"Real street without trends": Experts on what is waiting for street fashion
Art, music, subculture life, DIY-spirit, and just everything that happened on the streets left its mark on the streetwear. He organically sprouted through the asphalt city without the knowledge of large companies and fashion houses: skaters, football fans, sneakerheads simply took what they liked from the fashion world. So, hoodie, Vans sneakers or Dr. boots. Martens once ceased to be "just clothes" and became a marker of the worldview of its owner.
But, like any living environment, the world of streets is changing - and the streetwear with it. Those most fashionable houses and, for example, sports corporations began to create collections with an eye to street style. In search of fresh solutions, the designers finally blurred the fashionable registers, bearing in mind the precepts of the legendary Massimo Osti, designer C.P. Company and Stone Island: "Only self-confident people do not mix styles." And even if it sometimes seems that everyone came up with us, street fashion does not think to die, despite the changes. We asked the experts what street street is today.
Today, fashion has nothing to sell: luxury is not rushing, there is the last untouched glade - streetwear. HYIP is inflated around him: street fashion has been, is and will be. This street is out of trend. "Street rats" carry what is comfortable, does not get dirty and is cheap. Now Supreme and Palace equals Philip Kirkorov. So much stupid around - parodies of non-original parodies.
Independent local underground brands have always ruled this street fashion. In New York, they can be found in the Labor skate shop. In Russia, unfortunately, this is not. There are several brands that I respect, for example, NNH. There was also a very cool skatebrain “Fracture”, but it was frozen for now. Small brands will always have the advantage of supporting the local scene. Even if you did something not very high quality, like-minded people will definitely support and will wear your clothes.
A long time ago I have not seen a teamwork that would hook me. Kollaby exhausted themselves about five years. Big companies have always flirted with a niche audience - now it's just a new round of popularity that will end sooner or later. Collaborations are difficult to replace - this is an ideal marketing story that can only be supplanted by an even more thoughtful approach.
Again, there are fast fashion brands, giants - everything is as it was, so be it. They need to pay dividends to shareholders, the board of directors does not order to slow down. So, pour collaborations and drops will be even more. But there are local brands on the "support of the boys," which are not important hyip, dividends and fashion. These guys are focused on their movement, their product. They are not interested in world fashion and a hundred collaborations per second.
As it usually happens, time passes and everyone looks back on a certain epoch. The next trend is a return to brands like Fresh Jive. Skateboarding will be popular for another couple of years, then it will decline again. Scooters, hoverboards, vape will come, probably hoverboards. Then again the rise of skateboarding - this is the last forty years. For me, streetwear has always been the fashion of the street - if you can say so, all the other "fashion" had nothing to do with it. I advise you to pay attention to 5Boro and Babylon LA. Another women's street fashion will gain momentum - it seems to me that girls want to be like boys, and boys are all on the "street." H & M opened the same Monki.
In the near future, it is unlikely that something will fundamentally change. The richest market with the highest demand, the USA, will continue to set the tone. The trend for convenience and functionality will continue. Fashion will continue to make friends with the sport; since flawless tech fabrics themselves are boring, street fashion will dilute them with techniques such as cropped jeans, Tai-dai, bright colors and the like. Exactly in the near future, we will not become an army named Acronym. Yes, in ten years time they will be doing parodies on parodies of parodies. And let the opinion be that there is nothing new to come up with, it is the heritage and experience that inspire something fresh.
Brands do not look at the audience from the point of view of “niche”, other, more understandable characteristics are important for them: gender, age and so on. In this case, large brands are interested in a young audience as a new point of growth in revenue and recognition. Large houses are owned by large shareholders: global corporations, investment funds and banks, which have noticed that the extensive growth in recent years in emerging markets like China has slowed down a lot, and medium-term and long-term growth strategies cannot be rewritten - they need to be implemented and reported to shareholders. The idea of interacting with young people not only provides additional revenue at the expense of completely new customers, but also “breathes new life” into the brand for already loyal customers.
Recent collaborations are pure marketing, and I don’t put a negative point in it. Now this approach is much cheaper, and therefore more effective than many other ways of promotion. Is that content marketing - even more interesting and effective tool in the right hands. As soon as the collaborations cease to work, that is, the cost becomes inadequate to the achieved result, they will again become less. In the meantime, let them collaborate! If the product turns out cool - then why not, if it turns out zashkvvar - no one will notice. In my opinion, this is a win-win for all participants of such geshefts. Someone, of course, can talk about the loss of purity of the idea and subcultural roots, but this is nagging in favor of the poor. Do not be too serious about things like clothing.
