style in progress 1/2023 – DROP IT LIKE IT’S HOT

DROP IT LIKE IT’S HOT

Influencers and young entrepreneurs such as Achraf Ait Bouzalim of 6pm Season and Justin Fuchs of Peso, as well as brands like Reternity, demonstrate how intuitively, directly, and customer­driven the young streetwear market operates. They draw a clear demarcation line along which they question established business models within the industry, do things differently, and in the process establish a surprisingly large number of exciting points of contact with stationary retailers.

Text: Isabel Faiss. Photos: Brands, Stores

Short-term drops instead of collections, no more seasons, and flexible response speed instead of design and production cycles with several months of lead time. No intermediary trade, but direct-to-consumer distribution channels, limited small series instead of NOS, and comprehensible design codes reflecting the zeitgeist. No marketing measures and advertising budgets, but real-time social media channels with direct feedback from the community. What reads like a manifesto is in reality just the breaking down of a complex process to its core: delivering the right product to the right customer at exactly the right time. The success of streetwear culture is based on a clever understanding of market mechanisms and customer relations that is just establishing itself as a subculture.

A TASTE OF THINGS TO COME

The streetwear scene is dominated by a generation of young entrepreneurs who calmly trim existing business plans for efficiency, uncorrupted and almost naïve. Their success proves them right. They restore so much of what the industry used to be about: fun and ease, passion for brands and their image, a desire for something new and for self-expression. What is striking is the tolerance, the openness towards crossover deals, and the celebration of common heroes like Virgil Abloh, whose spirit lives on perceptibly in these circles. However, the marketing approach, choice of media, and the direct-to-consumer principle are not the only new aspects. Above all, there are the influence of gaming and Web3.0, as well as high sustainability standards on all sides. Even the young rebels, who do so many things differently and rightfully so, come to a realisation when their business reaches a certain level of maturity: smart retailing is part of their ecosystem. They bear responsibility, and the line between authenticity and commerciality is rapidly narrowing. Insiders such as TikTok influencers, experienced market strategists, pioneers, and newcomers to the design and retail scene give an impression of how new business models and brands develop their charisma, reliably deliver to the community, and thus also create new momentum in retail.

The best example of how the gaming scene inspires streetwear and vice versa: after the first joint capsule in December 2020, which sold out within seconds, Razer, the leading lifestyle brand for gamers, and iconic streetwear brand A Bathing Ape launched another drop in 2022.