EVOLUTION OF STREETWEAR, OUTERWEAR AND LUXURY FASHION

©Victor Virgile

After Louis Vuitton’s men’s Spring Summer 2020 show, Virgil Abloh appeared in front of the cameras in an unexpected electric blue Arc’teryx Rush Jacket underlining the boundary-blurring between sport and fashion, between performance and lifestyle, and bringing streetwear, outerwear and luxury fashion under one umbrella.

Virgil has been wearing an array of Arc’teryx gear in recent months. The Canadian outdoor brand that is also dubbed as “Dead bird” by aficionados due to the brand’s logo of an Archaeopteryx lithographica, then also played a major role in his latest fashion show. Arc’teryx made its fashion show debut in Paris, with supermodel sisters Gigi and Bella Hadid donning half-gown and half technical shells made by one of my personal favourite brands for getting high into the mountains.

I recall seeing Arc’teryx jackets a couple of years ago for the first, being amazed by its sealed zippers. I have been in love with their products and quality ever since and fortunate enough to own a number of pieces. In fact, Arc’teryx’s Cerium SL vest has turned into my daily go-to-piece. I can wear the vest under my suit as well as for a run in the morning, and I can store it inside a little bag and carry it with me wherever I travel. In 2009, I run my first trail-race in Scotland, but I only really entered the running scene in 2015, after I stopped playing field hockey. It was that time when I first came across the likes of Salomon, HOKA ONE ONE and On Running. In the meantime, I have been appreciating cool-looking trainers, long before the term sneaker was even a thing. In 2011, I moved to London and started to embrace the local streetwear culture and actively collecting shoes. I decorated my Louis Vuitton laptop case with Supreme stickers, at a time, when streetwear and luxury fashion were seen as contradictory, instead of complementary. Fast forward a couple of years, all three fields of interest – streetwear, outerwear and luxury fashion – have started to merge with each other.

What started as a bunch of young guys obsessing over skateboarding or basketball, as well as rock climbing and trail running, has evolved into an international style phenomenon. Yet, there is not one clear definition encompassing all style genre. Streetwear has many definitions, but most people agree the industry is sustained by hype with customers queuing for hours for the latest drop, or reselling whatever limited-edition product they have bought for a greater price online. You can connect the dots from A Bathing Ape in Tokyo and Palace in London to California and Shawn Stüssy, who founded his namesake label in the 1980s, catering to the subcultures of surfing, skate and punk. Other brands followed, and as hip hop evolved from an underground music scene to a chart-topping genre, the casual aesthetic of streetwear and outdoor gear was thrown into the spotlight.

In 2009, Virgil Abloh and Don “Don C” Crawley opened up their RSVP Gallery boutique in Wicker Park, selling art from Takashi Murakami and Kaws alongside Comme des Garçons, vintage Chanel, A Bathing Ape, and jewelry from Ambush. Jazmin “Venus X” Soto began throwing her GHE20G0TH1K parties in Brooklyn alongside Shayne Oliver of Hood By Air. At that time, Marc Jacobs, then-creative director of Louis Vuitton, tapped Kanye West to design a capsule collection of luxury sneakers for the French fashion house. West’s high-top Jaspers, mid-top Dons, and low-top Mr Hudsons for Louis Vuitton were a sign that street culture had made it. He crossed that line from being a consumer of luxury goods to a creator of them. I recall holding these pairs in my hands in Louis Vuttion’s Zurich flagship store and being struck by its appearance, as well as put off by their price. In case of Kayne West’s take on Louis Vuitton, it was street culture trickling up, instead of high fashion trickling down.

“Old luxury,” synonymous with exclusivity, aspiration, and allure, was being superseded by a movement built on inclusivity, access, and knowledge. West understood how brands could cultivate desire and followings, because they were fans themselves, legitimizing street culture by turning luxury into more than an industry, but a platform for culture to grow. Thanks to the proliferation of social media, an increasingly interconnected world changed the language of global consumption. The rise of social media like Instagram further removed the establishment’s power to dictate trends and tastes, allowing independent creators and labels to captivate audiences without the need to court traditional retailers and magazines.

LUXURY FASHION ENTERS THE STREET

Fashion houses avoided associating with streetwear brands for years, fearing that the association would dilute the luxurious allure to the point where Louis Vuitton sued Supreme’s infamous Louis Vuitton skateboards with a cease-and-desist. Over a decade later, Supreme and Louis Vuitton unveiled a high-end, luxury-priced collaboration, and brands like Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger, collaborated with Palace Skateboards and KITH respectively. Luxury fashion has been forced to concede and join forces with brands that ignore their rules.

