Streetwear x high fashion - Complementary or contradicting?
By Sundhya Alter
11 / 7 / 2022
Streetwear is as critiqued as it is admired for its distinctive style. While brands such as Billionaires Boys Club, Bape, and Yeezy are known for their controversial legacies and cryptic designs, we would be negligent to not acknowledge their value as revolutionaries in the fashion industry. What distinguishes these brands is not their subcultural roots or radical take on casual luxury, but the way they produced style out of culture. Deriving inspiration from skateboarding and the growth of the hip-hop and punk scene, designers looked to emulate the aesthetics of already visible and established subcultures.
Although streetwear originated through accessible and functional wear, labels such as Supreme drew attention by ultimately mocking designer names creating a firm line between the two styles. However, as streetwear evolved, brands saw an opportunity to define the aesthetic through exclusivity, emanating an ‘it’ factor that became a way for consumers to buy their way into the culture. The once stringent line between streetwear and high fashion has suddenly become increasingly unclear. Now, collaborating with haute couture fashion houses is the norm among streetwear brands. Yet as one tracks the growth of this particular movement, the fluidity of streetwear is called into question. Has streetwear evolved to rely on designer audiences? And if so, does streetwear lose its cultural roots, or has it reached its natural endpoint?
Throughout the 90s and early 2000s, celebrities such as Pharrell, Nigo, and Kanye helped elevate the exclusivity of brands that advertised as streetwear. The power of drop culture was the catalyst for streetwear brands like Stussy and Supreme, making limited edition pieces synonymous with the status of having something no one else does. With a loyal cult following and increased participation between the music and fashion industry, streetwear managed to quickly flourish from a niche subculture to one of the most coveted styles within mainstream culture.
While streetwear collaborations were introduced as early as 2000, arguably one of the first landmark partnerships was Nike x Off-White, releasing its first sneaker in 2017. If the Jordan 1 Retro High OG “Chicago” wasn’t a classic already as one of the first pair of Jordans ever released, the Off-White Chicago 1 would solidify its fabled legacy. ] The material and metaphoric tying of Off White’s brand to one of Nike’s most celebrated shoes gave the brand a timeless hold on sneaker culture. An additional landmark partnership released the same year, was Supreme x Louis Vuitton in 2017. With a lookbook consisting of everything from hats and hoodies to trunks and key chains, streetwear was able to take on new terrain through objects and home design. These objects also acted as a precursor for the IKEA x Off White collab of 2019. The overlap of streetwear and home design is a testament to the ubiquitous nature of streetwear. Able to move and fuse with any aesthetic or product, streetwear encouraged its own sought-after notoriety. With two of the most recognizable logos in the industry, it encouraged the blurring of lines between streetwear and high fashion that would continue to poise streetwear as an elusive style with valued social tags.
The success of the Supreme x Louis Vuitton collection was seen as a moment in which yet another streetwear brand formally took on the standard of a luxury label. Following the trend, Palace x Gucci most recently released its collection in October of 2022. In partnering with Palace, one of the most popular skate brands, Gucci solidified its appeal to a more contemporary, democratized group of consumers. Interacting with a skateboard brand allowed Gucci to acquire the edge in its collection that diversified its creative direction. The collection consisted of pieces from graphic tees, motorcycle jackets, soccer jerseys, and even a Gucci Palace-adorned motorcycle.
While seemingly paradoxical aesthetics, the worlds of Palace and Gucci seemed to mesh seamlessly. The popularity of the collaborations speaks to the natural relationship between streetwear and high fashion. As more and more collaborations are designed, it appears that rather than losing its cultural origins, streetwear has morphed into the luxury appeal it has always desired to be. However, streetwear is not the only style adjusting. In recent years we have observed Gucci and other luxury brands intersect with streetwear by releasing logo t-shirts, tracksuits, and chunky sneakers. If both styles evolve to complement one another, drawing lines between the two becomes less and less relevant. The ambiguity that results is the revealing of what has always been a hybrid consumer culture, one that cares not about the significance of the clothing but the branding and appeal of its social value.