What is Streetwear ? Streetwear is an ever changing fashion style that is accessible to everyone, whether you make it look good- is based on your own personal style. The subscribers to the streetwear style are not some shady circle of elites running the world, instead an open community supporting self exploration.

The Origin

Streetwear, as a movement, started to stir up around the 1980s and 1990s in California and New York. Streetwear began amongst skaters and surfers, who would brand boards and later down the line of their clothes. Shawn Stussy, a surfer, is the founder of the California brand Stussy. His brand is one of the God Fathers of streetwear, he greatly helped blend the two cultures of clothing and surfing. As time went on, other cultures started to bleed into our what we wear. For example, as the internet was beginning to develop, music genres like hip hop and grunge grew in popularity, impacting fashion. Hip-hop’s rise in New York played a major role in the street wear movement, promoting self expression through celebrities, who would display their styles in music videos  and photos. Streetwear roots in skateboarding, and later basketball, made sneakers a staple of streetwear as a style.

The Audience

Streetwear is rooted in many different subcultures in music, TV,  and many others worldwide. This mash of cultures allows everyone to contribute. Streetwear is very inclusive. It isn’t geared towards a specific gender, its size is inclusive, and clothes can be worn or made by any race.  What you wear can be a peak into you as a person, by wearing a baseball cap with your favorite sneakers, you are physically wearing facts about on yourself on your body. Streetwear as a movement is not characterized by expensive or fancy pieces, wether you choose to pay an arm an a leg for your clothes is up to you. The beauty of this style is its nuance, no matter what your situation, street wear is what you make of it. As time passed people’s sense of personal style  has broadened, and with the internet taking over the world, social media became a space for people to show off , and express their styles. Streetwear as a style has become mainstream because of how easy it is to buy into streetwear culture.