![]() ![]() Wearing limited-edition pieces or obscure brands “is almost like having a woman in your life who hasn’t been all over town.” “I hate to say it, but when people who don’t have style start wearing something, it kind of drags that something down a little bit,” he said. Just don’t ask him to don that ubiquitous man-brand Ed Hardy. You gotta be courageous.” (He has the help of stylist Yvette Sanchez for special events, but he does shop for himself on rare occasions, at Barneys New York and swanky sunglasses boutique Dita.) “I really don’t get into designers like, ‘This designer is the one for me.’ I just really am like, ‘Oh, that looks good.’ When I go into the store, I don’t just check out one brand. When it comes to suits, he favors Gucci, and recently rocked a Calvin Klein tux that “I just felt good in,” but he’s hesitant to name-check designers - a rarity in the label-mongering rap world. Common even designs his own line of caps, Soji, which is currently being retooled and working toward a 2010 relaunch. Newsboy caps are his chapeau of choice - a look inspired by ‘70s soul singer Donny Hathaway and “some of the old jazz dudes,” he said. “Sometimes I like something on top that feels dressy, then something casual on the bottom.” For night, he favors “a nice slick shirt” (usually from Paul Smith), a tie and a cardigan paired with jeans. The actor-rapper’s daily garb usually consists of “a fashionable T-shirt - something that’s expressing what I’m feeling, maybe through words or color,” a fitted leather jacket and stylish sneakers or casual boots, often by Alexander McQueen. I had to have these really big chops for ‘American Gangster.’ ” I love getting to switch it up when I do movies. ![]() ![]() “I couldn’t grow no hair up top, so this is the only way I could really show my hair style,” he said with a grin. had a clean look, but there was something about his glasses and his goatee that was interesting.”Ĭommon’s facial hair - which varies from little more than a goatee to a full, bushy beard - is equally signature. “Miles had a funk to his style, but it was sharp and progressive. “How they look was a part of who they were, which I like,” he said. His style idols, Miles Davis and Malcolm X, speak to his man’s man aesthetics. He’s a fan of the classics - white T-shirts, cashmere sweaters, basic jeans, dark suits - and though he likes to incorporate global influences into his wardrobe, via scarves, colors or prints, the resulting ensembles are always straight-up masculine. I think good style is about having an eye for quality things and putting them together so they have a feel and integrity and flavor.”ĭressed in dark, spotless Ralph Lauren jeans, a white V-neck T-shirt and gray Nike Air Yeezy sneakers designed by his friend and sometimes co-producer Kanye West, Common looks pulled together in that effortless way that’s based on quality fits and fabrics, as opposed to look-at-me splash. It was just like, ‘I have the money to buy this.’ And that ain’t what style’s about. “I think it’s great that is gone,” he said. Still, he’s glad the face of hip-hop is veering away from carats and Cristal. A highly spiritual person, Common’s an avid practitioner of humility he says his success is “all God,” and he prays silently before digging into a plate of paella at his publicist’s West Hollywood office. One of the pioneers of socially conscious rap, the 37-year-old has only recently ascended to household-name status, but his backdoor influence on the evolution of hip-hop style from roughneck to refined is as transparent as his deep, sonorous voice. Long before Sean “Diddy” Combs and Jay-Z traded their Starter jackets for classic tuxedos, Common, nee Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr., was experimenting with three-piece suits, cravats and argyle sweaters. The veteran rapper, who’s also made forays into acting over the last few years (he currently costars in “Terminator Salvation”), has been working his trademark dapper look for more than a decade now. And suddenly, rappers everywhere are looking like variations on one artist - Common. A gentlemanly (dare we say quiet?) style has slowly been usurping rap’s brazen flashiness. Hefty gold chains and diamond-encrusted pendants the size of passports now feel as played out as brass knuckles or Timberland boots - relics from ’90 hip-hop culture. ![]()
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