When Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar begins his world tour, it’s safe to assume that he'll perform tracks loaded with layered meaning and pointed diss tracks (probably aimed at rival Drake) as he continues to lay out his worldview through music.
Since rising to fame in 2011, Lamar has consistently used fashion as an extension of his artistry. Today, he’s heralded not only for his musical innovation but also for his sartorial choices. Whether head-to-toe denim or a lavish brooch, Lamar has become adept at using his clothes to transmit a wider narrative about his music.
Following the success of his 2024 diss track Not Like Us, which dominated the charts and became the fastest hip-hop song to reach 300 million streams, Lamar was tapped as the halftime performer for Super Bowl LIX in 2025. Fans expected him to use the stage to make a statement, and he didn’t disappoint.
He stepped out in a custom leather varsity jacket by British-Jamaican designer Martine Rose, emblazoned with the name Gloria, a reference that fans recognised as the title of the final track on his 2024 album GNX. The look was paired with boot cut jeans from Celine, solidifying the return of the Y2K look, and accessorised with a heavy chain necklace featuring a lower case “a.” The pendant served double duty, part statement jewellery, part lyrical callback to his Drake-directed jab: “tryna strike a chord, and it’s probably A-minorrrrr.”
The performance also featured dancers dressed in the red, white, and blue of the American flag, along with surprise appearances from Serena Williams and Samuel L Jackson dressed as Uncle Sam. In classic Lamar fashion, the moment didn’t end there. He also collaborated with American designer Willy Chavarria on a limited-edition Super Bowl clothing line, which dropped immediately after the show. The standout piece? A black satin bomber jacket retailing for $750 (Dh2,754).
Lamar’s visual language has been shaped for years alongside stylist Taylor McNeill. From his early Compton street style days – think baggy jeans, hoodies, and classic West Coast trainers – his look has become edgier year-on-year. The 2012 release of good kid, m.A.A.d city marked a turning point: he began embracing labels like Rhude and Pyrex Vision, the first fashion venture by Virgil Abloh.
By 2015’s To Pimp a Butterfly, Lamar was flexing his sartorial muscles, experimenting with bold prints and avant-garde silhouettes. At the 2016 Austin City Limits music festival, he wore a rare checked shirt from LA-based label Enfants Riches Deprimes, also favoured by Kanye West. With only 50 ever produced, the shirt now resells for up to $1,800 (Dh6,610).
When DAMN. dropped in 2017, earning Lamar the Grammy for Best Rap Album and making him the first non-classical, non-jazz artist to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, his fashion had fused streetwear with high fashion. To accept his Grammy, he wore a yellow Fear of God tracksuit inspired by kung-fu films, a nod to hip-hop's long fascination with the genre
Later that year, he stepped on to the MTV VMA red carpet in a Prada suit and Chrome Hearts jewellery, then performed in a red Balenciaga puffer jacket. The evolution continued into 2018 when he took the Grammy stage wearing an archival Craig Green jacket, followed by rare looks from Raf Simons’ spring/summer 2002 collection, pieces originally inspired by youth street culture, now reborn through Lamar’s singular vision.
In 2022, Lamar cemented his role as fashion’s poet laureate when he appeared on the cover of Mr Morale & The Big Steppers wearing a bespoke crown of thorns. Designed by Tiffany & Co, the piece featured more than 8,000 micro pave diamonds, totalling 137 carats, and took more than 1,300 hours to craft. That same year, he performed in Abu Dhabi for the first time.
Lamar wore the crown again at the Louis Vuitton autumn/winter 2024 menswear show, where he paid tribute to the late Abloh, paired with a suit from Abloh’s tenure at the house. Later that year, he donned the crown for his headlining set at Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage.
Lamar’s place in the fashion world further solidified when Chanel invited him to compose the score for its autumn 2024 haute couture show, a nod to his growing status as a fashion insider. Also in 2025, for the Grammys, he arrived in a full denim look by Maison Margiela, evoking the so-called “Canadian tuxedo.” More than a style choice, it was another barb at his rival Drake.
In April, Chanel invited Lamar further into the fold by naming him as an ambassador for its eyewear, adding him to the handful of men representing the house.
In every aspect of his public persona, Lamar uses clothing the way he uses rhyme – with a creative and thought-provoking flow. He threads together storytelling, fashion, cultural commentary and lethal jabs at his competitors with surgical precision, making him not just one of hip-hop’s greatest lyricists, but also one of its most deliberate dressers.
