The Popularity of Streetwear and its Emergence in the Office Scene
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Everyone from the New York Times to the Paris Fashion Week is lining up to take on the unprecedented growth of street wear and related styles. In 2011, the global street wear industry was valued at around $60 billion, and the number has since grown. With current trends and predictions, this urban fashion style is making its way into the boardroom. Younger professionals are finding clever ways to incorporate their generation and style to the requirements of the corporate world, and it is looking positive for everyone.
Not the Usual, Everyday Look Street wear brands are doing “reinterpretations,” and this often means featuring designs that blur the lines between corporate and everyday fashion. Numerous industries are relaxing their rules on office attire, with many allowing employees to come in sporting something casual. For now, careful experimentation prevails, but soon, street wear brands will have designs worthy of a business setting. A Matter of Execution Wearing street style clothes for settings beyond the streets is not a matter of breaking the rules, but more of execution. Brands such as 10 Deep, Adidas, Dickies, Nike, and Puma are coming up with designs that have become acceptable in non-street settings. With the right layers, accessories, and execution, pieces such as shirts, cardigans, hoodies, and jackets from street wear brands are easily accepted in schools and even offices. Work Wear for the Streets Several brands rooted in work wear are making their way to the streets. The reasoning behind this is that they are missing out on a huge chunk of the market. These brands understand that while young professionals want to blend into the corporate world, they still cannot fully let go of their age group, particularly their sense of fashion. Work wear brands understand that while formal wear will live to see another day, it does not have the support and popularity it once had. That does not mean brands are selling out, they are just slowly recognising the power of aesthetics.
Style is timeless; it transcends generations, as they say. By the looks of it, it is also transcending social boundaries, and that’s a good thing.