Doechii’s 2024 style reflects her being a student of hip-hop
Image: Instagram/@Doechii
Doechii underwent a major transformation in 2024. The student of hip-hop, as she calls herself, has deliberately gone through a sound and style evolution few artists successfully achieve this early on in their career. Starting the year with two EPs and multiple singles under her belt, the Swamp Princess is ending her year as the hottest rapper in the industry.
The Tampa, Florida native went from being a viral TikTok artist making pop records, such as “What It Is”, to releasing her 4x Grammy-nominated album, Alligator Bites Never Heal, where Doechii’s breath control, honest, witty bars and outstanding performance had hip-hop heavyweights, such as Kendrick Lamar, calling her the best in the game.
The hip-hop artist’s success over the last year consciously moving away from pop to hip-hop was due to Doechii feeling like she had deeper stories to tell within this genre of music and that her integrity and personal story lied within the heritage of this genre. With this sonic evolution, came the artist’s stylistic evolution that can be attributed to working with celebrity stylist, Sam Woolf.
Ushering the “Nissan Altima” artist into a new wardrobe era, the Australian-native, who is now based in New York City, began working with Doechii in 2023 when her style was “trashy-core.” In the beginning of Doechii’s career, observers and fans could spot the artist wearing designers like DSquared2, KNWLS, and Dion Lee, or sometimes pairing a trucker-hat with a gown.
The Florida artist’s new sound emerged from a deep study of the history of hip hop and using its golden 90s and early aughts era as the building blocks for her contemporary sound and style today. Being a student of the genre and wanting to teach her listeners the rich history of hip-hop, her style began to reflect a more mature aesthetic.
The change Woolf and Doechii hoped to achieve was evident. In 2024 the rapper began appearing in preppy, nostalgic and streetwear inspired outfits with tailoring, suiting, and office-siren pieces at the core of her current style. Leaning into her authenticity, Woolf and Doechii unexpectedly dominated social feeds with her creative performances and masculine-leaning style.
From her performance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert where Doechii’s two back-up dancers and her braids were all connected, to her viral Tiny Desk performance where she is wearing a Willy Chavaria look, the Swamp Princes has been seen rocking not only the New York based designer, but Thom Browne, Miu Miu, Vivienne Westwood, Wales Boner, and Burberry.
Doechii’s style evolution with Woolf by her side perfectly captures strategically using fashion to push a certain message, image, and aura to authentically tell a story without speaking about who she is, where she’s been, and where she’s going.
Rumor is there’s an album planned for 2025. If Doechii has taught us anything it’s that she’s a chameleon and although she’s in her strongest era yet, it doesn't mean she’s not planning another transformation to leave us stunned.
