Urban clothes and urban fashion encompass a wide variety of styles, from work wear to sportswear to more formal and elaborate evening attire. However, no matter how expensive or heavily styled, an urban clothing item usually includes a subtle or blatant reference back to the roots of hip-hop culture on the city streets; a sly nod to where it all began. Whilst Hip-Hop purists may claim that commercial hip-hop music has lost its political relevance to the streets which spawned it, the popularity of urban fashion and its cross-cultural adoption by members of every social stratum bears evidence to its success and dominance. Hip-Hop has rightly allowed figures such as Jay-Z to become hugely successful and influential, much to the chagrin of traditional corporate America and to the admiration of millions of fans and admirers in various spheres worldwide. Figures such as Mark Ecko have founded legendary brands such as Ecko Unlimited and have thus taken hip-hop clothing to another level of innovation and popularity. Brands such as Adidas have re-released countless retro trainers and sports clothes as well as modern re-imaginings of classic designs alongside powerful advertising campaigns uniting famous faces from the worlds of sport and music. MTV, which once baulked at the idea of allocating airtime to Michael Jackson’s videos, now has dedicated Hip-Hip channels and is thoroughly saturated in Hip-Hop and urban music culture. Sir Benni Miles, Akademiks, Lemar and Dauley, Supreme Being, and a plethora of other urban brands seamlessly integrate references from the roots of hip-hop culture into modern fashions which are popular worldwide. Therefore, it is evident that through excellence and innovation in the fields of music, art and dance and the development of unique and versatile fashions which adapt to any culture and any era, Hip-Hop is here to stay. It is a movement in the truest sense; because of its incessant energy, constant growth and chameleonic adaption to any environment. Hip Hop don’t quit and it don’t stop, full stop.
