The Best Kendrick Lamar Outfits of All Time

Image via Getty/Kevin Mazur

When: 2012 

Standout Piece: Rhude T-shirt

The 2012 BET Hip-Hop Awards was a monumental moment for a young Kendrick Lamar. At the time, K-Dot was just 25-years-old and still riding off the success of his independently released debut studio album Section.80, which he dropped in 2011. By the time the 2012 BET Hip-Hop Awards came around, Kendrick had signed to Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Entertainment and was gearing up to release Good Kid, M.A.A.D City later that year. At the awards show, Kendrick performed the album’s lead singles, “The Recipe” and “Swimming Pools (Drank).” He wore a black bandana T-shirt, which was actually the very first release from a new Los Angeles-based clothing brand at the time called Rhude. The rapper also wore a red colorway of the T-shirt when accepting his award for “Lyricist of The Year,” pairing it with a jeans and some loosely-laced Timbs. Originally, Rhude’s founder, Rhuigi Villaseñor, had no plans to sell the T-shirt that he designed for himself until Kendrick’s stylist hit him up. When Kendrick wore his T-shirt at the BET Awards, it jump started the now-revered West Coast label that’s gone on to be co-signed by a countless number of rappers and celebrities. “[After] he performed in my shirt, I remember I was in a car with my sister, at the time we were driving a beat-up Forerunner, but I woke up and saw my phone make 100 racks off Paypal,” Villasenor told Complex in an interview back in 2017. “I cried to my sister because I came from stretching $10 to 100 racks. It changed my life.” Clearly, Kendrick has always held it down for LA since day one. 

When: 2013

Standout Piece: Pyrex Vision Hoodie

Days after releasing the music video for “Poetic Justice” with Drake, Kendrick came on the Late Show With David Letterman to perform one of the biggest singles to come off Good Kid, M.A.A.D City with a live band that included Terrace Martin on the saxophone. On his way out of the Ed Sullivan Theater, he stopped and signed autographs for fans in a hoodie that is familiar to any streetwear enthusiast. Yes sir, Kendrick was on the work of the late Virgil Abloh quite early as he’s seen in this photo wearing a Pyrex Vision “Caravaggio” hoodie just months after Abloh unveiled his first solo fashion endeavor. Clearly, Kendrick was tapping into a street goth vibe with this look as seen with his leather motorcycle pants and Christian Louboutin sneakers. While ASAP Rocky probably pulled off a similar look around the same time, we got to give it up for Kendrick for tapping into Pyrex Vision so early.

When: 2014

Standout Piece: White Chuck Taylors

While K-Dot is clearly not afraid to pick up some trendy pieces here and there, he would declare on his standout verse on Big Sean’s 2013 track “Control” that he was done with designer labels. “I ain’t rockin’ no more designer shit, White T’s and Nike Cortez, this red Corvette’s anonymous.” While Kendrick has worn various designer brands throughout his career, his looks typically steer away from big brand logos or ostentatious pieces from luxury houses that rappers like Pharrell wear. His look for the premiere of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a good example of the chill everyman fits you would typically find Kendrick in. Here, he’s wearing some jeans, a Levi’s denim T-shirt, and a New York Yankees fitted cap. Of course, K-Dot keeps his style true to the West Coast by rocking a pair of all-white Chuck Taylors. Kendrick’s love for Converse would come full circle in 2022 with an official collaboration between Converse and Kendrick’s creative company pgLang. The collaboration included pgLang’s take on the Chuck 70 and Pro Leather. 

When: 2016

Standout Piece: Enfants Riches Déprimés ‘Frozen Beauties‘ Flannel 

By 2016, Kendrick had cemented his place as one of the most critically-acclaimed rappers of our time. After releasing his third studio album, To Pimp a Butterfly, in 2015, he would rack up numerous awards and accolades. To Pimp a Butterfly led to the artist winning four Grammys—which included the award for Best Rap Song for “Alright” and Best Rap Album—and receiving his first number one album on the Billboard 200. His compilation album filled with unfinished demos from To Pimp a Butterfly, Untitled Unmastered, also topped the Billboard 200 that year. Needless to say, Kendrick was in his prime thanks to the widespread critical acclaim of To Pimp a Butterfly. And he celebrated that moment by updating his closet. At the Austin City Limits music festival in 2016, he threw on an Enfants Riches Déprimés flannel from the Los Angeles-based label’s Spring/Summer 2016 collection with some raw denim jeans and white sneakers. The piece Kendrick wore was also seen on the likes of Kanye West and has grown to become one of the brand’s most coveted garments. Today, it fetches as much as $1,800 on the resale market today and sellers claim that only 50 of these were made. When Kendrick does throw a rare piece like this one on, trust that it’s always going to be something special. 

