Anderson Paak’s Saturday Night Live outfit wasn’t all too different from his everyday wardrobe, which is primarily comprised of bright beanies, playful bucket hats, and graphic hoodies, but it had some weightier context: The producer and singer exclusively wore black designers on the show. For his performance of “Tints,” during which Kendrick Lamar performed his feature live in a surprise appearance, Paak wore a full Pyer Moss x Reebok ensemble, and for “Who R U?,” he changed into a more subdued all-black workwear pairing designed by young Los Angeles–based designer Anwar Carrots, whom he wears quite frequently.
It was initially the idea of Jasmine Benjamin, Paak’s stylist, to pull exclusively black designers. “I see similarities in their success,” she says of Paak and Kerby Jean-Raymond of Pyer Moss, who just last month won the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund. “I felt like it was a wonderful moment to bring these two talents together.” And naturally, Paak finished off both looks with his signature toppers, which are all made by Bricks Wood, yet another young, black, Los Angeles–based designer. “He always only wears his beanies and bucket hats in a variety of bright colors,” says Benjamin. “It was very important to us to make sure that the SNL performance reflected who Anderson is and what he likes to wear.”
Paak has now shared an exclusive, behind-the-scenes photo diary of the process of choosing and trying on these pieces. Take a look at Paak’s SNL fitting, above; which shoes he finds are the perfect fit; his busting out some dance moves; and, of course, his finding that perfect bucket hat to top things off. He might not have originated the incisive idea to spotlight black designers on major public stages (Tracee Ellis Ross and Issa Rae did it first), but it’s never quite looked like so much fun.
