Kanye West’s Monster Fashion

West's Coachella 2011 performance was an unforgettable tour de force that included everything from gravity-mocking stunts on cranes to the rapper sporting a billowing, instantly recognizable blouse from Parisian label Celine. A few fans sneered and offered a low-level "cross-dresser" mots, but the true style intelligentsia understood the brilliance of this sartorial maneuver. Why would Kanye address boundaries like gender dress codes? If anything, the colorful, "ethnic" printed shirt suited him better than any of the model's on Celine's runway. Besides – Phoebe Philo, the label's design director, and the rapper already share a special rapport. West has even lyrically immortalized her in his song "Dark Fantasy," and presented her with a CFDA award. She's a contemporary design pioneer; he's a forward-thinking man. What's not to love? Let the thoroughly modern union commence.

Controversy surrounded West's unveiling of his diamond and gold teeth on the Ellen DeGeneres show in 2010. "Did he ruin his teeth? Why not just get a grill, like other rappers?," Ellen (and the world) wondered. West replied with a shrug: "I just thought they were cooler." He let his mouth do the talking in the video for the Nicki Minaj-fueled anthem, "Monster," a clip that polarized audiences as much as his teeth. As for copycat artists, this time there were none; West has them beat, ensuring he really is the most hardcore aesthetician in pop (apologies, Lady Gaga).

In 2010, West's "Runaway" drew the lionshare of its attention from the fact the eight-minute clip was a more akin to a ballet production than a typical rap video. But amid the sea of tutus, West was sporting his own dapper new look, courtesy of New York designer Philip Lim. The black and white suit was discreet and elegant, complentary to the contemplative effect "Runaway" itself has on its listeners. If Philip Lim wasn't a go-to name in the hip-hop fashion community before, his profile among the urban elite certain skyrocketed upon this video's well-publicized release.

As part of My Beautiful Twisted Dark Fantasy's early promotional campaign, West performed a series of shows in eyecatching ensembles, most prolifically at 2010's MTV Video Music Awards, where he knocked out a heart-rendering version of "Runaway" in a head-to-toe infrared suit and matching Louis Vuitton sneakers. Though skeptics questioned the boldly saturated ensemble at the time, other performers were soon following suit – literally.

There's no question that power, in its various constucts, is extremely important to West's identity as a human being and generation-defining artist. In the 2010 Marco Brambilla-directed video for the song titled in honor of that very premise, the rapper explores "power" visually, conveying it through a series of mesmerizing Egyptian-themed vignettes. As occult-tinged visuals referencing everything from Isis and Hathor to Greek Mythology play out, West remains in command as his own true pharaoh, looking intensely into the camera, a golden eye of Horus necklace symbolically festooned around his neck. The message is clear: history rises and falls, but West is an institution for the ages.

With 808s & Heartbreak, West made an unexpectedly sorrowful and poignant statement about loss, love unrequited, maturity, and compromise – in other words, it was his true bildungsroman, set to poetically sparse polyrhythms. To suit his newly sober and grown up visage, Kanye constructed an appropriately sophisticated and demure look. Incidentally, his gray checked suit, spectacles, and customized Marc Jacobs heartbreak pin have gone onto become arguably his most iconic  – and perpetuating – style statement to date, proving displays of sincerity and simplicity can immortalize an icon's image as much as shock and awe.

West is fond of monochromatic statements  — lately, red has been his thing. But in 2008, he was projecting a clean-cut, angelic look in all white tuxes and suits. Memorably clad in an ivory suit (in a room to match) for his minimalist opus "Love Lockdown" (which Time voted video of the year in '08), the rapper created an alluring tension between American Psycho's visual austerity  and feral desire, expressed by African dancers armed with djembe drums.

With his robo warrior shutter shades making a scene-stealing statement, West made sure the rest of his wardrobe for 2007's "Stronger" clip also moved exclusively in one direction: forward. In a sharply cut Rick Owens jacket and metallic Balmain jeans, the rapper was careful to align himself  with designers and labels whose progressive visions paralleled his own. Ever since, he's been spotted wearing ensembles straight off the Owens and Balmain catwalks, keeping his personal style a few riveting steps beyond more standard red carpet apparel.