• Turn Back Thursday: Kanye and Pharrell

For this week’s installment of Turn Back Thursday, I won’t be going too far back for a Kanye West outfit. Here’s a backstage photo from a 2008 N.E.R.D show of Kanye and Pharrell. Appropriately enough, Kanye is wearing a Billionaire Boys Club (Pharrell’s brand) hat, a camo Bape cape, and red Ato Matsumoto shoes. Although Kanye’s recent outfits from 2009 have been more refined and represent a classic look, he will still occasionally put together outfits similar to this one, most notably with the hat and high-top shoes.

Source: Billionaire Boys Club Blog

• Turn Back Thursday: Kanye Wearing Bape

Not only has Kanye West worked alongside many great music talents, but he’s also made quite a few valuable friendships in the fashion industry. We’ve all seen the photos of Kanye with the likes of Marc Jacobs and Karl Lagerfeld, who I’m sure have been a big influence in his journey to develop his own fashion label, Pastelle (Past Tell). However, one friendship that truly sticks out from the rest is his relationship with A Bathing Ape, commonly referred to as Bape, founder Nigo. Bape, and really the entire Japanese street culture, has definitely become a pioneer for many U.S. street wear trends that have emerged the past several years. Here is Kanye, with Nigo,  in the Bape Spring/Summer 2007 catalog wearing a black Bape crewneck sweater, with their infamous “Ape Shall Never Kill Ape” motto on the front.

• Turn Back Thursday: Kanye Wearing HomeRoom Hoodie

Remember when all-over print hoodies were all the rage in 2006-2007? I can’t necessarily say that Bape was the creator of the all-over print hoodie, but they definitely put it on the map in a huge way. Many brands caught on with the aesthetic and soon the all-over print was all over. It could be spotted on many fashion-forward individuals and was made readily available at most local boutiques. Here’s Kanye West back in 2007 rocking a custom hoodie from HomeRoom that was limited to 30 pieces.

Source: HomeRoom

• Turn Back Thursday: Kanye Wearing Shutter Shades

Turn Back Thursday #2 features an accessory that influenced many fans and became a trend that quickly caught on. This photo shows Kanye West wearing the infamous shutter shades while promoting the release of Graduation overseas in late 2007. The frenzy behind the shutter shades swept through the nation, as they could be found on Ebay being sold for a couple hundred dollars. It got to a point where they were eventually mass-produced and could be found at malls and even local swap meets. Although many believed this accessory was “tacky,” a good amount of people still jumped on the trend. In fact, the shutter shade became a staple item during Kanye’s Glow in the Dark Tour. If you were at any of the shows, you would understand what I mean. In this outfit, Kanye is also wearing a Bape x Kaws camo hat, a Billionaire Boys Club cardigan, and Bape x Kanye West sneakers.

Photo Credit: Ramey

• A Bathing Ape “Bape” Winter 2008 Catalog

Kanye West can be seen in Bape‘s winter 2008 catalog wearing future pieces of clothing from the japanese-based label.

The catalog also features photos from the Teriyaki Boyz, Pharrell Williams & Shay (2/3 of N.E.R.D), and Bape founder/owner, Nigo.

Source: Hypebeast