I have fond, yet disturbing, memories of the styles hip-hop has embraced over the years, like baggy hazmat-bright pants and too-tight acid-wash denims that are now thankfully retired. At a whiskey tasting at Madison Avenue’s stuffy Davidoff cigar store, designer Jay Kos — who outfits tastemakers P. Diddy and Andre 3000 (pictured) in gentlemanly suits — told me hip hop has matured. Now, it’s about fit, not labels. “Once you get into clothing that fits, you’re not going back,” Kos said. He insisted I try on his 100% cashmere pink sportcoat, which, he whispered, Kanye West loves. The $2,500 coat begged me to buy it. “It’s like a second skin,” Kos boasted, while I secretly wondered if it looked enough like my skin for me to leave the store with it unnoticed.
