What is streetwear? See how Fujiwara Ho and big data say

Last week, HYPEBEAST and PwC's consulting firm Strategy&. released the Street Fashion Impact Report. The report uses two methods of data collection: customer surveys and industry surveys. To find out how to collect the complete information, click on the original text.

This article is excerpted from the first part of the Street Fashion Impact Report: The Definition of Street Clothing 001 details the origins and cultural composition of streetwear. In addition, HYPEBEAST also invited the trend godfather Fujiwara Fujiwara to talk with him about the definition of streetwear.

What is the definition of streetwear?

The definition of streetwear in the dictionary is very simple: stylish and suitable for everyday wear. But this definition ignores the causes of billions of markets behind streetwear. This phenomenon, which emerged in the 1980s and 1990s, was born out of the subcultures of the time, including graffiti, hip-hop, skateboarding and surfing. culture.

In essence, streetwear involves production, promotion, sales, and secondary markets, especially sneakers, and T-shirts and other products are included. They bypass traditional retail channels and subvert. The fashion industry has long defined the definition of "cool" and reinterpreted how "cool" is profitable. The audience of fashion apparel, that is, the target audience is generally young people, most of whom are under 25 years old.

"Street clothing bypasses the traditional retail channels, subverting the long-standing definition of cool in the fashion industry and reinterpreting how cool is profitable."

The earliest groups that led the trend of streetwear were mostly composed of men. Therefore, this style was dominated by men at the beginning of birth, and the clothing design was more in line with the traditional male image demand. At the beginning of development, streetwear was very simple and became an antidote to the complex fashion style of the time. The secret of streetwear is also simple: T-shirts and hoodies, a dress that is both comfortable and self-identifying.

Pioneers of this trend include street brands such as Supreme founder James Jebbia and Stussy founder Shawn Stussy. Dapper Dan, a designer at Harlem in New York, played an important role in the rise of streetwear to luxury in the 1980s.

Although the wave of streetwear originated in California and New York, people like Hiroshi Fujiwara and NIGO?? also played a big role in creating the Japanese street fashion style and Hip-hop culture in the 1980s. Like other mainstream cultural movements, streetwear has since risen rapidly in major cities and regions around the world.

Like other mainstream cultural movements, the rise of streetwear is not without foundation. This fashion should not be seen as a trend in fashion, but should be seen as a shift in fashion that spans the fashion, art and music sectors, and to a large extent It is dominated by black culture.

"This kind of fashion should not be seen as a trend in fashion, but should be seen as a fashion-style transformation that spans the fashion, art and music sectors."

As early as the 1960s, this shift in popular culture was beginning to take shape, and Andy Warhol questioned the architecture of contemporary art at the time. In the 1970s, artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring extended this challenge to the traditional art concept to the field of street art. Who can accept art? Who is it for art?

Both Hip-hop and rap music advocate "original" musical expressions that encourage people to break the rules and use unconventional techniques to find inspiration. The creation of streetwear is close to street artists and Hip-hop musicians, all of which are about leaving a mark on their behalf.

Such authenticity can hardly be found anywhere else in the fashion industry, and the fashion industry tends to operate from the top down. Insiders determine the latest fashion styles and fashion trends, while streetwear subverts this model in a more democratic way.

In the field of streetwear, trend-setting people not only get inspiration from the shape of people on the streets of the city, but also directly look for the direction of streetwear evolution from the audience. Consumers and industry insiders have the same ability to decide what is "cool". The influence of veteran fashion houses, paper media and fashion editors has been weakened, and the influence of ordinary consumers has increased.

"Streetwear has revolutionized the way in which the insiders decide the latest fashions and trends in a more democratic way."

The secret of the long-lasting streetwear is that it combines the basic principles of luxury fashion with emerging things. Our consumer survey results show that the majority (70%) of respondents like streetwear because it is cool, and more than half (57%) think "comfort" is a key factor in the popularity of streetwear. In addition, nearly half (46%) of people are concerned about the “uniqueness” of dress, and about a quarter of them focus on the status status (27%) and community awareness (24%).

"The secret of the long-lasting streetwear is that it combines the basic principles of luxury fashion with new things."

The “cool” of a brand, its uniqueness and the symbol of social status have always been essential elements of the fashion industry, but streetwear has introduced new key factors: comfort and community concept. The "uniqueness" of promoting the development of streetwear is more composed of professional domain knowledge rather than spending power. For the brand, the integration of this "minority" mentality is the biggest obstacle to entering the streetwear market.

The value of every street fashion brand comes from certain resources, including product quality and product design, celebrity fans, musicians and artists. But no factor is more important than "authenticity". The "authenticity" of fashion apparel is directly related to the purchasing behavior of consumers.

Most mainstream fashion brands, whether luxury or ordinary, are gradually incorporating streetwear into their product architecture. In fact, in our global fashion industry and retail surveys, 76% of respondents said they believe streetwear will continue to grow significantly over the next five years.

"Nothing is more important than "authenticity." This characteristic of trendy apparel is directly related to the purchasing behavior of consumers."

