TREND Rap artists influence street clothes

Jeans are the center of the look, which continues to be oversized.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
ST. LOUIS -- 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 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.
Driving forces
But who are the powerhouses behind this mostly male-driven fashion trend? With few exceptions, rap artists.
St. Louis's Grammy Award-winning Nelly (Cornell Haynes Jr.) launched his own male urban sportswear line, Vokal, in 2002. Then came the ladies' clothing line, Apple Bottoms. Another hometown heavy-hitter, 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. That would be 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 (Beyonce's beau) 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 from his Bad Boy Entertainment empire.
Last year, trend-setting actress/rapper Eve began her Fetish line of junior apparel and accessories. Producer/singer Pharrell Williams is said to have a footwear and apparel collection in the works.
Feminine appeal
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.
"Labels are very important, but not as much as to male customers," notes Glik's Lorie Benson about the store's typical woman shopper. "The female urban customer will shop many labels across many different stores. She might go from Bebe to Arden B. and so on. For her, it's more about fashion. There's a lot of revealing skin. A lot of lace-ups and half tops. They're willing to wear a lace-up top without anything underneath it," she says.
For the Glik's stores, Nelly's Vokal line and Apple Bottoms are "very hot," Glik says.
"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," in "The Black Album," the look took a leap.
"Everybody around 29, 30, then started wearing button-ups (shirts)," The Lark's Whelan says. "Jay-Z has really cleaned up the game, like wow. He took you from a $440 jersey to a $220 dress shirt."
Musical influence
Whelan said hip-hop music and other musical artists have always influenced the public. Customers, she says, aren't trying to be the stars, but show that they respect the style. "They're saying, 'You look clean, I want that look too,' " she says.
Not all of the looks in urban wear were spawned from musicians. The Ecko Unlimited line of women's and men's wear were produced by designer (and former graffiti artist) Marc Ecko. Enyce (pronounced ee-nee-chay, the phonetic pronunciation of NYC), 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.