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The $800 style was slightly modified, but maintained the signature gold detailing. Millionaires hold such an iconic place in the hip-hop fashion timeline that Virgil Abloh released the Millionaire 1.1 in his first official collection for Louis Vuitton. Pairs are listed for as much as $5,000 on eBay. To this day, used pairs of original Millionaires are very rare.
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Even Rick Ross, a noted frames aficionado, was duped by a fake pair that he wore on a 2009 cover of XXL. Shapiro says original Millionaires are very hard to come by these days and were heavily bootlegged at the time because of their popularity. After their initial drop, pairs re-released in 2007 in a new array of colors. It became a coveted collectible among a whole new style crowd. This accessory was not just for the rich and famous. The ties to Pharrell and Nigo peaked the streetwear world’s interest. You were not being considered one of the fashion forward icons of that generation.” “When they came to fruition, if you were in hip-hop and you didn't have one, you were not doing it.
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There was no question about it,” says Shapiro. “At the time when it came out, it was very hard to get. The Millionaires quickly became a status symbol in the hip-hop community worn by the likes of Kanye West, Rihanna, and of course Skateboard P. The standout was the Millionaire, a $1,200 aviator-esque frame that Pharrell once referred to as, “one part Tony Montana, one part Notorious B.I.G.” The hard-to-get sunglasses, which were inspired by the Carrera glasses, came in an array of colors like black, red, and purple highlighted by gold trim. He decided to tap Pharrell and Bape founder Nigo, two of the biggest names in streetwear at the time, to create a line of sunglasses. We broke down the sunglasses’ origins, who made them important, and how they influenced the rest of the eyewear industry.īack in 2004, then-creative director of Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, took the storied fashion house into new territory. We spoke to Shapiro, Julian Emani, a Philly-based sunglasses dealer, better known as Vintage Julz, Detroit mogul Joseph McFashion, and stylist Groovey Lew about the 15 most iconic sunglasses in hip-hop. And because of Run DMC and other artists, many of these sunglasses are still popular and sell for hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars on the secondhand market today. Shapiro cites Run DMC as the first group to wear glasses as a fashion accessory. “One of the easiest ways to add maturity in the time was to add eyewear.” “From a fashion perspective, hip-hop was always looking for some way to mature itself,” says Vintage Frames founder Corey Shapiro. Sunglasses help artists form a distinct identity, which helps brands become relevant. A popular musician wearing a certain pair of sunglasses adds to a brand’s legacy and drives sales years later. They are as important as jewelry, but oftentimes more affordable.