As I toured many department and specialty stores plus fashion boutiques across So. California, it’s interesting to note the shift away from traditional styling – for men and women. While traditional businesswear and sportwear styles are still in demand, it’s taken a serious backseat to other trends- mostly due to the evolution and advancement of streetwear. You might think this trend of hip-hop or rapper-inspired streetwear is limited to a certain age-group or state in the US, that would be an incorrect assumption. How can I say that’s a fact? Easily– courtesy of today’s guest blogger,n writer and fashion trend spotter, Vicky Layton who is on the other side of the pond, based in the UK. Read through her post and you will note that she’s spot on with her insightful comments!
Streetwear in 2018: Overpriced or Worth The Price?
Since 2013, we’ve seen an exponential growth of expensive, highly branded streetwear pieces within the fashion business. With colossal brands like Virgil Abloh’s Pyrex 23 (now OFF-White), Gucci and Louis Vuitton focusing their entire production line (or most of it) on the matter, streetwear became the main focus within the industry. The questions that many have is: “are these pieces really worth the price? Am I just paying the brand or the actual quality?” Let’s break this down in more detail.
Neek Lurk And The LA Scene
Neek Lurk’s brand, AntiSocial Social Club(SIC) is the brightest example of the matter: started as a joke brand, this site peaked at 4 million views in a single day when Kanye West wore their infamous hoodie on his way to the gym. From that day, with almost 8 drops and collections, Anti Social Social Club reached the top and slowly died soon afterwards. In 2018, the brand is renowned for their painful customer service and their late dispatches (many are the ones, to this very day, who are waiting for last year’s orders). A couple of months ago, Neek previewed the brand’s new collection with a tee that had the words “Eye Hate Neek” on it. Not the best choice, Neek.
Gucci, From Accessories To Full Collections
The rise of the Gucci embroidered cap reached a point in which many different companies producing designer trucker caps started adapting to its flashiness. The UK market is thriving for these products, which is why the first ones who approached Gucci’s style (when it comes to streetwear caps) were them. Gucci has also always been a brand renowned for their high-class accessories and suits. In 2018, we can easily state the fact that they are heavily focusing on the eccentric, colourful streetwear collections, bringing them to the front at every Fashion Week.
The Louis Vuitton’s Paradigma
LV’s current creative director, Virgil Abloh , has been Kanye West’s creative director/mastermind and manager and also Pyrex 23 and OFF-White CEO and Founder. With that being said, how could a man like Abloh become the creative director of the most renowned fashion brand in the world? Well, LV started watching his steps moving forward within the streetwear world with many collaborations (Supreme above all) a couple of years ago. The directors at LV had the clear idea of becoming the biggest and most powerful streetwear brand ever, while still maintaining their high-quality standards. To this day, Supreme’s collaboration with the historic brand is still unrivaled for quality and design, with a reselling price fluctuating around $7500 for a hoodie.
Yeezy: A Market Based On Replicas
During last October, the entire Yeezy brand market value peaked around 30% because of “Unauthorized Fakes”, which opened the question in many expert’s minds:
“Are these pieces so easy to copy because of their poor quality?”.
2018 Adidas Yeezy SPLY 350 V2 Running Shoes
Adidas mentioned many times the fact that their collaboration with the rapper Kanye West was designed to provide a high-level designer piece for an “accessible price”, which automatically made experts within the field question the quality of the actual piece. Keep in mind, this is not just limited to their famous shoe, the 350 V2 SPLY ( SPLY = Saint Pablo Loves You), but includes their entire clothing range– which was called out many times for being “an expensive H&M replica”.
Good Streetwear: Commes Des Garcon
A great example of how the entire streetwear industry should work would definitely be the Japanese brand, Comme Des Garcon, which applied their trademark to simple, high-quality products for an accessible price. Japanese streetwear doesn’t have a middle field and it’s either incredibly flashy or very polite, which is CDG’s case. With many active collaborations (Converse All Stars x CDG is still a great pair of shoes), Rei Kawakubo’s brand is destined to greatness.
Conclusion:
The sentence “You’re just paying for the brand” could be true for certain ones but, especially when it comes to high-level collaborations from well-renowned studios and designers, most of the times you’re actually paying for the quality, which is why streetwear is such a big phenomenon at the moment.
Bio for Vicky Layton:
Hi! My name is Vicky, I’m a fashion designer, running enthusiast and occasional model. Fashion is and will always be my passion and I also love sports. I am currently doing an internship but I would love to open my showroom soon!
Thank you to Vicky Layton for this insightful piece on the direction of streetwear globally! These high-end brands/stores are definitely shifting gears towards streetwear since it’s wearable -day or night- and in some cases, it’s wearable for business or casual wear. This is a very smart piece with lots of details to chew on!
Stevie Wilson,
LA-Story.com
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