It’s one of the most important fashion trends in the last 30 years. But despite sharper style and direction than everbefore, the fashion industry’s top designers tell Design Week that the secret authentic streetwear is rooted in the grassroots.
With an estimated value of $165 billion globally streetwear has emerged as one of the most prominent trends in the fashion world of today. It was a result of the counter-culture in the 80s and 90s The first to pioneer streetwear were skateboarders as well as surfers from the US.
In the early days the streetwear industry was created by those who wore it by surfers and skaters creating clothing with personalized designs and slogans. As time went on the emergence of brands took off and emerge, including Stussy and Freshjive beginning to emerge in the 1980s, with other brands like Supreme, 10.Deep and Bape being introduced in the 1990s.
The fashion subversives of the past The success of the current labels is mostly due to deep knowledge of social media as well as polished graphic design and notable collaborations. Fans wait for hours to get their first-choice Supreme inventory drops. They’re willing to spend more than the cost of purchase to purchase exclusive Bape merchandise.
While today’s brands are more sophisticated than their predecessors, and their style is more popular than ever before, staying connected to their DIY and community-based roots is an integral element of many companies’ business. This method, adopted by established and well-known brands alike, adds a whole new degree of loyalty to the fanbases of brand-loving streetwear who are keen to encourage.
“Pushing the entire culture”
In 2008, prior to when Mikey Trapstar was established with the Trapstar brand, the now global streetwear giant was printing pictures on t-shirts using Snappy Snaps located in West London. Later, it upgraded towards a printer on screen that had an emphasis on graphics, Trapstar began selling its merchandise on the social network Myspace.
“We (Mikey and co-founders Lee and Willwere able to purchase burner phones and then give our numbers on Myspace,” says Mikey. “And once you’d placed your order for clothing and we’d travel to you and drop it off in an empty pizza box. Then you called us up and we’d deliver it to you in person.”
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From the humble beginnings of the brand, Trapstar has evolved into an international streetwear phenomenon and signed to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label in the year 2011. However, according to Mikey his sources, endorsements from celebrities and Instagram likes aren’t the only thing that matter and the most important factor to Trapstar’s success is its position in the eyes of its followers.
“We’ve worked on it since 2008, which was young of the UK streetwear market and as the result, we’ve taken on a lot of responsibility in this,” he says. “It was not just our intention to promote this particular style of clothing; it was the entire society that revolved around it.”
Since its beginnings of pop-up celebrations that were held in stores (what we refer to as “invasions”) Mikey says that the brand has created an intimate community. Mikey says that being part of these communities is the reason people are drawn to it.
“A similar trade-off”
The idea that brands should create their brand identity around their local communities is a tenet supported by a range of streetwear brands. For example, in this case, Done London, what began as a group of friends who printed t-shirts for others has evolved into a global company that has recently released an extremely desired capsule collection that is endorsed by Transport for London (TfL).
“We started making things for our own friends and ourselves at the beginning,” says Done London co-founder Will Rowley-Conwy. “It was really an opportunity to get to know our friends and, when we finally began selling t-shirts we noticed that people were interested in the work we were doing since they appreciated the work that we put into creating things.”
Rowley-Conwy and Co-founder Tom Andrews are quick to say that it’s a crowded one “There’s 100 streetwear companies popping up on Instagram each day, but how many of them last?” To preserve their individual style, the two have nurtured their community, pointing out Done as an outlet for creatives instead of a single brand.
“We aid artists and musicians develop their own merchandise, and we also assist other streetwear brands create their own products,” says Andrews. “People are drawn to brands they love and when you are able to help them develop their own brands, it’s a similar for like exchange.”
“Real members will imagine it”
Collaboration-based fashion company Collusion is a step forward, creating whole collections through partnerships with the larger community. Since its debut in the year 2018 Collusion has been inviting generation-z and millennial creatives to create clothes, describing the choice “[a celebration ofthe people wearing it”.
“[Our clients] demand more than garments,” says Collusion’s head of design Sian Ryan, “they look to buy from brands they connect and agree with.”
Ryan says that the Collusion brand is based on the freedom to express yourself and inclusion and guest designers are brought into the cause to support the idea. Because the styles of these designers are different between collections, Collusion is branded through its social-based approach, not any uniform fashion.
Ryan states: “The brand model sets up to evolve continuously and is never fixable… The actual members of the Collusion group] are going to always be invited to reinvent and redefine it.”
One of the brand’s initial collaborators the artist Jebi Ndimuntoh Labembika, discusses the process: “Back home [in Cameroonevery tribe has its own unique way of doing things which is why when they are introduced to the world, every tribe is identified. The clothing, the collaborators models, the message of CollusionAll of it is the tribe.”
“A method to identify ourselves”
With well-established communities and established, the graphics of streetwear brands have a deeper significance. Beyond being a means to add style to clothing, logos are now recognizable badges. Mikey describes: “[Our Trapstar logo] is a strong resemblance to strength, and it reflects the strength we imitate every other aspect of the brand.
“People would like to be a part of that inner strength and power The logo serves as a way to convey that image to others in our own community as well as outside it.”
The Done by London’s TfL collection, with the various compass points of the capital city, has the same impact. “People including us feel proud about where they came from, and they’re very proud of the communities they live in,” says Rowley-Conwy.
“For certain people, it may seem strange to wear a t-shirt which declares that the city of their birth is south London However, people are looking to identify themselves as belonging to the same group, and these designs provide a means to achieve it.”
Mikey concludes: “Trapstar will always keep the essence of its initial philosophy of the brand in order to let people know the community they’re joining whenever they put on our clothing We are the same people.”