Reigning SUPREME
From sneakers on the red carpet to hoodies on the runway, streetwear has taken over the fashion industry.
“[Streetwear brands] were always viewed as more ‘underground’ or alternative,” says Daysia Tolentino, 20, who’s knowledge of and love for the style stemmed from her streetwear enthusiast father. “[But then,] streetwear met high fashion and… [now] it's a really booming industry to be in.” Traditionally couture brands have latched on to streetwear in recent years, bringing the style in vogue. High-fashion brand Louis Vuitton even collaborating with the streetwear brand Supreme in 2017.
Streetwear Rise and Origins
Luke Tadashi, co-founder and creative director of Bristol Studio (an up-and-coming lifestyle brand) in Los Angeles, says the move towards high-fashion has helped legitimize the style. “[The move] makes the culture more desirable… what was once couture now could be looked at as streetwear,” he says. Bristol Studio is a streetwear brand that focuses on the sportswear side of street style (see sidebar for more streetwear classifications), in recent years the brand has grown with the rise of streetwear and the popularity of athleisure.
But streetwear isn’t new, the style has been around for decades. According to Kelly Reddy-Best, Ph.D and assistant professor of Apparel, Merchandise, and Design at Iowa State University, the style developed in the 80s and 90s in black/African American hip-hop culture during a time when many subculture styles were forming. Reddy-Best says, a lot of social movements began post-1950s and as these countercultures formed, a lot of different subcultural styles began to emerge. During this time the system in which styles were popularized changed. “At the turn of the 20th century, you really see this revolution in style happening where we all of a sudden see people looking to [these subcultures],” she says.
Street style isn’t the only subculture to be taken mainstream. The punk movement, a product of the anger in the working class in the 70s, experienced something similar. “[In the] punk movement… we see anarchists. These people are anti-capitalists, they are anti anything that would be in a mall,” says Reddy-Best. After its move to mainstream in the 1970s, it became part of the culture the original movement was against, appearing in mainstream stores like Hot Topic. “Punk style could be an equivalent to the co-opting of hip-hop style it's just that the corporations didn't steal it from black people, they stole it from… the working class,” Says Reddy-Best. The theft of hip-hop style form the black community has sparked many conversations around cultural appropriation (see sidebar) but has not waned the style’s rise to mainstream culture.
Unlike punk, streetwear today does not originate from just one counterculture. “Streetwear means so many different things to different people that it's almost worth defining for yourself,” says Tadashi who got his love for streetwear from growing up playing basketball. “I use streetwear and sportswear interchangeably… [I want to] reinterpret my love for sportswear, specifically basketball, through different modern streetwear silhouettes,” he says.
Streetwear aficionado, Daysia Tolentino also agrees that streetwear is difficult to define. “I don't think there's one definition of streetwear… My dad has been wearing Carhartt since he was young, he's [also] been working blue collar since he was young. That’s what his Carhartt wear is for, for working in, but now it’s for fashion,” she says. “I grew up getting hand me downs from my dad...My whole life he’s been collecting Supreme-wear, Hundreds, Obey--even before Supreme blew the fuck up” says Tolentino. She also says she sees a lot of streetwear inspiration not only coming from sportswear but also workwear. “[Streetwear is] not a really prim sleek silhouette it’s always going to be something really casual… it’s very comfortable,” Tolentino says.
It’s All About Personalization
Dominique Senteza, 21, senior and design minor at Washington University is a life-long fashion follower who is just getting into streetwear. “I like streetwear because it is inspiration. It shows the artist in other people,” Senteza says. Senteza prefers the more athletic side of streetwear and generally sticks with neutrals when it comes to color choice, but likes to mix it up when it comes to silhouettes. She says, “I really like to mix fancier pieces with very casual… I rarely wear skirts and dresses without having something kind of boxy or super masculine to offset it.”
Tolentino does something similar when putting streetwear looks together. “A lot of the [streetwear] silhouettes are more masculine, and I have always liked combining masculine and feminine silhouettes, cause that's my personal style and what I really enjoy,” she says. Finding masculine mixable pieces has been easier Tolentino says, because streetwear as a whole is more geared towards men. “Most things are sized in… not to be binary, but traditionally male sizes and are run by men,” she says. But that doesn't stop her from taking the more masculine silhouette and personalizing it. “That's how I make streetwear my own, is to fuse it together… to put a feminine touch on it… It’s the type of look that says ‘yeah, I know I'm sexy but fuck you don't fuck with me,” says Tolentino.
Tadashi also finds a way to make streetwear his own by blending his passions. “I want to attack [designing streetwear] in a way that's honest and authentic to me. I have always really seen sport as much a form of art as a competition. My interpretation of sportswear is really blending those ideas,” he says. In addition to the blending of styles, Tadashi sees value in the blending of subcultures within streetstyle. “I think there are people who are interpreting that sort of subculture in really unique ways. They're not directly from that culture but they are adding… it speaks to sort of that blending of different subcultures to in a way to create new fields and new forms of expression,” he says. Tadashi says as long as it is done in a way that is authentic to the creator this use of cultures should be available to everyone.
