The fashion tides have been shifting. Luxury fashion, which once sat atop its ivory tower, no longer holds the same command on trends as it used to. Instead, its once untouchable walls are crashing down to accommodate a new force in fashion: streetwear.
Streetwear and luxury fashion have always had a fickle relationship. High fashion, for the most part, has always been an industry geared towards a certain elite. Streetwear, on the other hand, was uniform for skaters and teens who wanted to make a statement — but you had to earn your street cred to be worthy of wearing a Thrasher tee. Both high fashion and streetwear had points to pick from each other. Streetwear may have lacked the authority that comes from years of establishing one’s name as a major fashion house, but high fashion was parched of youthful vigor and excitement that streetwear had. In streetwear terms: hype.
Enter Off-White, the brainchild of designer and Kanye West cohort Virgil Abloh — who has since garnered a “love him or hate him” reputation in the fashion world. If you look at the brand’s roots, you’ll see that it arrived at a time when the lines between high fashion and streetwear were just starting to blur. Prior signs included Celine’s Air Force-1 inspired sneakers and Kanye West’s infamous Givenchy kilt while performing on tour. But it was Abloh’s official appointment as the new artistic director of Louis Vuitton that really shook the pillars of luxury fashion. Unlike other legendary directors like Phoebe Philo, Riccardo Tisci, and Hedi Slimane, Abloh didn’t boast a track record with other houses, much less an in-depth fashion background. This was a man who made a business out of being himself, as exhibited in his designs that were devoid of pretense and knew how to not take itself so seriously — both vital lessons that high fashion could take a page from.
His appointment brought streetwear into the same conversation as high fashion. According to Complex Network founder Marc Ecko, the time is done for the traditional gatekeepers of fashion. “There’s a new generation, a new cohort, and new energy that’s very authentic and comes from really passionate people. People are passionate about design and culture. The design houses and brands are drawn to creative energy so they’re finding the source and they’re finding it inspiring,” he said. “There’s a connection happening that’s a reorganization of luxury.”
Now, more and more brands like Demna, Gosha, Balenciaga and folks scattered around the streets of Fashion Week are quickly following suit — if only in hopes of establishing a follower base as solid as a line outside a Supreme store. The world of fashion is being turned on its head as we know it, with a pair of sneakers being held to a higher regard than premium Italian leather. Even streetwear’s baggy silhouettes are inspiring luxury labels, from oversized coats to palazzo pants — which Pretty Me highlights as the epitome of effortless cool. And of course, in our image-centric era of Instagram, “effortless cool” is the gold standard. Much of streetwear’s appeal is you aren’t just making a statement — you’re screaming into the virtual world that this is who you are. The numbers don’t lie either. A study by Bain & Company reveals that luxury streetwear has helped bolster sales of luxury goods by 5%.
Digiday reports that Copdate CEO Andrew Raisman describes the phenomenon as just what the fashion industry has needed for so long. “The greatest part of this shift is that it keeps the creatives from not being lazy, and let’s be honest. It was lazy for a while. The way luxury looked 15 years ago? Give me a break,” he expressed in an interview. “Everyone got a good shakeup, and this whole incorporation of artists and collaborations and capsules, that’s keeping these brands on their toes and pushing out better product. It’s a zero sum game.”
Written by: Ashley Craig