Today, a stroll around any major city will yield sightings of Gucci sneakers being paired with Supreme tees or Vetements hoodies being worn with a pair of adidas. Sure, there had been Yohji Yamamoto’s Y-3 line with Adidas and Alexander McQueen’s McQ label with Puma. Prada had launched its fashion-facing court trainers and sporty runners for the America's Cup, which I actually still own, but those sneakers were designed to push the brand into a lifestyle proposition than shift the company’s focus on sports-, let alone streetwear. Even though luxury brands may not copy the essence of Supreme’s aura, they can replicate its model. And while the soul of streetwear may not be easy to emulate, its trappings are. Kim Jones at Louis Vuitton sounded the first bang by collaborating with Supreme in 2017. Supreme x Louis Vuitton was a watershed moment for fashion as a whole. At the world’s most famous Fashion Week in Paris, here was streetwear as luxury, lending its name and its credibility to the brand at the head of the world’s largest luxury group. Supreme x Louis Vuitton meant legitimacy, as well as a once-contradictory segment had gone mainstream. The next year, Jones was moved to Dior, and Off-White’s Virgil Abloh was installed at Louis Vuitton, leading to a flood of collaborations: Dior x KAWS, Dior x Daniel Arsham, Dior x Shawn Stussy, Louis Vuitton x Futura, and Louis Vuitton x NIGO.

The drop model is especially conducive to creating hype, with items functioning as tickets to a world of cool enabling brands to build momentum and to actively steer demand to exceed supply. The brilliant thing about the drop is that it is egalitarian by traditional criteria, creating the aristocracy of the network. In this model you cannot simply buy a good, knowledge is everything and the premium that comes in on the secondary market is the price you pay for not being in the know. People value status at some level and it just manifests itself in different ways. Nevertheless, even though people can gain access to products, they cannot purchase the heritage or the understanding of the culture. Scarcity is what drives a booming resale market, drastically changing the industry, being fortunate enough to own specific products will always remain the “real currency of cool” outperforming the actual monetary value, so having access clearly trumps wealth.

Some say the streetwear trend is waning. I think streetwear is much deeper than a trend. This is our generation. Today, you can be elegant and cool in a nice sneaker and sweater instead of a suit. This is just the new way of dressing, even for executives. Add to that a powerful stake in the luxury streetwear boom that has captured the collective imagination of a new consumer generation, who have cultural roots in hip-hop and skateboarding, and are already the main growth engine of the luxury goods market, driving 85 percent of luxury expansion, according to Bain & Company. Streetwear has been one of the hallmarks of luxury fashion, including the “New Burberry” inspired by new designer Riccardo Tisci. “We are doing very well with sportswear, with outerwear”, Tisci says, observing that younger shoppers are simply wearing streetwear with more confidence and creativity today, mixing pieces with classic tailoring instead of outfitting themselves head-to-toe.

Since 2018, Moncler’s Genius Initiative saw the heritage Italian ski brand grant its luxurious catalog to a slew of famous names across fashion and streetwear, elevating the brand into a place of expression driven by the likes of Hiroshi Fujiwara, Pierpaolo Piccioli, Simone Rocha, Craig Green, and Palm Angels. Similar, KITH x Versace’s 2019 collection was more than a collaboration, instead it was a takeover of Manhattan making New York City the brands’ canvas. Billboards and posters popped up around SoHo. Local grocer Dean & DeLuca sported Versace print shopping bags. Two famous neighborhood restaurants, Sadelle’s and Carbone, even featured special KITH Medusa menus. Summed up by a KITH edition of the house’s street-inspired Chain Reaction sneaker, the collection ticked off a list of luxury-streetwear tropes. KITH x Versace and Moncler’s Genius Initiative brought luxury streetwear to new highs and to fields outside of fashion.

Following the change of theme in the luxury fashion industry, Virgil Abloh told BoF back in 2014: “I just hope that we do live up to the James Jebbias and the Shawn Stüssys. It is sort of our duty to pick up after all the streetwear legends,” presciently noting that the moment felt like a tipping point in the industry. The article was called, “​Streetwear’s New Guard​,” which then became the name of their company, New Guards Group that Farfetch acquired for USD 675 million in 2019. The Milanese firm created many of fashion’s most-hyped brands, including Off-White, Palm Angels, County of Milan, and Heron Preston. Now, things are coming full circle, with the three members of DJ collective and streetwear brand Been Trill — Heron Preston, Matthew Williams, and Virgil Abloh — have become legitimate fashion figures in their own right. Even Kim Jones, whose first job was working for streetwear distributor Gimme Five (an early wholesaler of Stüssy and Supreme founded by Michael Kopelman) has managed to close two loops: The first being his Supreme x Louis Vuitton collaboration, followed by his partnership with Shawn Stüssy for Dior.

