• Turn Back Thursday: Kanye’s Glow in the Dark Tour Outfit

With this week’s pre-sale and general sale tickets for the Fame Kills concert featuring Kanye West and Lady Gaga, I  figure it would be appropriate to turn back to 2008 during Kanye’s highly-anticipated Glow in the Dark Tour concert. Below is the concert outfit that Kanye wore to all the sold out shows in the various cities that the tour spanned. I don’t think many people understood what look he was exactly going for, but it probably didn’t matter to most because the show was just that spectacular. It was also during the Glow in the Dark Tour that Kanye wore the Nike Air Yeezy shoes in public for the 2nd time (the first time during the 2008 Grammy Awards with the black Grammy Air Yeezys). These days, they’re being referred to as the Concert Edition Air Yeezys or Fire red Air Yeezys. With Fame Kills just a little under 2 months away, expect Kanye to go “apeshit” with effects and outfits. Especially the outfits, because we all know Lady Gaga sure will.

• 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 Supreme

Here’s a photo of Kanye West from 2003, during his “Backpacker”  rap days, wearing a brown Supreme fleece-hoody. As artists gain an immense amount of star power, they’re usually aligned with a stylist who introduces them to fashion brands that are “trendy” and “hip”. We’ve all seen brand loyalists jump ship because a certain celebrity was seen wearing their favorite “underground” brand, making that specific brand officially mainstream. With this 2003 photo, it proves Kanye was familiar with the New York-based skate brand prior to becoming the huge artist he is today.

• Turn Back Thursday: Kanye Wearing UNDFTD

Kanye West is one of few artists who can attend a Louis Vuitton fashion show wearing a $10,000 designer suit and go perform the very next night wearing a simple t-shirt with jeans. His fashion sense, similar to his music, is extremely versatile and diverse. Kanye’s knowledge of fashion spans all walks of life and sub-cultures, and definitely shows with every music video, magazine spread, and candid shot. Here is a photo of Kanye (with Virgil Abloh, Pharrell, and Jermaine Dupri)  from 2007, just following the release of his Graduation album, wearing the Louis Vuitton Millionaire sunglasses designed by Pharrell and a t-shirt from the Los Angeles-based streetwear clothing brand UNDFTD.

Source: Kanye Universe City

• Turn Back Thursday: Kanye Wearing Bandana

In Turn Back Thursday #3 I discussed the emergence of the all-over print hoodie that took the fashion industry by storm in 2006/2007. Another staple that complemented the all-over print trend during those 2 years was the bandana. If I’m not mistaken, I believe Pharrell was the one that started the entire trend and made it “cool”  to rock one as part of your daily outfit. Even Kanye West caught on and started wearing a variety of multi-colored bandanas. Whether it was a Louis Vuitton rag or some vintage thrift store-inspired find (most likely the former), Kanye wore the bandana with much swag at shows, music videos, magazine photoshoots, and random public appearances. Here’s a photo from 2006 of Kanye rocking a teal/orange bandana at the Karmaloop flagship store in Boston. Speaking of Louis rags, check Don C on the right with the Murakami LV print.

How many of you rocked bandanas back then? Leave a comment and let me know!