Lenny Kravitz Breaks Down His Iconic Looks: From Accidental Dreadlocks to His 'Big Scarf Moment' (Exclusive)

To say Lenny Kravitz is a style icon would be putting it mildly.

Kravitz has been turning heads with his fashion choices for decades — and he's owns every style choice.

"I love fashion; I love playing with clothes," he tells PEOPLE exclusively in a new edition of PEOPLE's Iconic Looks, as part of his cover story. "It’s an outward expression of how you feel. I started playing in my mom’s closet, and I’m still playing in my mom’s closet."

The rock star musician and actor, who burst onto the music scene in the 1980s, walked through some of his biggest style moments over the years — including his "big scarf moment" and his beloved Afro from the 1970s (which he says he was "very serious" about).

While Kravitz, 59, has long been known for his gender-bending sexy style, he's also long been known for his dreadlocks. It turns out, though, they were an accident.

In the 1980s, when he first moved in with Lisa Bonet (whom he would eventually marry and then divorce), he says he brought everything with him except his hair products.

"[The locs were] something that [were] actually unintentional," he tells PEOPLE. "I had never planned on dreading, but I moved in with Lisa — I brought my instruments, my things, and somehow, I forgot my comb. And after, like, a couple months, my hair started matting, and I was like, oh, I better do something."

Bonet disagreed and convinced him to keep the dreadlocks. He did just that for over a decade. It wasn't until 2000 that he cut them off (only to grow them back again later). He calls the moment in 2000 when he had them cut off "very heavy," adding that he didn't like it much. 

Kravitz also touches on what is perhaps his most viral style moment ever — you guessed it — that big scarf. Much like his accidental dreadlocks, the big scarf wasn't intentional either. The man was just trying to stay warm.

"I was going to the market, just to get some groceries. Didn’t think I’d be seeing anybody. It was cold, and yes, I own that big scarf that I had made for me," he says while looking at the photo. "It has become the meme and symbol and representation of cold weather coming."

Kravitz brought his big scarf back last September when he joined TikTok, poking fun at himself and all the memes his cozy scarf has brought into the world.

"I live in the Bahamas most of the time — yes I’m from New York — but I don’t like the cold," he tells PEOPLE. "I needed it. It was out of necessity. I was not trying to create a fashion moment, believe me." 

The "TK421" singer is so much of a style icon that other A-listers can't help but copy him. Just weeks ago, Kravitz stepped out for the Golden Globe Awards wearing a backless Alexander McQueen tuxedo jumpsuit — and Emily Blunt wore the exact same one days later.

Sure, Blunt already had it picked out when Kravitz wore his, but the rock star wearing it on the award show carpet certainly helps your style cred.

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Kravitz jokes that he told Blunt he would wear one of her dresses to even the score but also tells PEOPLE that Blunt looked "absolutely beautiful" in the jumpsuit. He was also totally into their twinning moment.

"It was a win for the both of us."

For more on Lenny Kravitz's life and other Black History Month stories, pick up this week's issue of PEOPLE, available on newsstand everywhere Friday.