend and worrying more about how they look than how much they spend.
Nate Contreras, otherwise known as Tabasko Sweet, has predicted the trends of 2018. The biggest of these he says will be comfy season or comfy boys throughout the year. This means that people will no longer concern themselves about the price of their clothes but instead about being comfortable at all times.
This trend could be seen with many artists and influencers however the hypebeast community will not die out anytime soon.
Kanye has had his nose in the fashion industry since 2009 when he released his Air Yeezy 1. He went on to release the shoes successor, the Air Yeezy 2, and then the ever so popular Yeezy Boosts alongside his clothing line.
Most of these clothes have very neutral, earthy tones and very simple patterns if any. They are not made to look extravagant or as the most expensive but it is no difficulty spending a few bills on a hoodie or nearly a grand on a dress.
Kanye’s clothing lines are definitely are gaining popularity, but there is no competition when compared to his shoes. West released the Air Yeezy 1 and 2 under the Nike brand and they were definitely a hit when they dropped but have only become more rare, and more expensive as time goes on, and newer models are released.
The most popular color and model of these sneakers was the Air Yeezy 2 Red October. They retailed for $245 when it dropped on December 27th, 2013. The shoe sold out in just 11 minutes, this might not seem very long, but for shoes of this rarity they are expected to sell out in under a minute nowadays, with practically no chance of obtaining these shoes without paying extra money for an illegal bot to try and purchase the shoes for you.
Kanye only made a couple of hundred per pair of sneakers sold; however these shoes are still being resold on EBay and other high fashion sites for upwards of $5,000, the most expensive going for over $16,000. This is not uncommon for certain rare shoes like this.
These sorts of prices and rarity are not uncommon in the case of designer clothing. It might seem that the price of these clothes would deter the average consumer from purchasing them but the higher price actually attracts more sales.
The community of hypebeasts and those willing to spend hundreds of dollars on a t-shirt or other articles of the sort has grown so large so quickly, that even with the new trends this year, the old ones will not die out anytime soon.
