Tastemakers across various industries came together over the weekend to answer the following question: How did hip-hop find a home in fashion?
The virtual event was presented by Burb's Light Culture podcast with host David Hershkovits, founder of Paper magazine. Conducted on Zoom, the conversation featured rap legend Fab 5 Freddy, streetwear pioneer April Walker, filmmaker Lisa Cortes, and Zoo York co-founder Eli Morgan Gesner. The live audience also included NBA star Al Harrington, stylist Avon Dorsey, and Complex's Deputy Editor of Style Aria Hughes.
Light Culture episode 59 was full of highlights and plenty of anecdotes that addressed hip-hop's influence in skate culture, fashion houses appropriating streetwear, and women's often overlooked roles in hip-hop.
"I was the first woman in that male-dominated category and became a trailblazer," said Walker, who founded the lifestyle brand Walker Wear. "It all stemmed from me believing in hip hop with everything, and the music led. Like the music, the spirit, and that spirit in the ‘80s was different because the spirit of hip hop in the ‘80s for me… I can remember going to the Madison Square Garden and seeing Fresh Fest, and seeing Run DMC on the stage and feeling like everything I’d ever learned about Dress for Success was a lie. Right then and there I was like, 'I’m done. I’m going to figure this out.'"
She continued: "Women’s stories behind the scenes have not been represented, and as a woman who was there and who worked with great people, like Monica Lynch, Carol Lewis, Heidi Smith, Jeanette Beckmann and her documentation in every area show women were there at seminal moments in hip hop history, starting in 1973 at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue."
You can listen to the full Zoom event below.
