“When you grow to be historical past; when you grow to be pure historical past, then you’ll be able to’t be unwritten—so now we’re positively etched in stone,” Rap pioneer Roxanne Shanté tells Vogue on the opening of the brand new Ice Chilly: An Exhibition of Hip-Hop Jewellery at The American Museum of Pure Historical past (AMNH). On a breezy Wednesday night time, hip-hop fans, museum patrons, creatives, and followers alike gathered on the Higher West Aspect on the museum’s Studio Gang-designed Richard Gilder Heart to have a good time the affect of hip-hop on style and jewellery.
It was an evening devoted to the historical past, fashion, and sensory delights of hip-hop (right down to the press package, designed within the form of a cassette tape). Company had been greeted within the ethereal, four-story atrium to the sound of rap classics, performed by DJ Clark Kent. It was really a fete of celebration, of neighborhood all coming collectively to have a good time the facility of hip-hop. Whereas partygoers danced alongside to Jay-Z, Lauryn Hill, and Erykah Badu, VIPs like FERG (in a black Margiela swimsuit adorned with jeweled brooches), Lil Child, Fab 5 Freddy, Joey Bada$$, Rapsody, Bevy Smith, style historian Tanisha Ford, streetwear royalty April Walker, jeweler Johnny Nelson, and the person of the hour, Slick Rick (Rap royalty and Senior Advisor of the exhibition), mingled all through.
Final yr marked the fiftieth anniversary of hip-hop. Ice Chilly: An Exhibition of Hip-Hop Jewellery, builds upon that, highlighting the evolution of bijou by way of the lens of the worldwide cultural phenomenon. “This can be a love letter to hip-hop, a love letter to New York, and all of the ways in which hip-hop and jewellery modified the whole lot,” echoes Vikki Tobak, visitor curator and creator of Ice Chilly: A Hip-Hop Jewellery Historical past.
It is not every single day that you simply get to social gathering in such a NYC landmark. From the bar centered in entrance of floor-to-ceiling collections of fossils, taxidermy, and zoological objects to an interactive butterfly exhibit, the night time felt like a real-life interpretation of Night time At The Museum (sans speaking dinosaur skeletons). Even the exhibition, is nestled amongst gems and geodes, within the Allison and Roberto Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals.
Maybe the spotlight of the festivities was getting a particular sneak peek on the exhibit (which opens to the general public as we speak). Company moved from the atrium to the gem corridor for a have a look at the glimmering show. There, they received an summary of hip-hop historical past by way of the scope of bijou. Items from The Infamous B.I.G., Jam Grasp Jay (Run-D.M.C), Erykah Badu, Eve, Drake, Tyler, the Creator, A$AP Rocky, Unhealthy Bunny, Lil Nas X, and even Nicki Minaj’s famed Barbie necklace.
In a sea of Jordans, Wales Bonner x Adidas Sambas, Supreme, gold chains, and bling—the affect of hip-hop on style and jewellery was ever-present.
