Over the last half century, hip hop has taken over the world. Its beginning is marked by Cindy and Clive Campbell’s (aka DJ Kool Herc) legendary back-to-school party held in the recreation room of  their apartment building in the Bronx on August 11, 1973. Since that time, hip hop has spread around the globe, lending its influence to innumerable spaces. Style is one of the most pervasive and visible manifestations of the culture, and twenty-first century fashion, from luxury labels to everyday dress, owes a debt to hip hop. The genre’s artists and fans transformed and popularized streetwear, athleisure, and logo-mania, to name only a few significant and enduring fashion movements.

One exhibition could never hope to encompass every aspect of hip hop style, and so Fresh, Fly, and Fabulous focuses on several themes that have carried through hip hop style over the last five decades, from the expression of Black Pride, to the centrality of outerwear and denim, and the influence of sports, and of course, celebrity style. The exhibition ends with Hip Hop Glam—a red carpet of the avant-garde styles that hip hop artists have showcased on the world stage. After half a century, hip hop is still pushing boundaries, though now, it is not from the outside, but the center.