Street Smarts

I'm a massive Hip Hop fan (obviously) and I love to reflect this in the way I dress, but I've always had an affinity with Football Casuals and classic looks. Whats lacking in the execution of my style right now is its tailored edge. A classic way in which to change this is to embrace the preppy style that is having some what of a resurgence right now, with the likes of Andre 3000 and Fonzworth Bentley leading the way with a node to the English Gent.

Andre 3000 is set to launch his Benjamin Bixby range at Harrods this season and its going to cause quite a stir. In embracing classic English styles, inspired by the fashion of American sports from the thirties with a desire to retain luxury status, Andre is establishing a look that I am very much a fan of. I don't think its going to generate the mass appeal of brands such as BBC and BAPE, a good thing if you ask me, both brands have tried to develop luxury street wear and in my opinion have become quite tacky in their execution. lets hope the Bixby range won't defer from the classic looks I've seen thus far. This desire for a tailored finish to street wear was bound to happen, a natural evolution as Hip Hop is some twenty years old in the mainstream and B-Boys reach their forties!

I recently conducted an interview with the legendry Fats Shariff aka Fatsarazzi, for Time Out London.(watch this space) His take on this style is "A preppy Mafia B-Boy."



In switching up the look I'm embracing the classic mens casual wear that has proved popular with Football fans. Wearing the brands which I love such as C.P Company, Stone Island, Belstaff, Penguin, Lacoste, Ralph Lauren etc while retaining my obsession with kicks, sports wear and Japanese denim. Where as in the past I've maintained a distinct line between the two, I'm now looking to fuse both looks to form "The Hip-Hop Casual". I think this hooded shirt from Nom De Guerre sums up the look perfectly.