Fresh Dressed Continues To Make Rounds, A Film As Colorful As Its Fashion Focus

From Run-DMC rapping about their Adidas to A$AP Rocky’s self-proclaimed status as a Fashion Killa, the merging of clothing and Hip-Hop has been a mainstay throughout the culture’s history. From track suits, gold rope chains, over-sized shirts, Kangol hats, and entire lines like Sean John and Rocawear, Hip-Hop artists have influenced style on a global level, inspiring the street-wear movement in countries around the world.

That influence is the subject of a new documentary, Fresh Dressed, which traces the trends in the earliest days of Hip-Hop – when children airbrushed their jean jackets to make them fresh –  to the more recent forays into high fashion by the likes of Kanye West and Pharrell Williams. Interviews with Big Daddy Kane, Damon Dash, Marc Ecko, Nas, Pusha T and others help chronicle the expansion of Hip-Hop fashion from its embryonic days in the Bronx into what is arguably the most influential movement in fashion.

The film’s director, Sacha Jenkins (co-founder of ego trip! magazine and former music editor for Vibe) shared some thoughts about the collusion of Hip-Hop and fashion in an interview with amNewYork, where he was asked to explain how Hip-Hop went from customized jackets to designers being shouted out in lyrics (a la Jay-Z and Tom Ford). “Jay Z was part owner of the Nets. His social circles and where he can shop and what he can buy is completely different than what the average rapper could buy in 1985,” he explains. On Kanye West’s foray into haute couture he says “he’s not just a rapper coming out with T-shirts, he has his own sensibility and point of view.” On the film itself, Jenkins shared with WWD that “I’m more interested in the conditions that created the fashion, how it was a reaction to what was happening and how these artists created their own vocabulary based on how they wore things.”

Now in theaters nationwide, the film is also available for viewing online, through a stream on Vimeo. Viewers have the options of a 24-hour rental for $6.99 or a $12.99 purchase, available for viewing any time. Check out the trailer here.