Stylin'! - men's fashion - Brief Article

What Brothers Are Really Wearing

STYLING, profiling, flossing and waxing. Being clean--dressing to the nines--has been called many things throughout the years. African-Americans--especially Brothers--have influenced fashion around the world with cutting-edge clothes that dare to be different.

Highlighted on the following pages are some of the hottest ensembles that have been worn to openings, awards shows and other public places in recent months. It's a good bet that in the near future, these stylin' fashions will make their way from New York and Los Angeles to a town near you, and perhaps--if you have the confidence to pull it off--these fashions will become a part of your wardrobe.

HIGH FASHION

LENNY KRAVITZ sports a six-button tuxedo with slit pockets and velvet lapels, while PRINCE--with a white fur fedora in hand--dons a red shirt/pant ensemble worn underneath a tunic-length, white, tailored jacket. Singer BRIAN McKNIGHT (at right, with wife Julie) wears a leather suit with wing-cut lapels and a complementing cream-colored shirt and tie. USHER chills out in a glazed silk satin patch-pocket suit worn with a youthful crew-neck silk, knit T-shirt.

SUITED UP DENZEL WASHINGTON wears an indigo blue pinstripe suit accented with a brilliant canary yellow silk tie and a denim blue shirt at the premiere of his movie The Bone Collector. At a press conference, EARVIN (MAGIC) JOHNSON sports a parallel-cut, winged-collar shirt with print tie, giving Italian styling to a vertically topstitched business suit. Music mogul SEAN (PUFFY) COMBS styles in a traditional three-piece suit with contrasting color vest and matching satin tie and pocket handkerchief at his birthday party. Actor SHEMAR MOORE strikes a pose in a trendy five-button, single-breasted suit with flap pockets and striped shirt and tie.

MEN IN BLACK AND BLUE Los Angeles Lakers star KOBE BRYANT wears an all-black ensemble, including a six-button vest and a stylish stocking cap, while actor/comedian JAMIE FOXX sports a waist-length leather biker jacket and matching leather pants, fully outlined in metal studs. MICHAEL CLARKE DUNCAN sports a '60s-inspired velvet Nehru-collar suit with a decorative zipper front. Singer GINUWINE wears a zoot suit that has been cut to reveal his abs.

MAKING A FASHION STATEMENT actor MORGAN FREEMAN (accompanied by Donna Lee) is stylish in a black-on-black-on-black suit/shirt/tie combination during a recent White House reception. Former UN Ambassador ANDREW YOUNG (with wife Carolyn Young) steps out in a traditional tuxedo updated with an African-inspired vest. Singer LIONEL RICHIE chooses a more formal look in a contemporary-styled tuxedo jacket with rolled-back velvet labels and collar, worn with a simple turtleneck. And model TYSON BECKFORD wears a casual cream linen suit and a hip-hop-inspired stocking cap.