Toronto’s Best Dressed: CanCon music mainstay Kardinal Offishall

Rapper, producer and avant-garde outfit aficionado

By Jean Grant | September 8, 2016

By Jean Grant | 09/08/2016

Seen here at Call and Response, Kardinal Offishall wears a hat from Brimz, watch by Diesel, and shirt and jacket from Call and Response. Photograph by Vanessa Heins

Kardinal Offishall’s sense of style is all about originality. For most of his decades-long career, that meant adding a funky fedora or heavy gold chain to casual streetwear. Lately, however, his style has taken a more highbrow turn—especially on red carpets, where he’s been spotted in exotic furs and luxe leathers.

Batteries not included to blxxdclxxt…#TIFF season has begun…#gettingrealjiggywitit #shinyvessman #partoftheCaribbeanAvengers #mypowersincludecussingoutyuhrassclxxt!

A photo posted by Kardinal (@kardinalo) on Sep 8, 2016 at 5:03am PDT

He credits the transformation to friend and London-based designer Nana Boateng, who encouraged him to step up his game by telling him in 2010, “You can’t be considered a king and only have part of what you do reflect royalty.” Now, Offishall (né Jason Harrow) designs his own pieces with the team at Toronto’s avant-garde boutique Call and Response (formerly Magpie), who aren’t afraid of his ideas. “I’ll say I’m thinking of something with feathers and sequins, and they’ll be like ‘We got you.’ ”

This smile on my face is because I took a second to acknowledge the blessings I received and the blessings I pass on to my younger G'z. Salute to everybody out there who taught me as much as I have taught them. Each one teach one. The one who knows everything knows that he knows nothing at all. #foreverastudent #foreverarudebwoy #4ever16

A photo posted by Kardinal (@kardinalo) on Jun 15, 2016 at 2:12pm PDT

Together, they imagine one-of-a-kind looks that reflect his boundless energy. “I want every piece I wear to speak for me. I love when my outfit tells people I’ve arrived.”