Style Icons: 8 Rappers Who Made Fashion Their Stage

Additional reporting by Meka Udoh.

The very foundation of hip-hop goes deeper than just great rhymes and better beats. Hip-hop is a culture, and it brings a world for others to dive into and embrace. The culture has built strong connections to other forms of entertainment and art as we know it — few better than fashion. 

Throughout hip-hop’s 50 years (and counting) of life, countless musicians have parlayed their success in music into fashion, yet few have thrived in that world. Those who did have produced some of the most beautiful and influential eras, which helped remold their careers into respected style icons. Let’s take a moment to celebrate some of the rappers who have transcended both music and fashion’s boundaries.

Kendrick Lamar

During his rise to stardom, though it may not have been obvious to some, Kendrick Lamar made his interest in the fashion world pretty clear. It was first noticeable during the DAMN. era when he collaborated with Nike for a limited run of Cortez sneakers, a staple of the Los Angeles streetwear scene. But over the last few years, Lamar has stepped fully and proudly into the fashion spotlight. From his double-entendre Canadian tuxedo at the 2025 Grammys or his flared Celine jeans from his Emmy-winning Super Bowl Halftime Show, Lamar made sure that wasn’t just for rap records that he made headlines. To further stamp things, Lamar would be announced as a brand ambassador for the venerable high-end line Chanel. “Chanel has a timeless legacy and that is always something I can get behind,” Lamar said in a press statement with the announcement — and that he has.

A$AP Rocky

A$AP Rocky and fashion are synonymous with each other (though some critics may say that that is somewhat detrimental to his music career). While the Harlem rapper’s fashion contributions have taken precedence these days, his catalog still stands as a blueprint for how style and sound can move in sync with staples like “Fashion Killa” and “RAF.” Rocky has since evolved into a full-blown fashion brain, with a sprawling list of collaborations that include Ray-Ban and Puma. His impact took front stage at fashion’s most prestigious night, as he was a co-chair of the 2025 Met Gala for its theme “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”. Rocky isn’t slowing down anytime soon, as he continually seeks out new opportunities. “Whatever it is I’m doing I find that I’m naturally attracted to the things that other people might find too obscure or too complicated,” he once told The Times.

Pharrell

Music and fashion have been tantamount with the name Pharrell Williams for the better part of two decades. After bursting onto the scene as one-half of The Neptunes, the Virginia native has done it all from launching Billionaire Boys Club with Japanese fashion legend Nigo in 2005, to a long-term partnership with Adidas that is over a decade strong, to succeed the late Virgil Abloh as Louis Vuitton’s creative director in 2023. In between all of that he has produced for the likes of Clipse, Pusha T, Ariana Grande, Kendrick Lamar, and many others. “When people say, ‘What is fashion?’ Fashion is a way,” he said in a Vogue interview, and for 20 years Pharrell has been having his way.

Pusha T

Pusha T’s 2025 Met Gala outfit was one of the most talked-about outfits of the night. The striped burgundy Louis Vuitton suit — courtesy of the brand’s creative director, and one of his oldest friends — came complete with crystals “sprinkled” on the shoulders, making for a subtle yet on-the-nose (see what we did there?) reference to the music that has made both him and his Clipse other half Malice one of the most beloved groups in hip-hop.

While this was one of his many stylistic standouts of the last five years, fashion is not uncharted territory for King Push. Formerly strictly Bathing Ape, Ice Cream and BBC rockers, the brothers Thornton launched their Play Cloths line back in 2008 in the same vein as those predecessors, and even revived the brand following the release of their highly-anticipated reunion album, Let God Sort Em Out. Nowadays, thanks to his close friendship with Pharrell, Pusha's fashion exposure has only increased in recent years, yet he fits right in. 

Kid Cudi

In a 2023 interview with Maurice Kamara of The People Gallery, Kid Cudi credited his love for fashion to Louis Vuitton creative director Pharrell Williams. “When I was young, man — I mean like 2001, 2002 — like, Pharrell was like the style god to me,” Cudi said about the “Happy” singer. Cudi turned that influence into a pathway into the fashion world in his adult years. Earlier that year, he launched his Members of the Rage (MOTR) clothing brand, saying he wanted it to be a “problem for fashion.” Outside of MOTR, Cudi’s earlier ventures in the fashion world included a collaboration with Parisian brand Surface to Air in 2011, work with French fashion brand A.P.C. in 2019, and additional collaborations with BAPE, Adidas, MSCHF, and more.

André 3000

Back in 2008, André 3000 launched the “Benjamin Bixby” clothing line, which, according to GQ, blended his “obsession with Ralph Lauren and The Official Preppy Handbook.” After a long period of silence, the OutKast rapper relaunched it this year at the 2025 Met Gala. “With the relaunch of Bixby, I wanted to try out more ideas,” André said to GQ. Though he is one of hip-hop's quieter artists, André is also highly expressive and is regarded as one of rap’s most colorful style personalities. “The reason I️ took that route was because hip-hop had this image of 'we don't wear these types of things' and I️ knew we wore different clothes,” André said of his fashion endeavors at ComplexCon in 2017. Since then, he’s lived up to it, even rocking a piano on his back at the 2025 Met Gala. 

Missy Elliott

From the day she arrived with 1997’s Supa Dupa Fly, Missy Elliott has been one of rap’s most recognizable and celebrated fashion icons, with her eclectic and maximalist style influential to numerous rappers and fans. But let her tell it, it was never her intention to influence the world with her fashion. “I just love being creative and wasn't afraid to try different things,” Missy told BET in 2022 about her early-career style choices. “I did whatever I felt at the time.” That freedom to be herself was seen and felt by fans near and far, that both music and the fashion world have celebrated for years.

Lil’ Kim

The influence Lil’ Kim has on both women in hip-hop and the fashion world simply cannot be overstated. A fearless risk-taker, the Queen Bee has seamlessly blended luxury high-fashion with her Brooklyn-bred sensibilities, creating immeasurable style moments that continue to resonate to this day, from the infamous purple jumpsuit-pasty combo at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards to the designer logo wigs. Her “money manicure” nails, created by nail artist Bernadette Thompson, are even permanently displayed in New York’s The Museum of Modern Art, the first nail art ever to be displayed. Countless artists have cited Kim as a major influence, from Rihanna to Taraji P. Henson, while designers such as Marc Jacobs and Giorgio Armani have credited her as an inspiration.