Senteza has also seen a lot of different interpretations of streetwear, but has seen a difference when it comes to racial subcultures. “I've seen a lot of different trends in street style between different races. I've gotten a lot more into seeing what black people wear who follow different influencers who are African American. I've noticed the patterns they wear are different or they even just wear more colors,” she says.
The flexibility within streetwear is part of the reason why it grew so popular and was able to overtake the high fashion industry the way it did. Tadashi sees a continuance of this adaptability in the future of streetwear. He says, “The nature of our world whether it’s fashion or anything, everything is cyclical, I don't think it will forever exist in its current form or in its pasts forms I think it will continue to evolve and grow and shift.” While it has the ability to become unique to the individual, it is a style that will never truly die according to Tolentino. She says, “Streetwear culture is always going to be there, there's always going to be people who that's their look and that's their style and that's what they really enjoy wearing….Even if the hype declines there will still be people that want the next Supreme drop.”
“[Streetwear brands] were always viewed as more ‘underground’ or alternative,” says Daysia Tolentino, 20, who’s knowledge of and love for the style stemmed from her streetwear enthusiast father. “[But then,] streetwear met high fashion and… [now] it's a really booming industry to be in.” Traditionally couture brands have latched on to streetwear in recent years, bringing the style in vogue. High-fashion brand Louis Vuitton even collaborating with the streetwear brand Supreme in 2017.
Streetwear Rise and Origins
Luke Tadashi, co-founder and creative director of Bristol Studio (an up-and-coming lifestyle brand) in Los Angeles, says the move towards high-fashion has helped legitimize the style. “[The move] makes the culture more desirable… what was once couture now could be looked at as streetwear,” he says. Bristol Studio is a streetwear brand that focuses on the sportswear side of street style (see sidebar for more streetwear classifications), in recent years the brand has grown with the rise of streetwear and the popularity of athleisure.
But streetwear isn’t new, the style has been around for decades. According to Kelly Reddy-Best, Ph.D and assistant professor of Apparel, Merchandise, and Design at Iowa State University, the style developed in the 80s and 90s in black/African American hip-hop culture during a time when many subculture styles were forming. Reddy-Best says, a lot of social movements began post-1950s and as these countercultures formed, a lot of different subcultural styles began to emerge. During this time the system in which styles were popularized changed. “At the turn of the 20th century, you really see this revolution in style happening where we all of a sudden see people looking to [these subcultures],” she says.
Street style isn’t the only subculture to be taken mainstream. The punk movement, a product of the anger in the working class in the 70s, experienced something similar. “[In the] punk movement… we see anarchists. These people are anti-capitalists, they are anti anything that would be in a mall,” says Reddy-Best. After its move to mainstream in the 1970s, it became part of the culture the original movement was against, appearing in mainstream stores like Hot Topic. “Punk style could be an equivalent to the co-opting of hip-hop style it's just that the corporations didn't steal it from black people, they stole it from… the working class,” Says Reddy-Best. The theft of hip-hop style form the black community has sparked many conversations around cultural appropriation (see sidebar) but has not waned the style’s rise to mainstream culture.
Unlike punk, streetwear today does not originate from just one counterculture. “Streetwear means so many different things to different people that it's almost worth defining for yourself,” says Tadashi who got his love for streetwear from growing up playing basketball. “I use streetwear and sportswear interchangeably… [I want to] reinterpret my love for sportswear, specifically basketball, through different modern streetwear silhouettes,” he says.
Streetwear aficionado, Daysia Tolentino also agrees that streetwear is difficult to define. “I don't think there's one definition of streetwear… My dad has been wearing Carhartt since he was young, he's [also] been working blue collar since he was young. That’s what his Carhartt wear is for, for working in, but now it’s for fashion,” she says. “I grew up getting hand me downs from my dad...My whole life he’s been collecting Supreme-wear, Hundreds, Obey--even before Supreme blew the fuck up” says Tolentino. She also says she sees a lot of streetwear inspiration not only coming from sportswear but also workwear. “[Streetwear is] not a really prim sleek silhouette it’s always going to be something really casual… it’s very comfortable,” Tolentino says.
It’s All About Personalization
Dominique Senteza, 21, senior and design minor at Washington University is a life-long fashion follower who is just getting into streetwear. “I like streetwear because it is inspiration. It shows the artist in other people,” Senteza says. Senteza prefers the more athletic side of streetwear and generally sticks with neutrals when it comes to color choice, but likes to mix it up when it comes to silhouettes. She says, “I really like to mix fancier pieces with very casual… I rarely wear skirts and dresses without having something kind of boxy or super masculine to offset it.”
