The Beginning: Late '70s to Early '80s

• Scorpio and Melle Mel, members of Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five.
  
  Before hip-hop truly developed its own dressing style, artists---the pioneers of the genre---often emulated the elaborate (and often outrageous) garb of rock, disco and funk stars of the age, such as KISS and Parliament Funkadelic. Some hip hop artists who were well known for their gear include Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five. However, breakdancers tended to wear street clothes, and sportswear and fashion brands such as Kangol, Adidas and Pro-Keds became more recognizable in hip hop clothing.
  
  

Run-DMC

• Run-DMC in their black outfits--and Adidas sneakers.
  
  The rap group Run-DMC is as well known for their trendsetting fashion as their musical breakthroughs. Unlike a lot of their peers, the three-man crew wore regular street garb, which often consisted of tracksuits and sneakers. They also had simple, standardized gear---a sort of uniform that consisted of black jackets and fedora hats. Run-DMC also popularized the lace-less Adidas shoe look.
  
  

Late '80s

• Slick Rick outshone by his jewelry.
  
  By the late '80s, hip hop fashion had proliferated to include an Afrocentric influence, complete with Africa medallions, gold jewelry (rope chains, nameplates, bamboo and earrings); hi-top fades, plaited hair and dreadlocks; and clothing that usually had the red-black-green color combination of the Pan-African flag or African aesthetic inspiration. Some stars had their individualized styles, such as N.W.A's Chuck Taylor sneakers and Oakland Raiders baseball caps, LL Cool J's Kangol hat, Slick Rick's multiple chains, Kwame's polka-dot outfits and Kid (of Kid-N-Play)'s obelisk-tall hairstyle.
  
  

First half of the '90s

• The Notorious B.I.G. and Diddy (then Puff Daddy), dressed to impress.
  
  By the mid-'90s, some rappers were emulating the gangsters portrayed in movies by dressing in suits, silk shirts and alligator shoes ("gators"). Others dressed in baggy jeans, hoodies, do-rags and Timberland boots. Versace and Hilfiger became very popular fashion brands in hip hop culture, although the first hip hop-specific ones like FUBU and Karl Kani were established during this period.
  
  

Today: Late '90s to the Present

• An ad for Rocawear.
  
  With hip hop music becoming the dominant musical genre in the United States and beyond, its fashion entered the mainstream. The word "bling"---an ideophone intended to evoke the "sound" of light hitting jewelry---was popularized by the Southern rap collective Cash Money Millionaires, and it became a dictionary word by the mid-2000s. Hip hop fashion has further diversified to include platinum grills, throwback jerseys and extra-large white shirts, tight jeans and t-shirts, and even re-emergent '80s hip hop trends. There is now a plethora of fashion labels dedicated to hip hop-influenced clothing such as Sean John, Phat Farm and Rocawear, many of which were started by hip-hop artists and executives like Diddy (formerly Puff Daddy), Russell Simmons and Jay-Z. Today, hip hop fashion is estimated to be a global, billion-dollar industry.