The music industry is one of the most influential parts of society. People work, drive, play, eat, dance, and do plenty of other things while listening to music. Another event that is put to music is a fashion show. Fashion shows and music go hand in hand. Music is usually set to the style of the designer’s clothing line at the time of the show. There is a strong convergence between music and
fashion.
MUSIC AND FASHION
Teenagers tend to get their style of dress from musicians that they like. Singers and songwriters have always set the tone for fashion trends. The music and fashion industry have become so intertwined that recording artists are now using their fame to sell their own fashion line of clothing.
Jennifer Lopez, Sean (’P-Diddy’) Combs and Gwen Stefani are just a few entertainers that are cashing in on the ‘marriage’ between music and fashion. Who can forget Run DMC’s fashion phenomenon ‘Adidas’. The shoe went right along with the Rap Song and shoe sales skyrocketed which lead to massive sales of their other clothing such as hats, track suits, t-shirts, and more.
Sleeveless Rock Band T-Shirts became very popular sense awesome bands like AC/DC, Metallica, Poison, Ratt, Ozzy & others made them all the rage. The band Nirvana brought the Grundge look to the masses in the 90’s. Although this look started out in the city of Seattle, U.S.A., it quickly became a popular fad because of music.
Kangol’s in the 80’s became a big fashion statement after rap star LLCool J sported this hat as his trademark. Madonna, the queen of the trend setters came on the scene in the 1980’s and changed the way young girls dressed forever. She was beautiful, bold, fun and uninhibited. Girls as well as guys loved her and wanted to dress like her. The calf-length black leggings, head bands, bangle bracelets, granny boots, ballerina skirts, net spandex tops and large earrings all became the new style for girls fashion. There is one television network that’s responsible for bringing us the stars and their fashion statements: MTV
SEEING IS BELIEVING
Music Television Videos, better known as ‘MTV’ came on the scene in 1981. It was the first time that a station was exclusively dedicated to music and today is still one of the most watched channels of Cable TV. This is so because the world is obsessed with celebrities. We want to know where they vacation, who they’re dating, what’s they’re latest project and most importantly, what they are wearing. MTV has given us this and more.
When MTV was launched, no one could fathom what an iconic status it would generate among the youth. It was new and fresh. People could now put a face to the music they listened to on the radio without paying for it at a concert. MTV has brought music and fashion to the world without us having to leave our homes.
When MTV launched, music suddenly became marketable and music videos became the front runner in the entertainment industry. Artists such as Michael Jackson, Duran Duran, Madonna and Whitney Houston became household names and their fashion was taken and replicated by teens and young adults alike. Who can forget the jackets legendary Michael Jackson wore on his music videos ‘Beat It‘ & ‘Thriller‘ and don’t forget those penny loafers! Also, the peter pan boots Simon LeBon of Duran Duran wore on the music video ‘Hungry Like The Wolf’.
LISTEN UP FOR FASHION
If you pay an even slight attention to popular songs, you’ll hear brand named clothing mentioned quite regularly in the lyrics. For instance, the song ‘Vogue‘ sung by Madonna, mentions a number of iconic actors and actresses who people modeled their wardrobes after. Listed were Grace Kelly, Jimmy Dean, Fred Astaire, Jean Harlow, Lauren Bacall, & Katherine Hepburn. They had ’style and grace’ as the song says and brought their own style of fashion to many homes. On a subconscious level this would relate the song Vogue with the popular fashion magazine of the same title, generating even more clothing sales.
Hip-hop fashion is a distinctive style of dress originating with the African-American and Latino youth in The Bronx (New York City), and later influenced by the hip-hop scenes of Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), and The Dirty South, among others. Each city contributed various elements to its overall style seen worldwide today. Hip hop fashion complements the expressions and attitudes of hip hop culture in general. Hip hop fashion has changed significantly during its history, and today it is a prominent part of popular fashion as a whole across the world and for all ethnicities.
Black nationalism was increasingly influential in rap during the late 1980s, and fashions and hairstyles reflected traditional African influences. Blousy pants were popular among dance-oriented rappers like MC Hammer. Fezzes, kufis decorated with the Kemetic ankh, Kente cloth hats, Africa chains, dreadlocks, and red, black, and green clothing became popular as well, promoted by artists such as Queen Latifah, KRS-One, Public Enemy, and X-Clan).
In the early 1990s, pop rappers such as The Fresh Prince, Kid ‘n Play, and Left Eye of TLC popularized baseball caps and bright, often neon-colored, clothing. Kris Kross also established the fad of wearing clothes backwards.
Gangsta rap pioneers N.W.A. popularized an early form of gangsta style in the late 1980s, consisting of Dickies pants, plaid shirts and jackets, Chuck Taylors/Converse sneakers, and black Raiders baseball caps and Raiders Starter jackets. Starter jackets, in addition, were also a popular trend in their own right during the late 1980s and early 90s. They became something of a status-symbol, with incidents of robberies of the jackets reported in the media.
Hip hop fashion in this period also influenced high fashion designs. In the late 1980s, Isaac Mizrahi, inspired by his elevator operator who wore a heavy gold chain, showed a collection deeply influenced by hip hop fashion. Models wore black catsuits, gold chains, big gold nameplate-inspired belts, and black bomber jackets with fur-trimmed hoods.
In another fashion show, they wore long black dresses, accessorized with heavy, padlocked silver chains. (These silver chains were remarkably similar to the metal chain-link and padlock worn by Treach of Naughty by Nature, who said he did so in solidarity with “all the brothers who are locked down.”)
Tommy Hilfiger was one of the most prominent brands in 1990s sportswear, though Polo, Calvin Klein, Nautica, and DKNY were also popular. When Snoop Doggy Dogg wore a Hilfiger sweatshirt during an appearance on Saturday Night Live, it sold out of New York City stores the next day. Hilfiger’s popularity was due to its perceived waspiness, which made it seem exclusive and aspirational. Moreover, Hilfiger courted the new hip hop market: black models featured prominently in the company’s advertising campaigns, and rappers like P-Diddy and Coolio walked during its runways shows.
Music in shopping malls, as well as other stores and boutiques, makes for a pleasant shopping experience, but also seems to be no accident. When we’re shopping and hear a song by a certain musician, it takes us back to their video or when we saw them on a talk show or on Saturday Night Live. We remember what they sang but we also remember what they wore, which just might make us gravitate towards that style of fashion and purchase it!
