Urban streetwear style - how to build it and how to stand out?
Streetwear, in the common sense, is nothing more than street fashion. This basically ubiquitous concept in practice means the fashion sector that is growing at a dizzying pace. According to PWC data from 2019, the value of the global streetwear clothing market is estimated at USD 185 billion, which constitutes approximately 10% of the entire global clothing and footwear market. The style of street fashion can be varied, but most often it simply means wearing fashionable, yet comfortable, everyday clothes from the hottest brands. How to introduce streetwear vibes into your wardrobe and how to stand out? More on that below.
Streetwear – what is it?
The dictionary definition of streetwear is quite simple: fashionable, casual clothing. However, this definition downplays what has become a multi-billion dollar retail phenomenon with roots in the countercultures of the 1980s and 1990s, including graffiti, hip-hop, skate and surfing.
Essentially, streetwear is the production, promotion, sale and resale of casual fashion, mainly footwear such as sneakers, but also T-shirts and other items - in a way that bypasses traditional retail channels, often challenging the way the fashion industry has long defined and dictated. The audience, and therefore the target market, is very young: mostly under 25 years old.
The communities that originally pioneered streetwear were largely male-dominated, so the style was originally adopted and driven by men, presenting a traditionally masculine appearance. In the beginning, streetwear was simple and an antidote to the sophisticated, complicated styles that were in vogue at the time. The formula was simple: people wore T-shirts and hoodies because that's what they liked. This uniform was as much about comfort as it was about self-expression.
Pioneers of this movement include James Jebbia, founder of the skate brand Supreme, and Shawn Stussy, founder of the surf brand Stüssy. Back in the 1980s, Harlem-based designer Dapper Dan played a key role in elevating streetwear to luxury, creating styles for hip-hop artists who were shunned by traditional luxury brands at the time.
While the movement has its roots in California and New York, other early adopters such as Hiroshi Fujiwara and Nigo, influential DJs and designers, were largely responsible for pioneering the street style and hip-hop scene in Japan in the 1980s .Like other significant cultural movements, streetwear quickly emerged simultaneously in major cities and regions around the world.
Brands with a streetwear vibe
It has long been known that specific brands fit a specific style or fashion trend. So what can be described as "streetwear"? Among them we can definitely distinguish:
