Sticking with the brand

For 16 years, rapper 88-Keys has worn Polo Ralph Lauren every day. Some would view that as fashion lunacy. But friend Kanye West ­encouraged him to go with it.

 “I try to stay true to Ralph’s vision. I don’t want to bastardize his vision — no offense to the urban community — because we all know what happened to Tommy Hilfiger once the hip-hop community embraced it,” says the producer-turned-rapper-turned Kanye West protégé named Charles Njapa, who goes by the stage name 88-Keys.

His much buzzed about debut album, “The Death of Adam,” which was executive produced by West, hits stores this week.

But right now, he’s got Polo Ralph Lauren on his mind.

“I could talk about this for hours and hours,” he laughs while explaining his longtime obsession with the brand.
88-Keys began wearing Polo Ralph Lauren as a Long Island, N.Y.-high-school student in 1992 when he developed a liking for its classic, preppy style.

Since then, he’s worn a complete look from the brand every day, without fail.

His wardrobe includes over 700 Polo pieces (seriously).

“I’ll walk out of the door dressed in loafers when everyone else is wearing Timberland boots. I definitely stand out,” he says.

And as his profile rises, don’t expect 88-Keys to experiment with high fashion menswear collections the way his buddy West does.

“I’ll tag along with Kanye on shopping trips and look at clothing by designers whose names I’d need to take French lessons to pronounce.

“He’ll ask me what I think and I’ll be like, ‘Whatever.’ I’ve turned down paying gigs because they’ve tried to dress me in clothing by other designers,” he says.  

“Besides record shopping, the only other place I need is a Polo store. I’ll go to Paris and they’ll be like, ‘Here’s the Eiffel tower’ and I’m like, ‘Whatever, where’s the record store and the Polo store?’”