FROM THE STREET TO THE GREAT OUTDOORS

While luxury fashion is seizing the opportunity to enter streetwear, outdoor brands are introducing their own sneakers to catch-up. The last few years have seen the fashion world reinvent itself and reach new heights. What started with athleisure, today, there is more attention than ever around technical, outdoors-oriented sneakers and gear. Outdoor brands are carving their own place in culture through authentic storytelling and commitment to sustainable products. Outdoor specialist are making urban clothing, while sneaker brands pushing gear for the modern explorer. Both converging on function-first athletic designs packed with features, such as waterproof uppers, oversized outsoles, and non-traditional lacing.

By wearing garments that are associated with the outdoors, we may signal our inherent desire for a more bucolic lifestyle rendered increasingly unattainable due to our busy urban lives and city jobs. In the colder months, you cannot grab an espresso in certain New York neighborhoods without hitting a The North Face puffer jacket. Trends come and go, of course. Nevertheless, The North Face classic, along with gear from high-rising technical fashion brands, such as Arc’teryx or Stone Island, have been the thing for the fashion-conscious consumer to wear. Supreme has collaborated with The North Face every season since 2007, and Grailed launched a curated techwear shopping guide together with the archival Instagram account Organiclab.zip.

Historically, hip-hop and skating, basketball and outdoor sports, like surfing and climbing, have been viewed as the wellspring of OG coolness, rebellion and authenticity. This pattern points to the well-known trickle-up theory meaning that most fashion trends originate on the street, and move up to high fashion, and then back down into the broader mainstream. There are the obvious benefits of technical gear being comfortable and withstanding the elements, being inherently sustainable and built to last. That Gore-Tex jacket might be more tech than you need, but it will potentially withstand ten-plus years of use compared to a fast-fashion pull. A shocking 87 percent of clothing produced ends up at landfill. With wastage so widespread, much of the industry is recognizing the responsibility it has to reduce impact. Brands like Patagonia launched initiatives encouraging consumers to buy less and Noah’s Brendon Babenzien admitted in blog that they are not yet a sustainable company. Then, Canadian staples purveyor Frank And Oak is the latest outerwear specialist implementing a more sustainable approach at all stages of design, including the sourcing and choice of materials.

Outdoor brands like Salomon, La Sportiva, and HOKA ONE ONE are grappling with organic overnight interest that have seen their once-niche products catapulted onto the likes of Rihanna, A$AP Nast, and Kanye West. “Brand and product authenticity matter to consumers,” comments Gretchen Weimer, Global Vice President of Product at HOKA ONE ONE. “We’re looking at traditional Salomon product, reworking the colors and materials to speak to an urban consumer, but there are no ads of characters crouching on buildings,” comments Jean-Philippe LaLonde, Fashion Program Manger at Salomon. Michael Carli, product manager at La Sportiva adds: “All of our projects start with a very clear goal in mind: pushing the boundaries of the footwear to benefit the outdoor enthusiast.” The Italian climbing mainstay has been in business for over 90 years, and only recently A$AP Nast rocked a pair of the brand’s Ultra Raptor sneakers.

As technical sneakers like the Salomon Speedcross get hot, heritage gearmakers and sneaker brands  now find themselves in direct competition. Adidas is selling Boost-enabled “light hikers” through KITH collaborations, while Salomon released a joined product with The Broken Arm back in 2015 and an ambitious Columbia is selling waterproof sneakers at UBIQ. “I think this presents an opportunity for the outdoor industry to become more meaningful to younger people,” comments Peter Ruppe, VP of Footwear at Columbia, who joined Columbia in November 2019 after long stints at Nike and Under Armour.

There is an emotional connection to consumer passions, like sustainability and nature, and a product connection to market trends, such as the reemergence of retro gear. The ability to traverse multiple worlds is perhaps the apotheosis of any savvy label. Think of all those sleek athleisure lines perfectly suited for both boardrooms and bodybuilding, or, in the case of Japanese brand Goldwin, outerwear that can flit from city streets to the outdoor field, combing high-function comfort with a no-frills aesthetic underlines. Further along this trend, Battenwear, designed and launched by Shinya Hasegawa, sprang from the founder’s need for functional, casual, active, outdoor clothing that he could wear to the beach while surfing in the morning. This ritual prompted him to create clothes that are aesthetically good looking, comfortable and chock full of practical details merging urban and outdoor apparel created for contemporary adventures. “For me the clothing should be like having a relationship with a human being. If you spend time with the clothing it should age well,” he explains.