Tolentino does something similar when putting streetwear looks together. “A lot of the [streetwear] silhouettes are more masculine, and I have always liked combining masculine and feminine silhouettes, cause that's my personal style and what I really enjoy,” she says. Finding masculine mixable pieces has been easier Tolentino says, because streetwear as a whole is more geared towards men. “Most things are sized in… not to be binary, but traditionally male sizes and are run by men,” she says. But that doesn't stop her from taking the more masculine silhouette and personalizing it. “That's how I make streetwear my own, is to fuse it together… to put a feminine touch on it… It’s the type of look that says ‘yeah, I know I'm sexy but fuck you don't fuck with me,” says Tolentino.
Tadashi also finds a way to make streetwear his own by blending his passions. “I want to attack [designing streetwear] in a way that's honest and authentic to me. I have always really seen sport as much a form of art as a competition. My interpretation of sportswear is really blending those ideas,” he says. In addition to the blending of styles, Tadashi sees value in the blending of subcultures within streetstyle. “I think there are people who are interpreting that sort of subculture in really unique ways. They're not directly from that culture but they are adding… it speaks to sort of that blending of different subcultures to in a way to create new fields and new forms of expression,” he says. Tadashi says as long as it is done in a way that is authentic to the creator this use of cultures should be available to everyone.
Senteza has also seen a lot of different interpretations of streetwear, but has seen a difference when it comes to racial subcultures. “I've seen a lot of different trends in street style between different races. I've gotten a lot more into seeing what black people wear who follow different influencers who are African American. I've noticed the patterns they wear are different or they even just wear more colors,” she says.
The flexibility within streetwear is part of the reason why it grew so popular and was able to overtake the high fashion industry the way it did. Tadashi sees a continuance of this adaptability in the future of streetwear. He says, “The nature of our world whether it’s fashion or anything, everything is cyclical, I don't think it will forever exist in its current form or in its pasts forms I think it will continue to evolve and grow and shift.” While it has the ability to become unique to the individual, it is a style that will never truly die according to Tolentino. She says, “Streetwear culture is always going to be there, there's always going to be people who that's their look and that's their style and that's what they really enjoy wearing….Even if the hype declines there will still be people that want the next Supreme drop.”
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Types of Streetwear
Streetwear evolved from a lot of different subcultures, but the main two are hip-hop and skate cultures. As these two subcultures became more mainstream, the streetwear of today began to develop. Some of the common types of streetwear include: Athleisure - generally characterized around comfort. Adaption of athletic wear into everyday clothing but with more of a high fashion and often tailored spin. ex) leggins, joggers, sneakers, etc. Sportswear - Very similar to and often times lumped together with Athleisure. Rooted and often inspired by basketball culture. Bristol Studio would fall into this category ex) Terrys, sweatpants, sweatshirts, etc. Workwear- Grew out of the working class and is generally more utilitarian and structure based. ex) combat boots, heavy-duty jackets, knit hats, etc. Brand-Oriented- although this could be said of all types of streetwear, there is a particular section of followers who are all about the brand. Supreme and Obey are both examples of this, making their logos the centerpoint on most of their products. There are a lot more factors that go into streetwear and many more categories could be named, but streetwear has become something that is deeply personal. Streetwear is a reflection of the quest for individuality evident in fashion today. The flexibility of customization within the style is a major part of its appeal and definition. |
Defining Appropriation
When it comes to streetwear, often times the terms ‘cultural appropriation’ and ‘cultural appreciation’ are thrown around, but many people don't know what they mean. Kelly Reddy-Best, Ph.D. and assistant professor of Apparel, Merchandise, and Design at Iowa State University, defines them: Cultural Appropriation: Where people steal cultural signifiers from a community, but usually the community are those who have historically experienced oppression Ex) Marc Jacobs Spring/Summer 2017 fashion show featured white models adorned with colorful dreadlocks walking the runway. Hair is a large part of the African American community, and dreadlocks have huge cultural significance. On top of that, POC’s in the US have historically discriminated against in the workforce on the basis of hair, and in particular dreadlocks. As Harpers Bazaar online said, “Even though hippies, ravers, and other fringe cultures have appropriated this Rastafarian style for decades, it is a staple of the African-American community; a cultural touchstone.” Cultural Appreciation: Where people might say they borrow culturally significant aesthetics or mix them with their own aesthetic by admiring it and including it. Done in a way where it is not stolen and the history is considered. Ex) Mandarin Collars. The popular collar style was originated from Mandarin culture and can be dated back to as early as 200 BC according the KustomKit.com. The collar is a rounded unfolded style that cuffs the neck more than the traditional folded pointy western style. This has also been known as “Chinese collar suit, Nehru/Jawahar jacket, Mayo collar suit, Jodhpuri suit, grandad collar suit. You may also use terms like stand/round/closed/band collar and high collar suits” according to hangrr.com. The collar has come in and out of style throughout fashion history. Although it can steep into cultural appropriation if paired with other Mandarin garb by someone outside of that culture, on its own it is simply appreciation. |