From kick-flare jeans to tweed jackets, Kendrick Lamar is not afraid to experiment with fashion.
In 2025, Kendrick Lamar is all the rage-not just with the fruitful hits that have been topping the local and international charts and the catfight that he’s currently having with Drake but now, as the latest ambassador for Chanel. Just after sweeping five Grammys and putting on an epoch-making Super Bowl halftime show, Lamar now heads into the world of fashion as the face of Chanel’s Spring 2025 eyewear campaign.
The bold campaign, shot by the famous Karim Sadli, also features an ensemble cast of powerful talent: Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o, Margaret Qualley, and Nana Komatsu. The project has been described by Chanel as a celebration of “courageous artistry,” a phrase that in itself talks volumes about the impact Lamar’s creativity carries. “Lamar is a performer at the top of his game,” stated the brand in highlighting the evolution of the individual as an artist and cultural icon.
One Fashion Story Years in the Making
Although this ambassadorial appointment seems like a new chapter, it is part of Kendrick Lamar’s long-standing journey with Chanel. In 2023, he attended the Gala at the Met, which honored Karl Lagerfeld, wearing a Chanel quilted bomber designed by then-creative director Virginie Viard. Later, he also appeared at the brand’s autumn haute couture shows clad in an impressive number including a white tweed jacket from the womenswear line, a string of pearl beads around the neck, and a silk Chanel scarf wrapped around a baseball cap-all these being topped off with a signature pair of sunglasses. This looks challenged menswear conventions and epitomized Chanel’s developing non-binary aesthetic.
A lot of this transformation can be attributed to celebrity stylist Taylor McNeill, who has been behind Kendrick Lamar’s unique fashion persona since 2020.
McNeill, who styles Margaret Qualley and also just reinvented Timothée Chalamet’s red-carpet look, has become a powerful force behind all that goes in fashion. The transition of style into an audibly powerful form of visual storytelling marvelously under what McNeill has guided—be it through codes in fashion metaphors that complement his “Not Like Us” video or his symbolism, very subtle, at the Super Bowl.
In “The Button”, Lamar’s creative engagement with Chanel took a new dimension. He actually helped design the maison’s Spring haute couture set and released an original short film, called The Button, introducing yet another layer as an art form to their partnership.
Those projects reflect a new chapter in the book of infusing Lamar’s artistic vision into the timeless elegance of Chanel beyond the omissions of its already existing lines.
Though Chanel had no official men’s line, Nate “fresh” Lamar’s coming has injected a new view of the brand. “Chanel has this timeless legacy, and that’s something I can always get behind,” said he in the press release. “They don’t do menswear; therefore, I knew it would have to be glasses.”
Why Eyewear? Why Now?
Eyewear is, in fact, a strategic and inclusive entry point, according to fashion theorist Rian Phin. “‘Lamar can help widen Chanel’s audience,” Eyewear accessories mark a low-key entry into luxury fashion and thus allow male fans to participate in his storytelling.” His really strong styles-how about the flared Celine jeans he wore at the Super Bowl-have got him rewriting masculinity in fashion.
Chanel has previously used male stars, such as Chalamet, for fragrance campaigns. But with Lamar, that could just be the beginning. Even as Matthew Blazy, the last Bottega Veneta creative head, gets set to debut at the Paris Fashion Week this October, the industry is watching for signs of change. As known for his gender-neutral design ethos, Blazy could be another indication that luxury houses are shifting to a more all-encompassing and expressive fashion narratives.
Grammy award-winning lyricist Kendrick Lamar takes on yet another high-fashion icon status as he transcends everyday conventions, even now with Chanel beside him doing his thing in style.
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