Image via Complex Original
While we can't condone the element of brutality that most of these guys use to rise to the status of drug kingpin, we certainly can admire the way they dress. When these guys cake on the comeup, they end up with clothes that reflect the power ranking they've attained.
Whether it's keeping it simple and classy to be considered a champion of the people, or dressing in gaudy gear that states "Fuck you, pay me," drug kingpins have the money and the balls to do whatever the fuck they want, including their outfits. These guys, both real and fictional, are notorious for their crimes and their style, and so we ranked The 10 Most Stylish Drug Kingpins of All Time.
10. Pablo Escobar
The most powerful and most profitable druglord of all-time kept it breezy in his native Medellín, Colombia. As a hero to the people, Pablo never appeared in too much flashy garb, opting instead for lightweight suiting and short-sleeved shirts that were ideal for the heat of his home country. He was considered a "Robin Hood" type figure who gave significant funding to the construction of hospitals, schools, churches, and housing in impoverished areas, and so Escobar dressed as a people's champion outfitted in plain and stylish clothing. But his simple and classic wardrobe didn't deter him from setting up one of the most complex and deadly cocaine smuggling networks of all time.
9. Khun Sa
Khun Sa, an adopted name that translates to "Prince Prosperous," was a Burmese warlord who controlled an insane amount of the international opium and heroin trade. In true warlord fashion, Khun Sa kitted himself out in rugged military gear that suited him well in the wild mountains of the Golden Triangle, a swath of land that overlaps the mountains of Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, and Laos and produces the second most opium in the world after Afghanistan. Later in life, Khun Sa was more likely to rock the cozy wear that gave him the appearance of an accidental Chinese hipster.
8. Frank Lucas
Frank Lucas is your favorite rapper's favorite drug kingpin. Most of the time, his style was as plain as possible to escape any unwanted extra attention, but the dude who controlled the Harlem hurrwon trade had the stacks to dress as the most dapper man in any of the five boroughs. Immortalized by Denzel Washington in American Gangster and numerous hip-hop lyrics, the real Frank Lucas did collect numerous full mink and chinchilla get-ups, but rarely stepped out in them. Still though, you can't deny that Harlem's own had serious style even if he chose his style battles cautiously.
7. George Jung (played by Johnny Depp)
George Jung essentially supplied the entire US with cocaine in the '70s and early '80s, a time when demand was insatiable. Because he was an outlaw for most of his life and #selfies didn't exist, pictures of the actual George Jung are few and far between, but Johnny Depp and the people behind Blow created an amazingly stylish drug kingpin.
As the American liason between Pablo Escobar and the rise of disco, Jung was absolutely caking and clearly spending a good portion of his cokeboy dough on a stylish wardrobe. If he was a certified celebrity, Jung for sure would've been a style icon of the '70s.
6. Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar
The mob boss you never heard of is Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, the bawse of the organized crime syndicate D-Company in Mumbai. Profiting in the grey and black economies that accompanied Mumbai's massive and rapid expansion in the '80s, D-Company is still making money hand over fist with legitimate operations.
But this only means that they can fund the majority of drug smuggling between Central and East Asia and the UK and Western Europe, with Dawood leading the way. With his tinted shades, velvet blazers, and droopy moustache, Dawood's style evokes a druglord who is absolutely not to be fucked with.
5. Joseph Kennedy
If the Kennedy families are known for anything, it's their unfortunate luck and their impeccable manner of dress. While absolute evidence is lacking, numerous business partners and professionals have said that Joseph Kennedy was a bootlegger during Prohibition, and smuggled a huge amount of illegal alcohol into the country.
Kennedy, the father of President John F. and Senator Bobby, did successfully add to his already vast fortune with investments in the liquor business immediately post-Prohibition with contacts and networks that were mysteriously already in place. And he did it all while wearing the classic American tailored sportswear that the country's first family is known for.
4. Nino Brown
Nino Brown ruled New Jack City with an iron fist, or, more accurately, a gold fist. By spreading crack cocaine across the fictional city's population, Nino straight caked and spent the money where he could show it off best: his gear. Dookie chains, Kangol hats, hoop earrings, custom suits for his court appearances where he explains why he's not guilty, and other fresh early '90s gear meant he looked fresh as hell while slingin' crinack and staying out of the hands of Officer Scotty Appleton, played by Ice-T.
3. Nicky Barnes
Next to Frank Lucas, Nicky Barnes is the other notorious Harlem drug kingpin who controlled his own serious heroin trade. Known as Mr. Untouchable, the flashy druglord was constantly spotted around town in furs and the latest fashionable clothing. He was stylish and compelling enough to probably be the only drug dealer who graced the cover of the New York Times Magazine.
Frank Lucas acknowledged in an interview that, of the two of them, Nicky was definitely "a flamboyant guy" both in his dress and in his business style. When the kingpin's wardrobe was seized by the DEA, the New York Times reported that he posessed hundreds of custom suits, Italian shoes, and coats. His jewelry collection was estimated at over one million dollars, cementing Barnes' status as the Style King of Harlem.
2. Al Capone
Al Capone was the OG scar face, literally. He rarely let photographers snap the left side of his face, where he had three scars from a barroom brawl in his youth. During his rule of a criminal syndicate that included smuggling tons of booze during Prohibition, he wasn't just a stylish druglord; he was one of the best-dressed men in the country.
As the emperor of an incredibly profitable outfit, Capone spent a significant portion of his wealth on custom suits that helped him garner a celebrity status even as he was breaking the law everyday. With his signature expensive pinstripe suit, cigar, and fedora, Capone created the archetype of a mobster, and paved the way for the rest of kingpins to flex their steez.
1. Tony Montana
Did anyone else embody the excess of the '80s more than the fictional Tony Montana? In his silk shirts, power-suits, and penchant for all things larger than life, the Cuban refugee turned kingpin is a standalone representative of Miami in the 1980s, and anyone who believed "The World Is Yours" was copying Scarface's style after the film was released.
Even as a broke dishboy, Tony was rocking stylish prints and bandanna headbands later copied by stylish guys like Frank Ocean. But Tony pretty much summed it all up when he said "In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power," that that's when you become the most stylish drug kingpin of all time.
