| Akademiks hip-hop clothing exploded onto the fashion | | | | the country and the world. It would be difficult to find |
| stage when Brooklyn rapper Fabolous wore it and | | | | an ethnic group that isn't represented. |
| rapped about it back in 2001. Since then, the brand has | | | | At the same time hip-hop music made the scene, so |
| taken the urban clothing world by storm. | | | | did hip-hop clothing. Twenty short years later, hip-hop |
| With its motto, "Denim Is King," Akademiks has set out | | | | artists like Sean Diddy Combs, Russell Simmons and |
| to be an innovator, creator and driving force in urban | | | | Wu-Tang Clan had their own urban clothing lines. They |
| clothing. Coveted for their detail and quality, Akademiks | | | | recognized the lasting influence of the hip-hop culture |
| PRPS jeans are worn by rappers like Dizzee Rascal | | | | and must have known it would touch the imagination |
| and 50 Cent. Titled "Jeanius Level," Akademiks jeans | | | | of generations of youth. |
| are created using design techniques such as hand | | | | Like every creative endeavor, developing hip-hop |
| brushing, over-dyed tinting, potassium sponging and | | | | clothing lines has been a process of change, |
| triple-dip indigo treatments. | | | | retrenchment, progress and even a few errors. But |
| The man behind Akademiks is Donwan Harrell. He | | | | that's the nature of creative work. Still, urban clothing |
| started out designing for Joseph Abboud, Donna Karan | | | | has a solid foundation. It makes a statement that won't |
| and Nike. With that background, he went into business | | | | go away: Urban life is full of pain and joy, poetry and |
| with his wife Jahayra and his brother Emmett and now | | | | vulgarity, challenges and triumphs and, most of all, |
| has developed lines of products for men, women and | | | | energy. |
| children, along with accessories, outerwear and | | | | Fads come and go. Trends can reverse themselves. |
| footwear. | | | | But hip-hop just keeps going. Urban culture is here to |
| Building on the hip-hop tradition, Akademiks urban | | | | stay in all its edgy glory. It has become its own tradition, |
| clothing delivers the kind of style that has long been a | | | | but it hasn't become locked into traditional ways. It's |
| part of hip-hop culture. Growing out of the | | | | always changing, always growing, and always |
| African-American youth experience in cities like Los | | | | challenging people to rethink their ideas and prejudices. |
| Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, | | | | Like hip-hop itself, Akademiks hip-hop clothing puts the |
| Miami, Atlanta and the San Francisco Bay area, | | | | world on notice. It demands and gives creativity and a |
| hip-hop culture had its beginnings in the late 1970s and | | | | bold statement about the world. |
| early 1980s. Today, hip-hop influences are felt around | | | | |