All Eyez on Me producer L.T. Hutton hired costume designer Kenya Ware because she used to help style Tupac Shakur.
The new movie biopic charts the late rapper's life, including his rise to fame and controversial time at Death Row Records.
Kenya was on hand to help Tupac transition "away from the gangster clothes to Versace", but never officially worked as his stylist as the rapper was shot and killed in 1996 - just as Death Row's Suge Knight was about to hire her.
"This film needed to have Karl Kani and Walker Wear to be authentic because those were two designers that Tupac wore religiously," Kenya told Complex. "I wanted to make sure that all of the replicas were right. Sometimes getting information from third parties or Google aren't that accurate, so L.T. Hutton figured it would be better to hire a person who actually knew Tupac and was around him a lot."
She goes on to describe Tupac's style as "revolutionary gangster", adding that he set the tone for copycat looks.
In the film, Tupac lookalike Demetrius Shipp Jr. portrays the late hip-hop star, and Kenya worked hard to replicate her late friend's wardrobe choices on screen.
"Tupac did an advertisement for Karl Kani and we remade that look. The actor who plays Tupac, Demetrius Shipp, went to Karl Kani's studio and we made sure that he looked and wore the clothes just like Tupac," she shared. "We also copied the Black Panther Party (revolutionary black nationalist and socialist organization) look because his mom was a Black Panther ."
All Eyez on Me began hitting cinemas earlier this month (Jun17).
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