The demand for skateboarding has always been and will be - because it is near, it is available and it is honest, sincere emotions. When I say “trend,” I mean demand and size of demand. The brighter and more noticeable the trend - the more demand for it. As long as big brands with budgets will be interested in young people - be it beer, energy drinks or Gucci with Chanel - they will continue to invest and maintain the interest of a wide audience in an active lifestyle. However, the global trend for conscious consumption has already begun, and this is very good. Specifically, it does not exist in a hippbist niche simply because it contradicts the idea of an all-powerful hyip when demand creates supply.
First, you should not be too serious about things like clothes. Secondly, there is nothing better than Our Legacy, Stone Island and Cav Empt. Streetvir is still relevant. Maybe the format of consumption is changing, but we still walk the streets, listen to music, associate ourselves with subcultures and parties. There is a demand - there is street fashion; even the "holy" COS does not forget about it. As long as there are genuine honest feelings — love, passion, inspiration, and so on — nothing fundamentally changes.
In our time, to dress in the spirit of a streetwear, you need to move away from the rules. Sometimes, wearing something strict, you look much more in the subject, rather than discharging from head to toe in the logos of street brands. Japan today is more interesting than others in terms of street style. A great example of a streetwear brand is Needles. For more than ten years, he has combined Japanese heritage, sporting aesthetics and a modern approach in collections.
Previously, streetwear brands made parodies on the design of fashion houses - it was a kind of protest. Now they collaborate and release collaborations. Parodies of different formats will only gain momentum. Street fashion has become a business, and that has changed everything. For example, in Italy there is the brand Supreme Italia (copies the eminent Supreme from New York) - his clothes flooded the stores in the country. I do not like it. Stussy is a great example of a streetwear brand that continues to grow and develop intelligently, while maintaining aesthetics. Today, a beautiful logo is not enough, and Stussy realized this many years ago. Unfortunately, not all old brands manage to save face by inventing something new: often brands try to satisfy the rapidly changing needs of the client, losing charm.
Every month, countless collaborations come out, but many of them are unsuccessful - especially when there is no interesting idea in joint work, but only marketing. Collaboration is born from the union of different worlds, ideas, personalities, tastes. Now this is a combination of two logos. I believe that true collaborations still make sense. For example, we, Slam Jam, did the Napa by Martine Rose collaboration, combining the features characteristic of Martin's aesthetics and Napapijri DNA. For me, this is an excellent example of the synergy of two worlds.
The trend on skateboarding has almost disappeared. Now the trend is emerging on a combination of old things in the spirit of Polo Ralph Lauren with coarse shoes and something new. Our Legacy is a great example of this approach. It also seems to me that the term "streetwear" itself is no longer so relevant, especially against the background of the collaborations of Louis Vuitton x Supreme, brands like Gosha Rubchinskiy and Vetements. I recommend to pay attention to Suicoke, Wacko Maria, Needles, Martine Rose, AIE, Stussy, Balenciaga, Aries, Our Legacy.
I personally wonder what is happening in South Korea, many people underestimate the fashion scene of this country. Another very inspiring is what is happening around me in Amsterdam. Parodies for everything continue to be relevant. Counterfeits have been and will be part of the fashion: if you can not afford the original, you buy either a fake or a parody. When you have enough money, you choose real products, but there will always be parodies.
It is unlikely that there will be a return to such streetweare pioneers like The Hundreds. The brand may have inspired many, but the rules of the game have changed a lot since then. I can not imagine that around the same The Hundreds there was a stir, similar to what surrounds the Palace. This does not negate respect for the brand: for example, Karl Kani and Fubu did not survive, but they are still considered with them.
In the near future, more and more collaborations like Supreme x Louis Vuitton will appear - this union has shown the way to other luxury brands. Maybe soon we will see the joint work of Gucci with some streetwear brand. We, Daily Paper, began to cooperate with L'Oréal. A few years ago, no one thought about this. The gap between the old and new generations of consumers is huge, and corporations understand this - not surprisingly, they are trying to solve the problem. Long-term cooperation brings additional experience to the culture of consumption, and some of them will never lose their relevance.
I do not think skateboarding is a trend or something passing. Similarly, I think about hip-hop - it was and remains one of the important components of the world of streetwear and will always be relevant, like the term "streetwear". Some good stores have begun to focus on fashion for girls - for example, Naked, Maha, Kith Women, Norse Store; there are now special releases exclusively for women. I also recommend paying attention to the brand Botter.
Photo: JieDa, Stussy, Palace, OiO!