Style Tips From The Best Music Videos of 2020 (So Far!)

The Weeknd – ‘Blinding Lights’

The fourth studio album by Canadian style connoisseur Abel Tesfaye, the much-anticipated After Hours, landed in March this year. The 56-minute odyssey spans themes of self-loathing, excess and infidelity, revealed in the electric narrative of Abel’s mesmerising music video, ‘Blinding Lights’. 

The Weeknd’s bleeding heart finally erupts in the saturated neon hues and iridescent pop stylings of the 1980s, his coagulating nose, scarlet velvet suit, black glasses, and black tie illuminating one of the most visceral sartorial experiences of 2020. 

But it’s Abel’s black leather driving gloves that are the real highlight of this music video, the badass accessory recalling some of the more recent catwalks from Louis Vuitton and Dior. 

Known for his incredibly diverse wardrobe, Abel has popularised everything from nylon bomber jackets to biker jeans. And it might just be his vision in After Hours that’s inspiring our sartorial amour fou in 2020. 

Drake – ‘Toosie Slide’ 

Well, this is certainly one way to quarantine. 

Drake threw open the doors to his eye-watering, $100 million dollar mansion in the music video for ‘Toosie Slide’. 

Appropriately dubbed ‘The Embassy’, Drake’s 4,650-square-metre luxury estate is complete with a 20,000-piece Swarovski crystal chandelier, a bespoke concert grand piano, and the ‘OVO Center’ – a custom NBA regulation–sized basketball court.

Champagne Papi didn’t skimp on his personal style either, wearing the uber-rare F/W 2001 Raf Simons ‘Riot Riot Riot’ Camo Bomber. Recently reselling on Grailed for $47,000, the bomber was worn by Kanye West for several weeks straight in 2007. An artefact from Raf Simons’ lauded back catalogue, the jacket formed part of Simons’ triumphant return to men’s fashion (after a one-year sabbatical), as he introduced a new paradigm emphasised by oversized silhouettes and hoodies. 

Drake decided to pair the Raf Simons jacket over a 1017 ALYX 9SM vest from their S/S 2020 collection. We also caught a glimpse of the upcoming collaboration between Drake and Nike at the two-minute mark of the clip, a Swoosh box and contract ready to be inked on the dining room table. 

Judging by Drake’s love affair with the Air Force 1, you can almost bank on an OVO x Air Force 1 sometime in 2021. 

Travis Scott – ‘OUT WEST’

Travis Scott and the JACKBOYS gang continue to ride their own sartorial rodeo in 2020, the Missouri-born rapper and his entourage releasing the ‘OUT WEST’ music video in March. 

Co-directed by La Flame and White Trash Tyler, guests at La Flame’s hazy house party include 21 Savage, Sheck Wes, and even the legendary Quincy Jones (who drops in to make a sandwich). There’s no social distancing on display here, with twerking, skating and fighting all on display, while the lead feature Young Thug performs in the living room. 

Known for rocking vintage Akira tees, Scott pairs another black anime tee with a gargantuan gold chain that dominates the frame.

Pairing the basic tee and black beanie with a Prada nylon jacket and oversized denim shorts, Scott again combines luxury, skate and streetwear, emphasising the sartorial hangups of hip hop in 2020. After all, Scott was also one of the first artists to receive a pair of the Dior Air Jordan 1s.

But the most enduring visual element to this music video? Quincy Jones’ ‘University of the Hood’ cap worn with a classy suede jacket and knitted scarf. 

Sometimes, style is forever.