Kanye West may soon be releasing Donda, his 10th solo album, but over the past few weeks, this era in his career has already established its own signature aesthetic: all black, military, asceticism on an epic scale.
It’s now a well-known part of West’s album rollout strategy: clothes that match or fit the mood. Considering that these days he spends as much time on his fashion ventures as he does on his music (probably more), it’s not surprising that shifts in those two creative fields are paralleling.
In this week’s Popcast, a talk about West’s use of fashion as a signifier for musical evolution, the ways he’s been alternately embraced and rejected by the fashion industry, and how musicians like Frank Ocean and Tyler, the Creator, lead the way. tread that he cut.