Cosigned | Hip-Hop and Winter Wear

The “Ski Look,” January 1982 // East Village Eye

There’s a hell of a lot left to talk about when it comes to hip-hop. And we need to keep talking about hip-hop because of its titanic importance. Hip-hop is the most important American cultural creation since the end of World War II; it is the most influential cultural creation in the world since the 1950s. There is literally nothing that happens in contemporary American society, and most of the world, that hasn’t been reflected, refracted, or influenced by hip-hop in some way.

The impact is even more pronounced when we focus on the communities invested in and dedicated to the culture and products in which StockX exists. And that’s exactly what’s worth exploring: the ways in which hip-hop has shaped American culture and what we do here at StockX.

Since we’re in the middle of winter, it’s only appropriate that we start by examining hip-hop’s relationship with winter wear. From function to flex, hip-hop and winter wear have been connected from the start of the hip-hop nation.

Party Like it’s 1973

Since hip-hop culture coalesced in the Bronx in the early ’70s, it has spread all over the world, to all regions, countries, and climates. We recently made it through a Hot Girl Summer by way of Houston, but don’t forget that hip-hop came to us from the colder climes of New York. According to popular history, hip-hop began on August 11, 1973, at DJ Kool Herc’s “Back to School Party” in the rec room of his building at 1520 Sedgwick in the Bronx. August in New York is hot (think Do the Right Thing); no one was thinking about winter at Herc’s party; no one was thinking about much else but having a good time before the start of the school year. 

Early hip-hop jams were decidedly homespun affairs held in apartment buildings and neighborhood community centers. The records, turntables, and speakers were cobbled together from family collections and stereo systems. These were teenaged spaces full of youthful fun and mild transgressions—more akin to self-conscious high school dances than slick nightclub nights. And the dress code reflected a combination of Delancey Street chic mixed with neighborhood style. It didn’t matter if you were a nascent DJ, MC, or packed on the dance floor, you dressed to flex. 

Party flyer for DJ Kool Herc’s first party

Complicating this popular history is Afrika Bambaataa, the Zulu Nation founder and one of hip-hop’s godfathers, who argued that hip-hop’s birth was November 12, 1974. Bambaataa made this assertion because November marked the start of the “indoor jam season” when everyone had to move “indoors for about seven months . . . for the fall and winter seasons.” Before the park jams proliferated throughout the city during the summer, the first hip-hop heads got together inside in rec rooms and community centers, throughout the Bronx and beyond. Inside the jams, the people, the music, and the vibes were hot, but you had to brave the cold to get there first. 

(L): Cold Crush Brothers at the Zulu Nation Anniversary Show (1981);  (R): Audience at Cold Crush Brothers show (1981) // both photos from the Joe Conzo, Jr. photographs and ephemera, #8091. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

Early hip-hop jams were events packed with kids from different neighborhoods and representing various aspects of nascent hip-hop culture: DJs, MCs, graffiti writers, and b-boys. Underpinning this flux of people and styles was competition. You had to come correct if you were going to make a name for yourself, your neighborhood, your crew. How do you do this if you’re coming from working-class communities with little disposable income? You flex with crazy, original style shot through with statement, aspirational brand pieces. Winter weather was no excuse for looking washed.

First There was Hip-Hop, Then There was “Ski”

Hip-hop has had a long love affair with winter wear. Winter wear and style—from the aspirational to the functional—has always overlapped with New York youth fashion and hip-hop culture. As early as the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, youth fashion and hip-hop culture deployed a variety of sports and technical gear as statements of self-expression. From the streets to the slopes, hip-hop has remixed and recontextualized winter wear for all seasons.    

