Hip-Hop Artists Taking Over the Shoe World
by Lauren Lusher March 1st, 2012 at 3:30 PM
Today's hip-hop artists push fashion limits in ways many people wouldn’t even dream of, but as it turns out, some of them have a true dedication to footwear. Stars like Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, and Lil’ Wayne are snagging shoe-news headlines for much more than just attention-grabbing outfits. ShoesTV takes a look at the phenomenon.
Kanye West has added Shoe Designer to his resume.
Hip-hop artists have always been bastions of the fashion community, but seemingly more for their outrageous red carpet looks--think Lil’ Kim in a barely-there, purple mermaid costume, Nicki Minaj in a shiny red nun’s outfit or T-Pain in a purple lace suit and top hat--than a genuine interest in design.
Nicki Minaj, whose outfits seem to be pulled straight from a clown catalog, is in the news for telling Vogue magazine that she spends up to $50,000 a month--a month!--on designer footwear. Formerly of Queens, the girl just can’t keep her hands off top fashion and loves shoe designers like Giuseppe, Versace, YSL, and Fendi.
How much does it cost to look this good? 50k per month, baby.
As we reported earlier this week, Kanye West created shoes last year for his fashion line, with the help of his mentor Giuseppe Zanotti. West got bit by the shoe bug hard. His latest shoes debuted at Paris Fashion Week in Australian designer Dion Lee’s fashion show.
Kanye West's shoe design for Dion Lee's fashion show.
Lil’ Wayne, notorious for his no--holds--barred fashion, is set to release his own shoe design soon. The iconic rapper talked to Vibe recently about his clothing line, Trukfit, and dropped hints about an upcoming shoe design with a well-known shoe company. Unfortunately, Weezy wouldn’t divulge the shoe company’s name.
Who might the mysterious shoe company be? He claims it isn’t Nike or Reebok, so could it be an Adidas? Puma? Converse? Supra? The suspense is killing us!
Hip-hop artists have truly crossed the line from fashion consumers to fashion producers and we can't wait to see who's next.
Photo courtesy of Dion Lee/Zap2it.com