the (dis)appearance

At the intersection of streetwear’s eclecticism and luxury’s homogenization lies a utopia that revolutionizes the fashion industry in bringing together disparate cultural, social and economic design elements and values.

Between these crossroads, creative and imaginative designs of brands are featured while the economic value of such collaborations calls attention to issues that pervade through communities where streetwear originated—ones that luxury fashion would have otherwise never understood.

On January 9th, 2022, a fire broke out in a Central Bronx high-rise residential building despite numerous complaints being filed prior to the incident. Soon after, founder of Awake NY and New York native, Angelo Baque, mobilized a support campaign within his network to offer aid to the victims of the tragedy while promulgating nonprofit organizations such as the Bronx-based Until Freedom Network. Originally, Baque served as the creative director for Supreme which introduced him to a large network within both the streetwear and luxury industry. However, it is because of his personal background and experience in growing up in Queens that allowed him to understand the struggles of these communities and lent him inspiration and passion for streetwear.

Typically, streetwear has been viewed as too “loud” or “chaotic” with its colorful designs and patterns by designers in luxury fashion but this very disruption pivots a crucial shift in sentiments of cultural, social and economic understanding that truly renovates the industry and society as a whole. With the increased prominence of streetwear in luxury fashion, norms of fashion are transformed to unite distinct and diverse designs, people and values such as the creation of streetwear tops in mobilizing support for the Bronx fires.

Navigating through the cracks and splinters of porcelain facades in the fashion industry and society as a whole, this chaos and upheaval brings forth a new era of utopia that may have been too intimidating to confront in the past.

Seemingly, more imperfections are illuminated within the industry—but without such revelations, fashion would simply be trapped in a state of ignorance that fails to evolve with its cyclical nature of trends and styles.