The Influences in Streetwear Fashion

It is very hard to define streetwear fashion. Although the truly distinctive style is said to be rooted in the skate and surf culture of the West Coast, the trend has grown so much over the years that it has come to encompass many influences and elements of various fashions, such as hip hop or modern haute culture fashion, as well as Japanese street style. Streetwear is hard to define as a style mainly due to the fact that it is under continuous evolution. However, there is a certain constant within the ever changing trend and that is the type of clothing. Streetwear is all about comfort and casualness and the clothing reflect that, being centered on T-shirts, jeans, baseball caps and sneakers. This can also be easily noticed on any streetwear online store and there are many on the Internet, as the trend is extremely popular among today’s youth. Whether they are trying to make a point or simply be part of such a passionate culture, many kids and teenagers today are keen on this type of fashion and spend even significant amounts of money on their wardrobe, although mainly this clothing style can be found at reasonable prices on web stores.

As mentioned above, streetwear fashion has been born on the West Coast, more exactly out of the LA surf culture at the end of the 70s and the beginning of the 1980s. However, the trend knew many influences along the way, especially when the 1980s came around and music became the key influencer in fashion. When the hip hop culture emerged, a more definite imprint was left on the fashion, while music icons started to influence the trend. Before the advent of the “bling” culture, it was the sports superstars like Michael Jordan that proved to be turning points. As a result, Nike began dominating the urban streetwear market with the Jordan sneakers that are popular and highly sought after even now and can be found on any streetwear online store. Due to the fact that the style was so popular, many luxury brands started to make incursion into the market in the 90s, brands such as Gucci, Burberry and Fendi.

The ones that have placed a definite imprint on the streetwear fashion were record companies’ chief execs, such as Russell Simmons, who launched the Phat Farm label, and Sean Combs who, together with Jay-Z and Damon Dash, launched Roca-Wear. As easily noticeable, the fashion had many influences over the years and it is not hard to understand why it has such a great appeal within today’s youth, as they are assaulted by the images of music icons wearing such clothing everywhere they turn their heads. As a respond to the high market demand, there are many stores, many of them on the Internet, that specialize in marketing streetwear clothing and shoes, and even retro sneakers such as the Jordan ones from Nike. With a little bit of online research, interested buyers can find a wide variety of clothes and accessories within this style and even unique, retro pieces.