The Pharrell-Fueled Clipse Comeback
It’s no coincidence that Clipse returned at Pharrell’s very first Louis Vuitton runway show. At that Spring/Summer 2024 presentation, brothers Pusha T and Malice didn’t just walk the runway, they soundtracked it with the white-powder-dusted verses of then-unheard single ”Whips & Chains,” prompting a front-row Jay-Z stank face.
This was an insane pipe-dream-come-true for childhood friends from humble Virginia Beach, now headlining the biggest stage in fashion with one of the most long-awaited returns in hip hop.
Clipse’s first album in fifteen years, Let God Sort Em Out, carries the unspoken weight of Gene and Terrance Thornton’s almost mythical status in hip-hop. Beyond Pusha T’s surgical quotables and Malice’s literary bars, Clipse’s comeback album places them not just back in culture’s mix but at the forefront of fashion.
Which, if you view Clipse’s bars as literary epics on aspiration, makes perfect sense. Fashion has always been stitched into their narratives, woven through acclaimed albums like Lord Willin’ and Hell Hath No Fury, albums that, like Let God Sort Em Out, were both sonically sculpted by the very same man currently steering Louis Vuitton.
Clipse’s wardrobe always reflected its inherent duality. Grounded in where they’re from, laced with where they’re headed, their fits made it clear they moved through both worlds with ease. Clipse thrives in duality: drug dealer and connoisseur, suburban kid and corner boy, prophet and pragmatist.
That tension reflects a very specific Black experience, one shaped by performance, taste, code-switching, and survival. And the fashion? It was never costume. It was armor. Aspiration. Camouflage.
While the greater industry still struggles to blend streetwear and luxury, you’ll catch Clipse sitting front-row at a Louis Vuitton runway, launching a tough bull-collar Carhartt WIP collaboration, debuting shell-toe adidas sneakers, dressing in fresh-off-the-runway Bode, and dissing dweebs on a new single all within a single week.
Every fashion moment in Clipse’s rollout blended the high and low. That’s because, just like he’s done on dozens of Clipse tracks already, Pharrell is also producing this moment. Only now, he’s doing it from the crossroads of high fashion and culture.
This is because the Pharrellification of luxury is very real. Even while Clipse was on pause, Pharrell was leaving fingerprints everywhere: Tiffany & Co., Moncler, Richard Mille, adidas, and Louis Vuitton. He’s luxury fashion’s perpetual frontman.
But before he became an LVMH man, and long before “Happy,” Pharrell was devising sci-fi beats to carry Clipse’s grimiest verses. Not only has he produced Let God Sort Em Out, but Pharrell’s vision has similarly shaped Clipse’s fashion, too.
From the early days of putting BAPE chains around Clipse’s neck 20 years back to boosting Play Cloths, their own line, to casting Clipse for Billionaire Boys Club’s Moncler collection, Pharrell’s been behind it all like a not-so-secret third member.
You could, in turn, argue that Pharrell’s Louis Vuitton collections are packed with Clipse-coded references like reworked camo, crystal-logo varsity jackets reminiscent of Play Cloths’ signature layering piece, and even monogrammed mechanic jumpsuits that practically parallel the pusher chic of the “Grindin’” music video.
And now, Pharrell is again producing. Clipse is again narrating. Clipse’s return was bound to feel blockbuster. It’s a full-circle moment, from recording attic demos in Virginia Beach to listening parties in Paris.
Two worlds in orbit, still building off each other. They helped define an era where style, sound, and story were inseparable.
In 2025, they’re just picking up where they left off.
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