THE EVOLUTIO N OF
STREETWEAR VOL.1
Contents
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3-4
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Shawn Stussy & Stussy
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5-6
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Stussy’s inspiration
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9-10
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Tomoaki Nagao & Bape
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13-14
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James Jebbia & Supreme
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17-18
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Kanye West & Yeezy
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21-22
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Virgil Abloh & Off-White
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25-26
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Demna Gvasalia & Vetements
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29-30
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PAQ the online streetwear show
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35-36
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The future
Shawn Stussy founder of Stussy
SHAWN STUSSY
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“STUSSY CREATED A CLOTHING GENRE THAT DIDN’T EXIST BEFORE” STUSSY AND THE BIRTH OF STREETWEAR To those who are part of streetwear, it’s about more than just clothes. It’s a culture. Bobby Hundreds, co-founder of Los Angeles streetwear label The Hundreds, has described it as a movement of labels and people with shared influences and an independent attitude. Like any movement, it has an origin story. You can trace a straight line back from global labels such as New York’s Supreme and Tokyo’s A Bathing Ape to surf and skate culture in Southern California, through one man: Shawn Stussy. Stussy was a surfer in Laguna Beach who shaped surfboards for other brands, until around 1980 he
started his own business. He had a reputation for crafting innovative board shapes that delivered on performance, but he wanted his boards to have a distinctive look too. “Up through the ’70s it was still very much of a ’60s visual in the surf world as far as the logos went: ovals and diamonds and so on,” he recalled in 2013. Influenced by the punk aesthetic being spread by bands like The Clash and the Sex Pistols, he created unique graphics with an undercurrent of rebelliousness, and finished them with his sharp, hand-drawn, umlaut-topped signature. As he described it, “I scribbled ‘Stüssy,’ printed it bigger than most, and put it on the very first board.”
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STUSSY INFLUENCES Stüssy appealed to local skaters and surfers, and in the mid-1980s, Stussy partnered with Frank Sinatra Jr. (no relation to Sinatra the singer) to expand his brand into a line of clothing as well, focused on items such as t-shirts and caps with Stussy’s graphics and logo. His early designs borrowed heavily from music, including punk, new wave, and reggae, but Stüssy was growing beyond its SoCal roots. One reference point that was particularly important was hip-hop. The style codes that defined it became as integral as skate and surf, including things such as M-65 jackets, sagged jeans, and bombers— essentially what rappers were wearing on city streets. Stüssy may have started in Southern California, but it was transformed in New York.
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STUSSY INFLUENCES Photo taken by MDH 6
“IF STÜSSY STARTED STREETWEAR, BAPE BLEW [IT] OUT OF THE WATER”
Paul Mittleman, Stüssy’s former creative director and currently a vice president at Converse
The Beginning Japan was a particularly important breeding ground for streetwear, as W. David Marx details in his 2015 book, Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style. Fujiwara, graphic designer Shinichirō “Sk8thing” Nakamura, and a young shop owner named Toru Iwai created the country’s first streetwear label, Goodenough, in 1990. Fujiwara built on that success by teaming
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with two up-and-coming figures on Japan’s culture scene, Nigo and Jun Takahashi, to launch Nowhere in 1993. It was a small shop in an out-of-the-way section of the Harajuku neighborhood that carried Takahashi’s label, Undercover, and streetwear labels that Nigo imported. Nigo came to recognize that he needed his own brand. Sk8thing gave him the
idea of using an ape’s head for the logo after watching a marathon of Planet of the Apes movies on TV, and played off a line in an underground comic for a name. A Bathing Ape—now often shortened to Bape—was born. Nigo attached Bape to Japan’s indie hip-hop scene, and it was through its links to music that the brand began to gain cachet in Japan and abroad.
Founder and creator of Bape
TOMOAKI NAGAO
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JAMES JEBBIA
“We’re making stuff we’re proud of, not doing stuff to stay alive. I don’t think enough people take risks, and when you do, people respond—in music, in art, in fashion.”