When: 2017 

Standout Piece: Prada Camp Collar Button Up Shirt

Award shows are really where Kendrick shines when it comes to great looks and live television performances. At the MTV Video Music Awards in 2017, Kendrick performed “DNA” and “Humble” in a red Balenciaga puffer jacket while ninjas were climbing walls of fire engulfed in flames. “It was something we wanted to do for the tour but the insurance policy didn’t cover it, so VMA’s came through for the insurance policy,” said Kendrick’s creative partner Dave Free, about the pyrotechnics behind the performance. “Everything worked out so we’re just blessed to be a part of it here tonight.” The standout look Kendrick wore that evening was a Prada fit he wore both on the red carpet and while accepting the Video of the Year award. Along with a Prada suit, Kendrick also wore one of the luxury label’s popular camp collar shirts that featured a bold graphic comic book print. To fully complete the look, K-Dot also threw on some jewelry by Chrome Hearts and Jason of Beverly Hills. This was a damn good outfit, no pun intended. 

When: 2017 

Standout Piece: Nike Cortez Kenny II

Here’s another great fit that shows off Kendrick’s day-to-day style. At a Los Angeles Lakers game, Kendrick is seen sitting courtside wearing his own Damn merch hoodie, a cap with lyrics from his Damn song “Fear” embroidered on the front, some classic camouflage military pants, and an intriguing pair of red Nike Cortez sneakers that boasted a cloth tab that reads “Don’t Trip” running vertically across the laces. The pair Kendrick pulled out for the game was actually a preview of one of his collaborations with Nike that released throughout 2018. Prior to signing a deal with the Swoosh, Kendrick had collaborated with Reebok on several pairs of sneakers between 2016 and 2017. In collaboration with Nike, Kendrick re-imagined a West Coast favorite, the Nike Cortez. His first Nike shoe, the Cortez Kenny I, arrived in January 2018 in an all-white colorway with “Damn” printed in Nike’s iconic font. Kendrick designed a total of four versions of the Cortez Kenny and even released a merch capsule with Nike to coincide with it. However, the rarest Cortez Kenny was one worn in this courtside photo. While Nike’s Cortez Kenny releases aren’t as expensive as Travis Scott’s collaborations with the footwear brand, the Nike Cortez Kenny II’s limited SNKR Pass release in Los Angeles made it far harder to get than the other three models he designed. The last sneaker Kendrick designed for Nike was his take on the brand’s React Element 55, which was released in 2019. 

When: 2021 

Standout Piece: Airei Outfit 

When Kendrick finally ended his long hiatus by coming to perform as the headliner at the Day N Vegas music festival in Las Vegas in 2021, he arrived wearing a look that co-signed an up-and-coming brand from Los Angeles. That label was Airei, a fashion line founded by 29-year-old Drew Curry. “For me, Kendrick Lamar is one of the greatest artists of our time. He’s always been like a superhero,” Curry told Complex. “It was a completely surreal experience.” The pieces Kendrick wore are from the first two collections Airei ever produced and were styled by Kendrick’s current stylist Taylor Mcneill. She also styled Kedrick’s Coachella 2022 fit that recently went viral. Nearly a decade after Kendrick co-signed Rhude, he’s continued to help raise awareness for other young clothing labels that are currently rising in Los Angeles. 

When: 2022

Standout Piece: Louis Vuitton Suit by Virgil Abloh

At the end of 2021, fashion tragically lost the great menswear designer Virgil Abloh. Abloh was a true fan of hip-hop culture and the subcultures that propagated from it. So, it was only right for one of the world’s biggest rap stars to throw on a piece designed by Louis Vuitton’s former creative director of menswear as a subtle tribute to his greatness. For the Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show—a monumental Halftime show that featured a full line-up of hip-hop artists for the first time in the game’s entire history—Kendrick arrived in a Louis Vuitton suit by Abloh. The outfit Kendrick wore was from Abloh’s Fall/Winter 2022 collection and was paired with jewelry from Tiffany & Co. Kendrick’s outfit and performance at the game also paid homage to performances during Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814-era in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Thanks to the Los Angeles Rams taking home the championship ring in their hometown, Super Bowl LVI became a memorable moment for Los Angeles. Kendrick’s appearance, along with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, only made it more of an iconic win for the West Coast.