Back in 2012, A$AP Rocky made a name for himself waxing poetic about fashion girls wearing the likes of Tom Ford, Rick Owens, Raf Simons, and Jean-Paul Gaultier. A decade on, A$AP has become the very “fashion killa” he’d been rapping about.
While Rocky’s singular cloud rap sound epitomised the turn-of-the-10’s, his style has gone on to have a profound cultural influence. From the early days of health goth to his recent Gucci partnership, A$AP’s fashion sensibilities have defined and redefined the menswear zeitgeist throughout the past decade — and beyond. Once a studied fashion fan, name-dropping big-name labels on singles like “Fashion Killa,” Rocky has since played muse to houses like Dior and Loewe, jumpstarting some of the century’s unlikeliest men’s trends, and even designing alongside the GOAT, herself, Miuccia Prada. As the rapper turns 35, we look back at how his style has evolved across his decade-long career in music — and in fashion.
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Performing in London, 2013
Remember “health goth”? The sleek-and-sporty look that had taken over the rap scene and our Tumblr feeds, alike, by 2014. Well, Rocky was one of the era-defining look’s forebearers. Though we can trace the rapper’s trend-setting sensibilities back to his 2011 debut — when he started wearing luxe-street separates from brands like Hood by Air and Pigalle — by the time he was opening Rihanna’s Diamonds Tour in 2013, Rocky had fully fleshed out his signature health goth look. The hoodies and basketball shorts stayed on and were now accompanied by leggings, tube socks, and windbreakers, which gave a tech-athletic bend to staples that could be construed as merely “casual.”
During this era, Rocky added separates from Virgil Abloh’s Pyrex Vision alongside tried-and-true pieces from Hood by Air and mid-top Air Force One’s. Fun fact: the rapper walked the runway for HBA’s AW13 show, a move which ultimately cemented his status as the prince of health goth.
At the VMAs, 2014
In 2014, the rapper swapped his sleek, achromatic streetwear pieces for equally sleek, achromatic tailored menswear separates. Think white button-downs, skinny black trousers, fitted blazers, wool car coats, and a tasteful leather jacket (or two). It’s no coincidence that the wardrobe overhaul happened just around the time the rapper became a muse to the Parisian house famed for its impeccable tailoring, Dior.
At the Grammys, 2016
2016 saw Rocky flip from staunch minimalist to unabashed maximalist after the rapper wore Alessandro Michele’s Gucci on the year’s Grammys carpet. Following his red carpet fit (embroidered jeans and graphic cardigan), Rocky stepped out in more of the house’s heavily embroidered fare, alongside audacious graphic T-shirts and colourful, patterned separates from other brands.
At the Dior Couture SS17 show at Paris Fashion Week, 2016
In late 2016, Rocky became an ambassador of Dior Homme, fronting the house’s AW16 campaign under the creative direction of Kris Van Assche. Now the official face of a major high-fashion house, Rocky’s style became a little bit more soigné. This era saw the rapper wearing formal denim, velvet overcoats, relaxed tailoring, and lots of faux-fur jackets in chic cropped silhouettes, like this one.
At the Calvin Klein AW18 show at New York Fashion Week, 2018
Rocky’s love for Raf Simons is long documented. In fact, the rapper first name-dropped the Belgian designer in his 2013 track “Fashion Killa”. So, it’s really no surprise that Rocky was one of the first to support Raf in his new role as creative director of Calvin Klein. Following Raf’s debut at the American label, the rapper wore a Calvin Klein Canadian tuxedo to the Met Gala and made the designer the subject of his 2017 single “RAF”. The following year, Rocky continued to rep Raf’s vision for Calvin Klein, wearing looks from the American heritage label on stage, off-duty, and at NYFW, as seen here.
At Paris Fashion Week, 2018
In 2018, Rocky began wearing flight suits during live performances. And it seems as though the head-to-toe sensibility of this new stage look had a heavy influence on his off-duty wardrobe, too. The summer’s men’s fashion week saw the rapper wearing an assortment of two-piece sets including this badana-printed combo by Loewe and a Canadian tuxedo from Vlone.
At the LACMA Art + Film Gala, 2018
So, you’re probably familiar with Rocky’s iconic babushka era. But are you familiar with the story behind the look? It turns out Rocky’s infamous headscarf was less of a fashion statement and more of a practicality: the rapper told GQ he began wearing the style to obscure a facial injury he received in 2018. The rapper has since refused to elaborate on the origins of the slash (“It’s like the Joker, I got stories for each individual who asks,” he has teased), however, the unexpected accessory has gone on to become the subject of one of Rocky’s most popular singles.
“Babushka” comes from the Russian word for “grandmother”, and 2018 saw the rapper adopt a grand-millennial look that extended far beyond mere headgear with damask outerwear to include lace-curtain blouses and Pepto Bismol-pink suiting.
Performing on the Injured Generation tour, 2019
The Injured Generation Tour saw Rocky kitted out in head-to-toe Prada, custom designed by the rapper himself. “I had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Prada,” the rapper told GQ in 2021. “She was very down to earth and she actually gets where fashion culture is moving towards. The mask, that’s my real Slipknot moment. I had a real test dummy phase. I was trying to prove a point. I feel like life is almost like buffering or rendering, just testing, experimenting, seeing what works. I’m always finding myself in the pioneer seat.”
At The Fashion Awards, 2019
Rocky and Rihanna publicly confirmed their relationship in early 2020, after months of rumours. The new relationship saw a style shift for the rapper, characterised by pared back suiting and workwear combos that quietly complimented his new beau, who was bejeweled in her usual show-stopping fare. Here, Rocky, ever the supportive partner, wears a black suit from Rihanna’s erstwhile Fenty label.
At the Met Gala, 2021
From the market’s surge in sweatpants to the inauguration of the “Zoom outfit”, the pandemic saw us all slip into our coziest fashions. And Rocky was no exception. Throughout 2021, the rapper wore heaps of cushy clothes including sleeping bag coats and padded button-ups, alongside fluffy fare like feather-brimmed hoodies and faux-fur jackets. The year’s Met Gala saw Rocky reach peak coziness in a quilt cape designed by ERL.
At the ‘Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever’ premiere, 2022
2022 was the year of giant pants — and, of course, Rocky was at the forefront of the trend. Whether the bottoms were cut from denim or wool suiting, this era saw the rapper wearing them big and baggy.
At the Met Gala, 2023
At the 2023 Met Gala, Rocky honoured Karl Lagerfeld in… head-to-toe Gucci? Fresh off the release of Rocky’s first official Gucci campaign, the rapper and Italian house teamed up again to recreate a legendary Lagerfeld look for fashion’s big night out. The outfit — a business-in-the-front, party-in-the-back kilt, replete with three Gucci belts — was the epitome of “icon recognise icon.”