Hip Hop Meets Fashion in Documentary ‘Fresh Dressed’

Sandra Miska

Fashion and music have always gone hand in hand, especially in the world of rap and hip-hop.  The evolution of urban fashion and its impact on popular cultural is examined in “Fresh Dressed,” a documentary opening June 26.

“Fresh Dressed” features interviews with music industry greats such as Pharrell Williams, Nas, Kanye West, Damon Dash and Sean Combs, as well as those who have made names for themselves in the fashion industry, including April Walker, Karl Kani, Daymond John and Marc Ecko.

“Being fresh is more important than having money,” explained West.  “The entire time I grew up, it was like, I only wanted money so I can be fresh.”

Directed by Sacha Jenkins, “Fresh Dressed” discusses the significance of fashion in African-American culture, beginning in the slave days when “good Christian” masters would provide slaves with nicer clothes to wear to church, and from this practice comes the term “Sunday best.”  In the coming decades, fashion was seen as a means for one to express his or herself, regardless of what societal class one belonged to.

The doc primarily focuses on the evolution of the urban fashion scene in New York from the 1970s onward.  At one point during the infancy of rap, after rap battles helped lessen gang violence, you could tell what borough a member of that scene was from based on his or her clothes.  Eventually these unique looks made there way to the mainstream after the debut of “Yo! MTV Raps” in the late 1980s.

Overtime, upscale white designers such as Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren realized the value of urban customers; Hilfiger even went as far as to pass out free samples in black neighborhoods, hoping to start a trend.

Eventually African-American fashion entrepreneurs began making clothes for the masses.  Remember those colorful clothes Will Smith and his cohorts wore on “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air?”  Those were made by Cross Colors, a brand started right here in Los Angeles by Carl Jones.  Soon, other urban brands by primarily African-American designers emerged, such as FUBU, a brand made popular by LL Cool J, and Damon Dash’s Rocawear.  Sean Combs took urban fashion to the next level by including business and formal wear in his Sean John line.

By the 1990s, these urban lines made their way into department stores all over the country, and retailers who previously looked down on minorities were changing their tunes.

Overall, “Fresh Dressed” is a fun, fascinating documentary that will leave viewers wanting to break out their old rap CDs when it’s over.  It’s filled with inspiring stories of entrepreneurs who pulled themselves from their bootstraps.  In addition to celebrities, it’s filled with colorful characters such as Harlem fashion legend Dapper Dan and sneaker aficionado Mark “Mayor” Farese, who currently boasts a collection of 1,000 pairs of shoes.

“Fresh Dressed” opens in select theaters June 26.