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This is going to be hard for our audience members who were born in 1993 or later: But, yes, there was a time where people wore their clothes backwards.

And, yes, you have Kris Kross to blame for this trend. The group, who came to the scene in 1992 with their classic debut album, Totally Krossed Out, were the first rappers to wear their clothes backwards.

But why?

A couple of months ago, Chris Kelly, who was just found dead in his Atlanta home at the age of 34, talked about where the fashion trend came from. In the interview with Yahoo, he said:

It was kind of a collective idea. We was all just sitting around thinking of something to do different. It probably could have been Jermaine that said, “Hey let’s put our pants on backwards.” I was the first one to do it, and I’m still the last one to still be doing it. We went to the mall and got so much attention. We was like, “Ok, this is it.’” And it just went from there.”

Even more astonishing then how the trend was started, Chris Kelly revealed that he in fact still wore his clothing backward:

“How uncomfortable was it to wear your pants backwards?

I don’t know. Everybody always ask me that. But you have to understand I’ve been wearing my pants backwards for 21 years. Really since ‘91 ‘cause we started a year before we even came out with a record. When I wake up that’s how my pants get put on.

Are you saying that you’ve continued to wear you pants backwards all these years?

Yeah. I’ve worn my pants backwards since 1991; never frontwards.

If you go back to 1991, did people tell you you were crazy for wearing your pants backwards?

Yeah. Yeah. And you know people today are like, “Well, I can’t believe you still wear your pants backwards.” Even if I put on a suit, I put my suit pants on backwards. It’s just a way of life for me.”

That’s a brother who was down for the cause.

Scroll down below to see more pics of Kris Kross and the iconic fashion trend they birthed.