With the rise of social media, streetwear has gained quite a lot of traction around the world. People of all races run through stores trying to buy exclusive items and be the first to post a photo about the rarity of certain products.
We all want to feel special and streetwear has done a good job marketing that very desires. And through the 50 years of the brief history of streetwear, it has made quite an impact on the world, influencing everything from the media to the fashion industry as a whole.
Streetwear’s influence in fashion
Ten years ago today, nobody would’ve ever imagined seeing the likes of streetwear on high-end fashion walkways. Today, that is a true reality.
The catwalk used to be a place for designers to create and conceptualize abstract ideas for apparel; it was meant to be over the top and unattainable. Yet, like everything else in life, as the world changes, things need to adapt accordingly. Thus, the catwalk began to slowly reflect the state of society more and more. Now, instead of solely exhibition out-of-the-world ideas, models are strutting beautifully down, wrapped in streetwear brands.
One of the most obvious ways in which high-end fashion brands have attempted to emulate streetwear is the “drop” model – a streetwear slang that refers to when a brand drops a limited, exclusive item; which then creates hype around the product and allows for rarity.
Streetwear is everywhere
From jeans to plaids, to even sweatshirts, apparel everywhere, in every form, are trying to borrow from what is ‘hot’ and rebrand themselves the way streetwear did. Brands like Levi’s are stepping up their game by redesigning their old jeans to be at a high-fashion level. The introduction of streetwear into the high fashion world has undoubtedly flipped the entire industry on its head, motivating designers to push their creativity to greater heights. As the saying goes, “competition drives innovation.”
The major influences on streetwear style
Revolving around the youth of every generation, streetwear is a style that has been influenced by a myriad of different cultures and subcultures. To get a better understanding of why and where certain styles came from, look no further than below.
- Skateboarding
Skating has always been around forever. There is no denying how much skateboarding has influenced culture and style. In fact, the biggest streetwear brands like Supreme and Stussy started off marketing to the skateboard world. From beanies to jerseys, all of these had their place in the sport, each serving a functional purpose in skateboarding. The sport itself is done on the streets, so to say that skateboarding had a bit of influence on streetwear itself would be a huge understatement.
- The military – You may have already noticed how some streetwear styles such as bomber jackets or khakis remind you of the army. The reason for that is because it serves as one of the inspirations to how streetwear apparel is designed. From camouflage print or the use of khaki fabrics, the colors and tones of military print have assimilated well into the fashion style. Moreover, with streetwear being all about freedom and counter-culture, the idea of the army empowering protest for self may be another interesting point of inspiration.
- Sailing – In the 1990’s windbreakers – which before this was pretty exclusive to sailors – began to gain popularity in modern streetwear fashion. This does not come as any surprise, though, considering that windbreakers have always been light, comfortable, and baggy – a definitive quality of many streetwear styles and clothing.
- The prep of British upper class – No one would’ve ever thought the preppy style of the British upper-class polo shirts would merge together with something like streetwear, but thanks to artists like Kanye West, this is a thing. Gaining great popularity in the US, this look gave a sense of added style to the loose hanging clothes that the youth was wearing at the time. Furthermore, due to its more refined image and connection to the upper-class, it gave the lower-class urbanites an added flavor to their step.
Clothing as a culture
One thing that people cannot deny, regardless of their fashion tastes, is that streetwear has shifted the way the Western world looks at clothing. Before, clothes were used to make a statement about oneself, or to, at the very least, represent one’s style.
Beyond the fashion world, t-shirts, sneakers, and hoodies alone were never reflected deep enough to be seen as having any effect on culture. But with streetwear and social media, that has all changed. It is and will continue to be, a salient aspect of society.
The sudden surge in hypebeasts
Hypebeasts are a perfect example of a community deriving from streetwear culture. Hypebeasts refer to the super consumers, those who have built an entire subculture around getting their hands on the latest, rarest, and greatest items in the market. Hypebeasts are based on the idea of exclusivity, willing to spend hundreds of dollars and hours to grab their hands on a product that isn’t massively produced.
Oftentimes, hypebeasts will learn the hustle and learn how to flip streetwear for profit. As fanatics themselves, they know there is a hungry market for the items they acquire and understand the demographic better than anyone. Using global platforms to buy and sell streetwear, this action has sparked an entirely new niche market to make money from.
Final Thoughts
There is no doubt that streetwear has made quite a measurable impact on society at large. As its reach goes across the globe, estimated to be a billion-dollar industry, it is no wonder that we have seen its influence everywhere, from music, movies, to the general public.
In the same way, centered around the idea of individualism, as long as a culture of self-expression in the youth remains, no matter how far and wide streetwear travels, it will continue to be influenced by what is happening in the now, along with the people in it.
It is in this way, streetwear will forever have its place in society, no matter how much time passes. It is going nowhere, and it will be interesting to see how it takes shape in the next few years.