Kodak Black is trading the stage for the runway, with the launch of his first-ever fashion collection. The rapper’s 10-piece capsule collaboration with menswear designer Doni Nahmias was first unveiled at Paris Fashion Week in January, and is now available to shop online.
The luxe sportswear pieces and accessories were inspired by Kodak’s music and personal aesthetic. Nahmias also took literal inspiration from pages of Kodak’s personal composition notebooks, which contain his thoughts and lyrics. The same lyrics are represented in a stream of consciousness design imprinted throughout the new collection, written across knit sweaters, T-shirts and jackets.
NAHMIAS X KODAK BLACK KNIT LYRIC SWEATER $1,100
Black helped to co-create each of the looks in the capsule, working closely with Nahmias on the runway presentation as well. The two also created a new logo that combines the rapper’s initials with the Nahmias flag-style logo.
Nahmias first met Black a few years ago and the designer tells Rolling Stone that he considers the rapper a dear friend and someone whose creativity he admires. While Black has performed at Nahmias events before — most recently surprising the crowd at an Art Basel party last December — this was the first time the two of them actually sat down to work on a product line. Fittingly, an Instagram post from the brand says the design process “intrinsically feels personal.”
NAHMIAS X KODAK BLACK TRUCKER HAT, $250
The Nahmias x Kodak Black collection is available to shop online now at sites like The Webster and Neiman Marcus. Pricing ranges from $225 for a graphic tee to $1,100 for a knit crewneck sweater. A version of the hooded jacket the rapper wore at his Paris Fashion Week show is also available to purchase for $995.
Black also appears in new campaign images to promote the collection, with photos shot by LA-based photographer, Remi Ferrante Hartman.
Though he’s known for his love of designer duds, this was Black’s first official foray into the fashion scene. In an Instagram post from his Paris Fashion Week debut, the Florida native wrote about how thankful he was to be there, writing, “I’m sitting in Paris like WOW, I really made it out [of] the projects for real.”
Even more special: Black was accompanied in Paris by his daughter Yuri Kapri, who turned one-year-old on the day of his Nahmias show.
NAHMIAS X KODAK BLACK HOODED JACKET $995
The Kodak Black x Nahmias capsule was just one part of the designer’s fall/winter 2023 collection, which was dubbed “California Poetry” and inspired by “Nineties California hip-pop culture.”
Models walked the runway at Paris’ Palais de Tokyo in wide-leg trousers, oversized sweaters and reworked denim, with the pieces drawing from elements of athleticwear, streetwear, graffiti art and hip-hop.
Indeed, like Black’s music, there’s always something expressive and lyrical about Nahmias’ work, which is at once familiar and forward-thinking. For his F/W ’23 collection, the Summerland, CA native riffed on the California poppy — the official state flower — with custom poppies sewn into knit sweaters and hand-painted onto silk shirts and pants.
While Black’s capsule was inspired by streetwear and primarily grounded in shades of purple and black, Nahmias’ collection was decidedly more whimsical, with free-flowing silhouettes and colors inspired by the California coastline.
This was Nahmias’ third Paris Fashion Week showing, having debuted in Paris this time last year. Shop Nahmias’ complete collection online at The Webster, Neiman Marcus and Nahmias.com.
From Rolling Stone US.
