The year was 2012. It was cold out — not so cold that one might need a puffy coat, but definitely chilly enough for a scarf. Singer, songwriter and all-around intriguing person and style icon Lenny Kravitz had just the scarf in mind: an incredibly gigantic, cozy scarf-blanket that has sent the internet into a frenzy ever since. When it came time to announce his new TikTok account launch on Sept. 23, the first day of autumn, it seems no one knew more than Kravitz himself that it was time to bring the much-memed scarf back.
In the video, a triumphant Kravitz is captured wearing all-black — save for the scarf, which is casually slung over a shoulder as he walks toward the camera and says, “Grab your big scarf. It’s the first day of fall.”
Back in 2012, it’s likely that Kravitz had no idea the scarf he chose to wear while ostensibly running errands and enjoying a New York City day would go on to capture the hearts and imaginations of the masses.
Over the years, the singer has laughed along with the memes that resulted from his fashion choice and alternately offered explanations that are completely reasonable. He admitted that “the scarf is big,” then quickly told GQ, “but the internet has made it enormous.”
“You look at some of those [images] and it’s just like, ‘OK guys, the scarf is three times bigger than it really is in this picture, but it was big and it was cold,’” he concluded.
Kravitz has also pointed out that he lives in the Bahamas most of the year, so the cold weather in New York hits different when he’s in the States. The location is special to the singer. In 2019, he and his daughter Zoë traveled to the home on the island of Eleuthera where his grandfather grew up as part of a collaboration with filmmaker Eliot Rausch and luggage brand Tumi.
It’s unclear where Kravitz shot his autumnal TikTok debut clip, but one thing is pretty clear: when it comes to playing along with the internet, Kravitz seems happy to give all of us exactly what we want.
