Cultural Appropriation
Targeting
Designer brands have always been seen as elitist companies and have never tried to expand their influence until recently. They have targeted rap culture in order to gain a new demographic of people. Targeting these rappers in order to utilize their influence is bringing in immense amounts of revenue which has never been seen before by these companies. Rappers are now being sponsored by these brands as Dior and A$AP Rocky and Kanye West and Adidas have partnered. Artists will continue to be targeted as long as rap continues to influence millions of Americans. Yet, some designers are hesitant to sign with big rap artists because of how it would appear for their brand, which has been centralized on white people, for as long as they have been around. Companies don't mind the press but are hesitant to sign these rappers as they think it would taint their company and give off the illusion that they have become "street wear". This shows still an immense amount of racism, as companies appreciate the revenue rappers bring in, but do not want to sign with them due to their skin color.
Racism
Racism plays hand in hand into the idea of cultural appropriation that surrounds the designer brands influence on rap culture. The racism surrounding this new wave is the idea that white children are trying to steal black culture, and make it their own in terms of style and fashion. Many kids nowadays will wear chains and designer clothes in order to mimic their favorite rappers, but not only is it appropriation, it is also racism as they create stereotypes and make fun of these ideas, as they wear their clothes. This creates a slippery slope and allows for these types of actions to arise because predominantly elite brands which were mostly bought by wealthy white people, has now spread and is purchased by a large amount of African Americans and white teenagers.
Cultural Appropriation
The new insurgence of designer brands partnering with rappers has created much skepticism about whether or not using these rappers in order to further their demographic is indeed cultural appropriation. Since these rappers influence mostly the youth of America and how they dress, a lot of white children are adopting the styles of these predominantly African American rappers. Since some of these rappers could be the peers of these children purchasing their clothes, so they buy them in order to fit in and seem popular, as this creates a new cultural standard. Yet many feel as though this is considered black culture, yet is trying to be stolen and turned into white culture. Copying the style of these rappers creates a new cultural shift in the way we see designer clothes, and also black culture. The reason this is appropriation is because the style that is adopted with expensive designer clothing, creates racist generalizations, and stereotypes relating to the way African American people dress.