Founder and creator of Supreme
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“OUR FORMULA IS THERE’S NO FORMULA.” Jame Jebbia founder and creator of Supreme
Supreme Supreme needs no introduction. Founded by James Jebbia in New York City in 1994, Supreme started as a skateboard clothing brand. (Fun fact: James Jebbia was working for Stussy when he
founded Supreme). The first stores were designed to have skaters and related products in the store. Its influences include skateboarding, hip-hop, and rock cultures. The brand was met with success as it
progressed on and expanded its locations into multiple cities. Some of the most recognizable designs from Supreme include its box logo, red coloring, and collaborations with different artists.
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KANYE WEST, ADIDAS & YEEZY Kanye West founder and creative director for Yeezy
Kanye West & Yeezy The first brand to collaborate with West in the creation of Yeezy was A Bathing Ape, creating the Dropout Bear Bapesta in 2006. West then went on to collaborate with luxury brand Louis Vuitton in 2009, creating three different silhouettes named after notable people in his life. From the period of 2009 until 2013, Kanye collaborated with Nike to release two silhouettes (three sneaker styles) before parting ways over disagreements about royalties. Kanye turned to
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adidas, who agreed to provide royalties for new Yeezy styles and amalgamated in the introduction of the Yeezy Boost 750; becoming the ultimate sneaker hype in 2015. Since the start of the ongoing Yeezy x Adidas collaboration, the sneakers have attracted much attention with every new release – particularly with limited quantity items such as the Yeezy Boost 350 V2 “Zebra,” which had a resell price of $1,600 before dropping back down to $550 after restocking.
Founder and creator of Bape
KANYE WEST
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VIRGIL ABLOH
Founder and creator of Off-White
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“I DO FASHION TO TELL A NARRATIVE” Virgil Abloh founder of Off-White & creative director for Louis Vuitton
Virgil Abloh & Off-White Off-White marks the new era of streetwear. Founded in 2012 by the well-known creative Virgil Abloh, Off-White’s vision is to incorporate street fashion into high fashion. Virgil Abloh began his career in
fashion working with Kanye West as an intern for Fendi. He later had the creative vision to “add an intellectual layer” to streetwear and founded Pyrex, which was an early experimental version of Off-
White. He then established OffWhite as his brand. Some of the best-known designs of Off-White include their use of quotes, prints, and deconstruction.
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“FASHION TO ME IS A MIRROR, A REFLEXION OF WHAT’S GOING ON AROUND US.” Demna Gvasalia founder of Vetements & creative director for Balenciaga
The Beginning VETEMENTS, which translates into “clothing,” is a brand that tests the limits of clothing itself. Like OffWhite, Vetements also combines many aspects of street fashion and high fashion. Founded in 2014 by
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Demna Gvasalia and individuals with much experience in the high fashion industry, Vetements shocked the fashion industry right from the beginning. Since its birth, Vetements has successfully
placed itself on the center of street fashion. Their designs are known for deconstructed denim, oversized hoodies, and its collaborations
Founder and creator of Vetements
DEMNA GVASALIA
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Being interested in fashion, clothes and style is still seen by some as narcissistic or egotistical but that really isn’t the case
STREETWEAR ONLINE TV SERIES What is PAQ? PAQ is a new online TV show centering around all things streetwear. The project was created by four friends, Danny Lomas (19), Dexter Black (20), Shaquille Keith (21) and Elias Riadi (19), aiming to change the conversation regarding youth fashion, style and the culture that surrounds it.
What is PAQ? PAQ is a new online TV show centering around all things streetwear. The project was created by four friends, Danny Lomas (19), Dexter Black (20), Shaquille Keith (21) and Elias Riadi (19), aiming to change the conversation regarding youth fashion, style and the culture that surrounds it.
Why should you watch PAQ? Seeing as the world of streetwear is often perceived as superficial, PAQ is all about celebrating that culture, and more importantly, changing perceptions around it.
Why should you watch PAQ? Seeing as the world of streetwear is often perceived as superficial, PAQ is all about celebrating that culture, and more importantly, changing perceptions around it.
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DEXTER BLACK
ELIAS RIADI
SHAQUILLE KEITH
DANNY LOMAS
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Other than the few brands I mentioned, there is much more to explore in streetwear or street fashion. Street style is evolving as we constantly look for new ways of expression. We should all be excited for what is next in streetwear.
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