Luxury streetwear has become a significant segment of the fashion industry, combining the prestige of high-end brands with the casual aesthetics of street fashion. This article delves into luxury streetwear’s origins, roots, key players, and how it has changed fashion.
What is Luxury Streetwear?
Luxury streetwear is a fusion of high fashion and street culture, characterized by blending premium materials, and luxury craftsmanship with the relaxed, often rebellious style associated with streetwear. This hybrid style has become increasingly popular, especially with fashion-forward individuals who seek to merge comfort and style with status, and quality.
Origins of Streetwear
Streetwear as we know it today emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s, created by the subcultures of skateboarding, surfing, and hip-hop in California and New York. It was a time of rebellion, creativity, and self-expression, where young people found their voices through the clothes they wore.
In Southern California, the skateboarding and surfing communities played a pivotal role in the birth of streetwear. Skaters and surfers were inherently counter-culture, rejecting the mainstream in favor of creating their styles and identities. They wore comfortable, functional clothing like graphic t-shirts, baggy jeans, hoodies, and sneakers.
Stüssy was one of the first brands streetwear brands. Founded by Shawn Stüssy in 1980, the brand began with Stüssy selling T-shirts with the same signature he placed on his custom surfboards. What started as a small, local business quickly grew as Stüssy’s designs became popular with the skate and surf community.
The Fusion of Luxury and Streetwear
As streetwear became more popular throughout the 1980s and 1990s, it caught the attention of the mainstream fashion industry through a influnecial figure named Dapper Dan.
Dapper Dan is a key figure in the story of luxury streetwear for blending high fashion with street culture long before it became mainstream. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, operating out of Harlem, he catered to the hip-hop elite—rappers, athletes, and hustlers—by transforming luxury brand materials like Gucci and Louis Vuitton into bold, custom designs. His creations gained massive attention, especially after appearing on the cover of Eric B. & Rakim’s 1987 album Paid in Full.
Photo: Ari Marcopoulos/Gucci x Dapper Dan
Despite facing legal battles that led to his store’s closure in 1992, Dapper Dan’s influence persisted, laying the foundation for the luxury streetwear movement we see today and has even gotten a collaboration with Gucci in 2018.
Despite originating in 1980s luxury streetwear is still relatively new, with many of these brands founded in the late 2000s and some in the 2010s. This shows interest in luxury streetwear is growing and might become a lot more mainstream.
Streetwear and Luxury Collaborations
Collaborations with luxury brands have played a big part in where luxury streetwear is today and its growth in popularity.
An example is the collaboration between Adidas and Yohji Yamamoto (Y-3): In 2000, Adidas teamed up with Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto to create Y-3, a line that combined high fashion with sportswear. This collaboration paved the way for other luxury-sportswear hybrids, demonstrating the potential for innovative designs that blend different fashion worlds.
A more recent collaboration would be between Louis Vuitton and Supreme. The 2017 collaboration between Louis Vuitton and Supreme is perhaps the most iconic example. The collection fused Louis Vuitton’s classic monogram with Supreme’s streetwear style, creating a line that was both luxurious and edgy. This partnership showed the growing acceptance of streetwear within the luxury fashion industry.
Influential Designers
Several designers have played a big part in integrating streetwear into luxury fashion. Their work has reshaped the industry.
Virgil Abloh: As the founder of Off-White and the artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s menswear, Virgil Abloh played an important role in elevating streetwear to luxury status. His designs often incorporate cultural references and streetwear staples, creating a unique blend that resonates with a broad audience.
Riccardo Tisci: During his time at Givenchy, Riccardo Tisci added a lot of streetwear elements to the brand, such as oversized silhouettes and graphic prints. His work appealed to a younger, more diverse audience and made Givenchy a lot more aligned with streetwear.
Conclusion
The origins of luxury streetwear are rooted in the dynamic cultures of skateboarding, hip-hop, and high fashion. Over the years, it has evolved into a powerful segment of the fashion industry, driven by collaborations, influential designers, and the endorsement of celebrities. As it continues to grow, luxury streetwear is set to shape the future of fashion, reflecting broader cultural trends and embracing sustainability and innovation.
