20 years later and Camron’s pink outfit is still one of the most influential moments in Hip hop and Fashion. While Cam was not the first Hip Hop artist to push fashion boundaries within the culture his use of the colour brought about the most attention and impact.
Today the moment continues to manifest itself in different ways from celebrities using the outfit as a Halloween outfit, Camron using pink to release his Reebok Ventilator “Fleebok 2 & fans globally creating merchandise apparel with the iconic photo. A testament to the impact on culture!
How it Started
Camron’s Pink iconic moment dates back to the year 2002, in which he attended the Baby Phat fashion show. At the time Camron was signed to Rocafella Records founded by Dame Dash who both attended fashion shows. Towards the run up to the Baby Phat fashion show Camron expressed wanting to stand out
“It started off with just really wanting to stand out in Fashion Week,” he explains. “There are a lot of loud people at Fashion Week, so I wanted to do something to stand out.”
The rest is History!
Not only did Camron steal the spotlight but the moment spawned into one of the most talked about fashion moments in culture.
After the fashion show in true Camron style, he utilized the attention he was getting from the colour pink and incorporated it in multiple videos, photoshoots, and interviews. One of the most prolific marketing strategies was his Pink Range that he drove around New York. The pink range was guerrilla marketing at its finest.
The Influence in Hip Hop
Cams pink outfits had an immediate effect within Hip Hop culture, for example, brands such as Phat Farm began to sell and market fashion for men in the colour pink, quickly capitalizing on the moment as its popularity grew within the urban market.
Artists such as Pharrell & Kanye West began to incorporate the colour into their outfits and fashion brands.
Kanye west also paid homage to Camron and acknowledged his influence on Touch the sky, rapping
“Back when they thought pink Polos would hurt the Roc, Before Cam got the shit to pop”
During this period in Hip Hop Pharrell partnered with the Bathing Ape Founded Nigo and it was becoming increasingly popular seeing pink camouflage streetwear. All this can be accredited to Camron.
Often times Men wearing pink would be subject to scrutiny from their peers & society as well as being labelled effeminate due to the colour’s close association with women, which is far from what a Male Hip Hop artist would want to be considered. Cam broke these old beliefs making it cool for men to wear pink and do it with style!
Influence in Pop Culture
Brand Partnership Deals
Camron continues to monetise the trend he started years ago, even going as far as getting his own colour pink pantone. Back in 2016 Camron partnered with Reebok to release the Ventilator “Fleebok 2” in homage of his pink moment. The sneaker features pink detailing all round from the toe, heel, sole and laces. It also features a small glimpse of pink camo
In an interview with GQ Camron details the process
“When I first started wearing pink, it wasn’t nothing I planned on doing or strategized. But people showed me so much love for the pink mink I wore, I had to go out to Pantone and create my own colour which is called Killa Pink. Then I got with Reebok and said you know for the next sneaker let’s make it Killa Pink.”
GQ Interview – Cam’ron Is Very Particular When It Comes to the Color Pink
Halloween
Over the last few years, we have seen a range of celebrities from Lil Nas X, Tyga and King Combs choosing to pay homage to Cam over the Halloween period. A clear indicator of the influence it has had culturally.
Tradition has now been set and we will continue to see others pick at this moment for inspiration!
Online Marketplaces
The impact of Camron’s pink moment is also evident in today’s online marketplaces such as Esty, Redbubble & eBay. In true capitalistic fashion, fans of the diplomats worldwide continue to create merchandise featuring the iconic shot on T shirts, Pillowcases, Facemasks, Artwork, Socks, Phone cases, Iron on patches, hats & hoodies.
What’s even more interesting about this is around the Halloween period more Camron memorabilia is produced by sellers yearly on these marketplaces which is showing no sign of slowing down.
Dipset Clothing
Dipset Couture is a website owned by Camron selling a range of diplomat merchandise with an emphasis on pink apparel. Fans of the diplomats, sports corporations and urban brands have all capitalized on the nostalgia, therefore it would only make sense for the man responsible for all this to take a piece of the pie.
Camrons pink moment has allow him to sell a range of pink apparel on the website from hats, t shirts, hoodies, and accessories.
The Dipset Style Influence
While Dipset as a collective deserve a separate article as it pertains to fashion which we will cover it would be silly of us not to include a small segment here.
Outside of Camron’s pink moment his fellow crew members Jim Jones, Juelz Santana and Freeky Zeekey would grow as a collective into one of New York Cities most prominent music groups during the early 2000’s.
While Camron began to make his mark on the colour pink Dipset were beginning to form their own identity using specific signature pieces such as skull & bones, true religion jeans, ed hardy shirts, long fur coats, timberland boots, army/military apparel, and bandana clothing.
Who Influenced Cam?
While Cam & the diplomats have been an influence on a new generations of rappers Cam shared his influences in the GQ interview.
“When I was young, I wanted to be like the rappers. I remember being in junior high and wanting a fisherman hat and a link because EPMD had one. I wanted to wear Adidas because Run-DMC wore Adidas. As I came into my own, I just wanted to do me. There wasn’t necessarily anyone who inspired me. I grew up with Big L, and he was one of the freshest dudes. He was rockin’ Coogi and I was like where did you get $700 to rock Coogi.”
Full GQ Interview – Cam’ron Is Very Particular When It Comes to the Color Pink
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