Badshah wears cool denim-on-denim look as 1st Indian rapper at New York Fashion Week

Badshah turned casual staple denim into front-row ready fashion with the help of accessories. Find out more about the style takeways from this look.

Badshah attended Alexander Wang's show ‘Matriarch’ at New York Fashion Week 2025, rocking an easy-going, casual look with a hint of bejewelled affair. The Indian rapper is making denim-on-denim style cool for casual menswear with his latest look. But this time, with an added luxe twist, integrating your regular streetwear signature denim with couture-like meticulous detailing. Let's dive into the look and take a closer glimpse.

While front-row energy often tiptoes into overtly avant-garde styles with sculptural silhouettes and experimental designs, Badshah’s outfit, however, hit home, being both understated and head-turning in the same breath. Badshah has now become the first Indian rapper to be part of New York Fashion Week.

Closer look at his denim look

The denim hoodie and jeans included brooches for the added charm to the otherwise casual look.

He was styled by New York–based Shipra Sharma for this look. The ensemble includes a light-blue, washed-denim, oversized zip-up hoodie and matching jeans. Badshah further wore Alexander Wang’s black chunky-sole boots.

But this is where the outfit gets interesting: the base denim pieces were elevated with brooches from handcrafted statement brooches by luxury accessories house Deepa Gurnani. The designs featured animal motifs like alligator, jay, goat, and elephant, each piece meticulously crafted in India by master artisans. The addition of brooches made the casual look exude a big front-row energy, capturing high fashion glam with the casualwear. For accessories, he carried a black clutch, Richard Mille RM 74-02 timepiece and Oakley Metal Jacket sunglasses in matte black.

All in all, the look, despite appearing familiar, is still experimental and avant-garde, with futuristic sunglasses, brooches on the jacket, and a statement clutch.

Style inspo from this look

Does this hail a new era of casualwear for men, where denim is set to dominate? Only time will tell. But until then, fashion enthusiasts, take note: one takeaway from the denim-on-denim style (layering two or more denim pieces together) is that it works just as stylishly even when all pieces have the same wash. While you might think contrasting washes is the ground rule for denim pairing (like stonewashed with raw denim), a uniform wash also works, giving you that stunning monochrome denim look, appearing cleaner and more cohesive.

So, denim fans suit up head to toe in blue, as sometimes the best contrast is none at all, devoid of all the mix-and-match drama. If you think it's too plain, add sparkle or statement with accessories like brooches or cyber punk sunglasses.

More about Alexander Wang's NYFW show

Alexander Wang is returning to New York Fashion Week after a seven-year break. At NYFW, he is presenting his collection ‘Matriarch,’ which blends personal stories with innovative AI design and minimalist-rebellious styles. To mark his twentieth anniversary, the designer transformed 58 Bowery, a former financial building, into an immersive creative space, announcing the collection.