Several key time nodes in the fashion industry have shown that streetwear is gradually taking the lead. In 2017, the collaboration between Supreme and Louis Vuitton marked a significant turning point in the fashion industry's perception of streetwear. In 2018, Louis Vuitton appointed the highly sought after street fashion designer Virgil Abloh as his creative director of menswear. In addition, the phenomenon of large-scale capital injection into the street apparel market is becoming more and more common. The first thing to do is that Supreme was sold to the Carlyle Group for $500 million in 2017. As for other streetwear brands, such as A Bathing Ape (BAPE) in Japan, they got an investment back in 2011. In 2018, Concepts entered into a partnership agreement with Amazon's Zappos, and the well-known shoe store, Stadium Goods, was also supported by the LVMH Group in the same year. Although the beginning of fashion is only a small business, that is, printing a logo on a T-shirt, but now it has become the dominant in the fashion industry, from luxury stores to shopping malls everywhere.

Street clothing at this stage can be defined in four ways:

? "ORIGINIAL"

Original street brand clothing is characterized by its low price, comfortable wearing and personality. The promotion of the brand is very intuitive, just print a word on the T-shirt. Brands such as Supreme, BAPE, Stussy, and Palace are often resold at high prices in the secondary market due to the scarcity and high demand of commodities.

? "SPORTSWEAR"

Sportswear brands, including those at the top of the industry, are an indispensable element of street style. Sports shoes from brands such as Adidas and Nike are the cornerstone of streetwear.

? "ADOPTED"

Brands with streetwear styles have incorporated street fashion trends and styling into product production, including luxury goods and some mass market brands, although the origins of these brands are not really tied to street sports.

? "LUXURY"

Luxury streetwear brands have become the hot spot, and the boundaries between native streetwear and luxury fashion have gradually blurred. These brands are also driven by the “authenticity” of streetwear, but due to their higher operating costs, their products are not the same as standard streetwear brands such as Off-White®, AMBUSH and Vetements.

Conversational trend godfather Fujiwara

HB: What is “street clothing” for you? How do you define “street clothing”?

Fujiwara: In the streetwear, the first brand that caught my attention was Vision. The street wind I envisioned came from skateboarding, so I think this is its earliest origin.

Streets are the stage for skateboarders, so the word "Street" is widely used in this area. Other brands such as Stussy were everywhere at the time, but in terms of streetwear, I think it started with Vision.

All skateboarders can be called streetwear because the skateboarding on the street creates an exclusive category. If you are interested in surfing, then you will wear the brand of surfers, but I believe that the word "surfwear" was not very popular at the time, and more "street clothing" was used.

HB: How has the definition of "street clothing" changed?

Fujiwara Fuji: If you are talking about the origins of "street costumes", then I think that what we are talking about now is "street fashion" which has evolved from skateboarding; but the status quo seems to be slightly different. "Streetwear" feels like A sneaker culture, sneakers and Hip-hop culture has become a street culture.

HB: How did you get involved in fashion in the 1980s? What role did you play in bringing streetwear to Japan?

Fujiwara: I didn't mean to bring the street trend to Japan. I just introduced some things I liked. It also includes Tiffany's singles, Japanese documentaries, and a variety of other things, just happening to be one of them is skateboarding, that's it.

HB: How do you think about the role of streetwear in the luxury and fashion industries?

Fujiwara: As far as streetwear and luxury fashion are concerned, I think this is some form of mutual use. I think that luxury fashion and streetwear are not the same thing in the true sense, nor should it be the same thing. I think those fashion giants will soon get bored with what they call street fashion and move to the next trend or be replaced by other trends.

HB: Do you think luxury fashion brands can really become part of the street fashion wave? What is the difference between them?

Fujiwara: I don't think luxury fashion and street trends are actually so tightly integrated. Everyone thinks streetwear is a unique street trend, like me, Virgil Abloh or Kim Jones, but the three of us are basically not street fashion.

More clearly, I want to see a brand like Gucci, which looks like a fusion of luxury fashion and street fashion, but the street fashion that most people think is not what I think of street fashion. The so-called street trend is not I think the street trend.

HB: You have worked with a number of fashion brands, including Nike, Converse, Levi's and many more. What are the criteria for selecting a partner? Who do you want to work with?

Fujiwara: There are no deliberate standards, just depending on the time and the other partner, maybe just because someone is very interesting, or they have some attractive qualities; I just want to do something really exciting and wonderful. .

HB: What is the concept behind The Conveni? A retail terminal like a convenience store?

Fujiwara: Actually, there is no special concept. Just having such a venue, the timing is not bad. I want to open a convenience store there. I just made an action when the inspiration came, and there really is no conceptual driving behind it.

HB: On a geographical scale, is there any place where the trend clothing market is particularly attractive to you? Why?

Fujiwara: I have been paying attention to the Eastern European market. The Baltic countries and their surrounding areas are very unique, and I think the fashion industry there is very original and interesting. But this situation is the same everywhere, right? No matter what changes in the market, it will not be because of the country, but because of the changes brought by the people there.

HB: How do you predict the next five years? What proportion of streetwear will it account for?

Fujiwara: I never made predictions and never thought about the future. I may stay in Japan after five years. The development of street clothing is more related to timing.