The logos that he used at the time were the brands of luxury, of high fashion - Gucci, Louis Vuitton, MCM. ROMERO: Well, anybody who was anybody, if they were going to get a custom outfit, they would head to Harlem to this 24-hour, seven-day-a-week shop, where you can get your one of a kind outfit made by Dapper Dan. (SOUNDBITE OF SALT-N-PEPA SONG, "SHAKE YOUR THANG") But between limited edition sneakers and Cardi B's bedazzled nails, Way and Romero point out that early hip-hop pioneers found crafty and relatively affordable ways to stand out, like custom belt buckles or fat shoelaces, which brings us to Dapper Dan. Inside the exhibit, mannequins sport dozens of outfits stacked on scaffolding two tiers high. SUMMERS: That's fashion historian and FIT co-curator Elizabeth Way. He also includes leather gloves that he danced in. We have this beautiful, fine knit sweater and capped off with this white cap. SUMMERS: And one of the first things you see in this exhibit is an outfit worn by an early breakdancing legend, the b-boy popmaster Fabel.ĮLIZABETH WAY: So we're talking about Lee Jeans with permanent creases down the front, PRO-Ked sneakers, a belt buckle with Fabel on the buckle. THE SUGARHILL GANG: (Rapping) I said-a hip, hop, the hippie, the hippie, to the hip hip hop-a you don't stop. It's called "Fresh, Fly And Fabulous: 50 Years Of Hip-Hop Style." She's one of the curators of a new exhibit at the FIT Museum. SUMMERS: Elena Romero is a longtime fashion journalist and now a professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. SUMMERS: In hip-hop's early days in the 1970s, the looks might have aspired to such cachet but were understandably less glamorous.ĮLENA ROMERO: A lot of it had to do with socioeconomic status, and being able to wear clothes of different brands really was dependent on how much money you had. (SOUNDBITE OF THE SUGARHILL GANG SONG, "RAPPER'S DELIGHT") SUMMERS: Today, the biggest fashion houses in the world want to put their outfits on the biggest superstars in the world - rap artists. MIGOS: (Rapping) Versace, Versace, Versace, Versace, Versace.ĬARDI B: (Rapping) These is red bottoms, these is bloody shoes. JAY-Z: (Rapping) Now just change clothes and go. RUN-D.M.C.: (Rapping) My Adidas walk through concert doors. From the birth of hip-hop 50 years ago, the Black and brown kids who created and reinvented the culture have always made it a point to dress well.
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