Kanye West hit the stage at the 12-12-12 benefit in New York for Hurricane Sandy relief wearing none other than a leather pleated Givenchy skirt, confusing the world like never before. This defining moment in hip hop history was the single most dramatic act that validated the trend that many had caught on to prior to that night: the budding relationship between hip-hop culture and high fashion.

Up until recently, hip-hop and couture were rarely used in the same sentence. The trends seen in music videos and on everyone who was listening to hip hop in the late ’90s and early 2000s (think baggy, faded jeans, an oversized white t-shirt and lots of gaudy bling) have thankfully passed and been put away in the vault with all of the other historically horrendous fashion trends.

What rappers and their fans are wearing now – or wishing they were wearing – is more high fashion, to say the least. The infamous baggy Girbaud jeans have been traded in for Versace leather skinny jeans. Nike Air Force 1s have been swapped for Giuseppe Zanotti embossed leather high-top sneakers. Plain, baggy, white t-shirts have been replaced by fitted graphic Givenchy tees. And bling has been replaced by – well, more bling.

Rappers’ wardrobes aren’t the only things that have been “couturified” within the last few years. The actual lyrics of rap songs might as well be called ads with the amount of designer name-dropping involved. Sure, rappers have always been talking about brands, but now they’re talking about designers. Nelly’s “Air Force Ones” and Dem Franchize Boyz’s “White Tee” have now been substituted for Kanye’s “Christian Dior Denim Flow” and Jay-Z’s “Tom Ford.”

Though Kanye, who arguably was the one who initiated the intertwinement of high-end fashion and hip-hop, undoubtedly has a strong love and connection to fashion itself, he may have a separate agenda.

“Kanye is trying to better black culture and make it synonymous with white culture, (meaning) high-end fashion,” says Nigel “Hollywood” Holt, a rapper based out of Chicago. “In his mind if the biggest star says it’s ok to do something the masses will follow. So he told the ‘urban’ world it’s ok to like high-end fashion and quality garments, which sparked a new style revolution. Kanye wants to better the world and the way black people are treated, and he’s doing it through his avenue of art.”

The importance of fashion and trends in hip-hop culture is nothing new. Those baggy jeans I mentioned earlier? All the rappers were wearing them in the late ’90s and early 2000s, and in turn, so were all of their fans. Our generation has glamourized rappers to the same extent (if not more) as iconic musicians, like the Beatles or the Rolling Stones.

“Hip-hop has long been connected to fashion,” Daniel Makagon, pop music expert and communications professor at DePaul, said. “These styles existed prior to the emergence of rap, but rappers spread the styles … Rap’s rising popularity from the late ’80s through now has been a major influence on how people dress, cut their hair and use slang.”

The recent influx of high fashion in hip hop culture has caused people who probably didn’t know who Riccardo Tisci or Tom Ford were a year ago, to become obsessed with their designs.

“These rappers are bringing a whole other fan base of fashion that didn’t exist before,” says Natalie Wright, an up-andcoming fashion designer from Chicago. “People that listen to rap see A$AP Rocky wearing Alexander Wang, and then they want Alexander Wang. You have music blogs like ILLROOTS instantly posting links to where to buy the Givenchy t-shirt 2 Chainz was wearing after a performance. They’re setting trends.”

A$AP Rocky has undoubtedly created the biggest fashion designer name-dropping song ever (at least, so far). “Fashion Killa,” from A$AP Rocky’s first album that dropped earlier this year, mentions a record-breaking 27 designers in total, many of which are womenswear only. If Kanye has set the seemingly impossible standard for the men of our generation, “Fashion Killa” has definitely upped the ante for women.

“She got a lotta Prada/ That Dolce & Gabbana/I can’t forget Escada, and that Balenciaga/’Cause everything designer/Her jeans is Helmut Lang/Shoes is Alexander Wang/ And her shirt the newest Donna Karan/Wearin’ all the Cartier frames / Jean Paul Gaultiers cause they match with her persona.”

Rihanna, one of the edgier fashion-forward celebrities, played A$AP Rocky’s muse in the video. The two are obviously donned in high-fashion attire, with Rihanna in a fully sequined zebra print gown by Tom Ford for the majority of the video (and we’re even graced with the brief presence of the notorious Maison Michel lace bunny-eared headband).

With technology like Twitter and Instagram, it is becoming even easier to find out which designers are behind the pieces rappers and other celebrities are wearing (and talking about). Celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Rihanna are constantly taking snapshots and “Instagramming” pieces sent to them by designers like Givenchy and Balmain, causing their followers to lust over fashion virtually all day long.

“Everything is so instantaneous now,” Wright said. “Minutes after performances, you’re seeing pictures of what people are wearing … I’m expecting a lot of collaborative efforts in the future of music and fashion. I see it kind of combining into one.”