THE EVER GROWING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSIC & FASHION

April 16, 2018 - Angel Jones

Whether it’s pop, hip hop, R&B, or lazy rock. The correlation of fashion and music is inevitable. Music has long been the passion area that brands have associated with to build their credibility among youth audiences and trendsetter consumers. Music and the lifestyles that surround it truly sculpt personal identity and help create or propel social movements. The immediate manifestation of music’s influence on personal identity building and social trends is its interdependence with fashion.

- GQ Kanye West Yeezy Season 1 Adidas collaboration

A designer can release a line and their show will have music reflecting the intent of their garments. The designer wants to give more to their customer than just their feature dress of their line, they want to create a story or a lifestyle for their wearer. The music industry has, in turn influenced many designers in creating new trends. Pop music has been a massive contributor to fashion since the 80’s. Artists create an identity for themselves to portray a visual aesthetic to reflect their music. When they play in front of their fans, they are remembered by not only their music, but are encapsulated by their entire aesthetic.                 

To see it from a bird's eye view. You could say it’s a cycle of influences. It’s hard to say who starts it, whether it’s the artist or designer. Taking a look at the last decade and the growing relationship between the creatives we can say that we all confused of who's involved in what, because traditional job titles are blurred. To see musicians launching their own fashion lines or fashion designers deeply immersing themselves in a specific music scene is becoming norm. The mix of marketing and business is creating new opportunities for the younger generation. With an influx of mixed media the world is becoming creativity, more self taught. We have musicians such as Kanye West saying he was a born artist and was always meant to be a designer. But what makes him a real designer? Is it the way he is able to market to an audience that he has already gained through music? Or is it that he really is passionate about selling ripped t-shirts for $300 or more to his beloved fans? And we all know that he isn't making the garments himself.

What is it about the relationship between fashion and music that makes us all want to get dressed up and sing along to our favorite song? Is it the way the two harmoniously work together as an expression of personality or is it that we are all are just suckers for glamorous things and one hit wonders?

- Run-DMC at Montreux Pop Festival, Switzerland, 1987 LFI/ Photoshot