In a seminal series of articles, the January 1982 edition of the East Village Eye introduced breaking, graffiti, DJing, and MCing as a holistic cultural force. In this edition, Michael Holman—downtown scenester, musician, and early hip-hop impresario—became the first person to publish the term “hip-hop” in his interview with Afrika Bambaataa. These articles provided an important primer on the prominent hip-hop practitioners and the concatenated youth practices that form hip-hop

Front cover of the January 1982 edition of the “East Village Eye” // author’s archive

In this same issue, Holman also broke down hip-hop fashion history from the earliest Bronx crews to the contemporary trends of the early ‘80s. The big trend that Holman identified was ski wear. “I knew it [ski wear] was to be the look of winter ‘81,” Holman wrote, “but I didn’t expect the ski sensation to have such a broad influence on NY’s ethnic culture.” To get to the bottom of this new cultural phenomenon, Holman traveled uptown from the Lower Eastside to Kennedy High School on 225th Street in the Bronx, where he met up with legendary b-boys Crazy Legs and Frosty Freeze to see all the ski wear in situ.

Describing the scene, Holman said, “we saw ski pros and ski bunnies, icemen, snow queens and chilly dames; it was Aspen.” But what was most important was the vibe the kids were giving off in their ski wear: it was an “exact emulation of ski sportswear without the desire to ski.”

Michael Holman’s article, “YO-SKI,” from the January 1982 edition of the “East Village Eye” // author’s archive. 

Moving from vogue to vocabulary, Holman traced the history of “Ski” in the names of MCs, DJs, b-boys, and graffiti writers to the TV show “Starsky and Hutch” (ABC, 1975-1979). The “y” is changed to an “i” and the connection between hip-hop and skiing is cemented, most famously by pioneer DJ Lovebug Starski. This was hip-hop appropriation at its purest: remixed and recontextualized for the sake of hip-hop culture, not for popular culture, and definitely not for ski culture.

The Golden Age and Winter Wear 

As hip-hop continued to grow, the sounds and the styles changed while the connection to winter wear remained. In the Golden Age of Rap (the late ‘80s to the mid-‘90s), when boom-bap was the sound, groups like Public Enemy, Gang Starr, Erik B. and Rakim, and Boogie Down Productions ruled, and New York was the undisputed center of the hip-hop nation. This was also a golden age for winter wear, no matter how hot it was outside at the park or inside the jam. The uniform of choice during this period was clear: oversized everything and timbs. This type of generalist fit would get you through any weather or situation in the urban jungle. But just as hip-hop was expanding to include a broader range of sounds and styles during this era, so too did variation seep into hip-hop’s sartorial palette.

Biggie (L) and Gang Starr (R) rocking timbs in the spring and fall, respectively.  

Perhaps the most famous meeting of hip-hop and winter wear comes courtesy of Raekwon the Chef and the Wu-Tang Clan. In 1994, the Wu-Tang Clan released their video for their song, “Can It Be All So Simple.” The video went on to transform the relationship between Polo Ralph Lauren, hip-hop, and New York’s ‘Lo Life streetwear scene from a very specific, local culture, to a mainstream phenomenon. This mid-‘90s went beyond aspirational fashion choices; this was a moment when Polo and hip-hop appeared collaborative: fashion and music made for each other.   

Raekwon rocking Snow Beach from Wu-Tang Clan’s “Can It Be All So Simple” (1994)

Polo Sport Ralph Lauren introduced the Snow Beach collection in 1993, adapting emerging snowboarding culture and attitude into the brand. The result was a collection leaning heavy on color-blocking and the inclusion of graphics on technical pieces. It was bright, it was bold, and it captivated new audiences beyond the hardcore ‘Lo heads to pay attention. As Polo worked on updating its look and brand identity, Raekwon epitomized Polo and the fashion world’s increasing embrace and appropriation of urban culture, style, and music.  

When Rae first appears in the video, he’s wearing a Polo Sport Ralph Lauren Snow Beach pullover jacket. The simple blue and gold color-blocking and the bold red graphic lettering, paired with Rae’s charismatic presence cemented Snow Beach as one the most iconic and sought after collections in hip-hop history, quickly making it the epitome of streetwear cool. Since the 1994 video, Snow Beach, and Snow Beach-inspired apparel has remained a constant design touchstone for the last 25 years.