Style Icon | André Benjamin

He's a young, succesful hip-hopper who's as famous for his excentric style as he is for his innovative music and he has recently launched a fashion line of his own. No, I'm not talking about Kanye West. He's getting enough attention already without me adding to the hype. I'm talking about André Lauren Benjamin, more commonly known by his artist name; André 3000.

As part of the duo OutKast, André got his breakthrough with the album Southerplayalisticadillacmuzik (it's a mouthful, I know) and has since followed it up with several albums, both with OutKast and as a solo artist, and scored some serious hits like "Ms Jackson", "Roses" and "Hey Ya!". OutKast has been lauded for their originality and experimental sound, mixing in other genres such as funk, soul, jazz etc. Andre has also acted in a number of movies, including Idlewild for which OutKast also wrote most of the music.

Off-stage, as well as on-stage, André has become widely famous for his distinct personal style which probably could be described as modern-day dandy. Sometimes the creations he pulls off might seem outlandish but unlike many like him, somehow he manages to not make it look comsumey. His style has changed frequently and often jumped between extremes, but always been true to his personality. As he explains it himself: "When the OutKast sound changed and I started producing my own records, I would mirror what I thought that character doing that music would look like. As the sound got a little wilder, freakier and funkier, so did the clothes. Then when the sound got more sophisticated, the clothes changed again." Although André's rocked some rather spaced-out looks over the years, his true passion seems to lie with the classical fashion, especially the british. He favours tweeds, cutaway-collars and rugby jerseys, and classic brands like shirtmakers Turnbull & Asser and Hackett. Maybe not what you'd expect from someone from the hip-hop world, where baggy jeans and oversize basket jerseys seems to be the ruling option, but then again André 3000 isn't your typical hip-hop star.

As we mentioned André's also got his own fashion label, called Benjamin Bixby, which launched last fall with a 70 piece collection that drew inspiration from football players in the 1930's. Unlike many other projects by celebrities who cross over into the fashion industry Benjamin Bixby is a genuine venture into fashion based on an honest interest for fashion and love of clothing rather than just a bleak attempt to cash in a few extra dollar on uninteresting, low quality, overpriced clothes. André, who so far is a fashion autodidact, says he would like to go to fashion school, he has visited factores and textile fairs, sketches the collection himself and seems to be deeply, personally involved in the process. The fact that André's been nominated as ‘Best New Menswear Designers in America’ by GQ and gotten compliments by Anna Wintour as well as the fact that his clothes sell in exclusive stores like Colette, is definitely a clear indication of this. The line is clearly influenced by it's founder; both in the apparent love for classical-styled clothing and unconventionial looks like the plus-fours and knee-socks. It's not for everyone but then again, should it be? "The Benjamin Bixby man is a rebel gent, he likes classics with extraordinary styling."

André Benjamin in different outfits

Benjamin Bixby AW08