Kanye West's fashion journey
From cardigans to creating his own runway collection, here is Kanye West's ascent to the pinnacle of the fashion world
Kanye West. Photograph: Nathan Shanahan/WireImage
Spring 2009
Kanye's early collegiate style was responsible for the British high street's love of cardigans and bowties – AKA men dressing like their granddad. But here's where his fashion commitment jumps up a notch. Kanye gets a real fashion girlfriend – shaven-headed Amber Rose – and together they caused a stir at London Fashion Week. He went on to Paris fashion week too, making friends with Marc Jacobs, Karl Lagerfeld and Givenchy's Ricardo Tisci. His view of fashion, as summarised on an EXTREMELY RANTY blog? "WE LIVE IT [fashion] SO HARD PEOPLE LIVE THROUGH US!" Well, quite.
Winter 2009
After his infamous interruption of Taylor Swift at the MTV Music Awards, Kanye needed to take some time out. So where to turn? To fashion, of course. While other A-listers might have escaped to a tropical island for some R&R, Kanye did an internship at Italian fashion brand Fendi. And, yes, that did actually mean nine-to-five, fetching coffee and photocopying. Talking to Hot 97 about his experiences, he described "every day, going to work, walking to work, getting cappuccinos ... !" His example started a trend for megastar interns – Lady Gaga is going to work with Phillip Treacy, the milliner behind Princess Beatrice's pretzel hat.
Summer 2010
Not content with just wearing clothes, Kanye decided it was time to invent his own trend – enter the Rosewood movement. This basically meant only wearing designer suits and ties, and getting your entourage to do the same. While the end result looks a little bit like a security detail for a movie president minus the earpieces, Kanye equated suiting with an old-school elegance. Explaining the concept, he said it's not just dressing smart, it's keeping the swears to a minimum, "calling your grandmother" and "taking care of kids". The Rosewood movement was shortlived.
Spring 2011
By this point, Kanye knew his hot labels inside out. Take his devotion to Céline, the Parisian brand credited with bringing minimalism back with designer Phoebe Philo. He rapped about "my chick in that new Phoebe Philo" in Dark Fantasy and he borrowed from said chick's wardrobe for his Coachella appearance, wearing a womenswear shirt by the label. Such a statement paid off with serious props from the fashion community: Kanye got to present Philo with her award for International Designer of the Year at fashion Oscars the CDFAs. He did it wearing expensive Balmain jeans and monogrammed slippers. Classy cool.
Summer 2011
Think you're busy? Spare a thought for Kanye, who recently announced that his debut runway collection will be shown this September. With his own look returning to a hip-hop-friendly hoodie-and-trainers, the rumour mill is already at work on the collection, with young London designer Louise Goldin possibly collaborating with the rapper. Louise Wilson, the professor who taught Christopher Kane at St Martins, has given him her blessing, warning against "dismissing it in haste" as just another celebrity collection. Kanye has pulled off a Mrs Beckham: once a wannabe, he's now well and truly part of the fashion in-crowd.
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