If you were a polarizing Canadian rapper who had a tumultuous end to your 30s and had spent the better part of the last year releasing a trove of new music to change the narrative, what would you want to signal through your 40th birthday attire?

Drake, who turned 40 on Saturday, appeared this weekend in a series of over-the-top outfits that seemed to relay a message: new decade, new Drake. And while he’s always favored a big coat, a cozy knit or, better yet, a big and cozy knit, the new tenets of his style seem to highlight his tendencies toward, maximalist, playful and sometimes absurd pairings.

His big brown poncho, or as The Cut dubbed it, his “Christian Girl Autumn” look, went viral so quickly that it generated Halloween costume inspiration in less than a day. But then he followed it up with this: a custom Chrome Hearts faux-fur leopard print jacket emblazoned with red crosses, a flowy white dress shirt, matching slick red leather pants and burgundy cowboy boots. The look also had a subtle, sentimental touch; he wore a portrait of his parents housed inside a custom Anomaly Relic necklace gifted to him by his stylist, Juliet Charlotte. She also confirmed she’s the one behind his full set of birthday outfits.

 

Turning 40 is a big milestone for anyone, especially for people with no shortage of funds to do strange or extravagant things to stave off a mid-life crises. Grace Kelly famously threw a lavish Scorpio party, Beyoncé launched an interactive website and Kim Kardashian hosted a private-island affair that was criticized for being tone deaf during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Over the past year, Drake has seemingly wrestled with when to lay low and when to pull stunts. But for his birthday, he leaned into the latter, reportedly booking the Backstreet Boys for a private performance at Cipriani in New York and giving away $1 million to his guests during the party. His birthday looks set the tone of the weekend, and when it comes to public perception, you either love or hate the rapper, and the same goes for his sense of style. You almost have to admire his later-in-life embrace of kitsch. (Remember his filled-to-the-brim room of Hermès Birkins set aside for his future wife?)

Though he has yet to announce dates, Drake has signaled he’ll tour next year following his three-part album release of 2026. It’ll be an opportunity for a full rebrand and a reminder that Drake is never afraid to be unapologetically, well, Drake.