While all of fashion leans on authenticity, something about outdoors gear makes it more intense here. Younger brands, like HOKA ONE ONE, founded in 2009 and On Running, which started in 2010, are embraced by outdoors enthusiasts. While a long history does not make or break a brand’s authenticity, the fact that HOKA ONE ONE can collaborate with Outdoor Voices and Engineered Garments, while still being sought by elite mountain athletes, speaks to a redrawing of map lines.  For similar reasons, Nike Golf decided to join forces with Stone Island. “Knowing that the conditions during the tournament can change quickly, and can be quite challenging, we wanted to focus on outerwear. As experts in creating product that performs as well as it looks, Stone Island was a natural partner in finding the best solutions,” says Kelly Tweeden, VP and Creative Director for Nike Golf, Nike Tennis and Nike Skateboarding. “Working on garments with Nike Golf gave us the opportunity to create true technical and performing pieces,” says Carlo Rivetti, Creative Director and Chairman of Stone Island, which is partly owned by Temasek. The focus at Veilance is also to design a complete package for dealing with inclement conditions, explains Creative Director Taka Kasuga: “Veilance’s modular layering approach combines highly technical outwear with varying levels of insulation, building an adaptive range that can meet the demands of any environment.”

Though not necessarily perceptible at first glance, the combination of engineering and artistry that goes into creating an outdoor piece can make the high prices of designer clothing far more understandable. In recent years, small details, such as zippers and closures have also become a place for menswear brands to create innovative styles unique to their labels and to establish their brands. Arc’teryx has become famous for its sealed zippers, and for Matthew Williams, whose 1017 ALYX 9SM label pushed technical gear-influenced details into a luxury good are crucial to his branding. Kim Jones commissioned Williams to translate his signature roller-coaster buckle for his first Dior men’s show. Innovative uses of hardware certainly is not new for ACRONYM, which Hugh Errolson founded with Michaela Sachenbacher in 1994. Even though the small brand’s profile has risen considerably since Hugh was tapped to revive Nike’s ACG line, ACRONYM’s focus remains on function over style.

A FINE LINE BETWEEN THE STREET, OUTDOORS AND LUXURY

In terms of finding a brand balancing streetwear, highly technical outerwear and the thoughtful, conceptual aspects of high fashion, there are only a few that manage to combine the best of all worlds. Noah is one of these brands that offer updated casual clothes for an audience that reaches beyond the typically youthful consumer. Former Supreme creative director and founder of Noah, Brenden Babenzien takes on streetwear staples like tees and five-panels, crafting them in America and England. Noah refreshes the uniform of hoodie, shirt and jeans with trend-defying cuts and luxurious materials. By focusing on production that’s as transparent as it is ethical, Babenzian helps push the boundaries of not just streetwear, but clothing design as an industry.

OAMC pushes the envelope a step further with Made in Italy production and immaculate construction. The company’s creative director, Luke Meier is also a former Supreme designer, merging both streetwear sensibilities and luxury house aspirations. Much like the vaunted craftsmanship of labels like Brunello Cucinelli, Loro Piana and Boglioli, OAMC creates its garments in Italy out of premium materials. Unlike those aforementioned labels, however, OAMC designs streetwear friendly clothes, unpretentious suiting with myriad technical details and luxurious knits. It is a fusion of streetwear and luxury fashion that could never have existed two decades ago.

Zurich-based running shoe brand On recently launched its first-ever streetwear sneaker, the Cloudnova. Co-founder David Allemann confirms the acceleration of merging sectors as “fashion, sports, and outdoor gear are converging. Performance used to borrow from fashion. Now it is been the other way around, and we see that in how outdoor gear has been adopted by fashion brands and how almost every brand now has sneakers, because it is driven by a generation who is blurring the boundaries between work, home, sports, and play.” For the launch, On teamed up with specialty shops and influential streetwear boutiques, such as Dover Street Market, Atmos, and Bodega, bringing their streetwear credibility to the traditional running crowd and vice versa.

Streetwear-focused stores like BSTN, KITH and Union LA have become key access points to enter the industry offering authenticity and storytelling that appeal to sneakerheads, outdoor fans and luxury fashion representing the successful high-low product mix. Stores like Barneys or Selfridges, once exclusive hosts to the large fashion houses, now stock brands like A-COLD-WALL, Fear of God and Gosha Rubchinskiy alongside the established high-end fashion labels. Other stores act as a conglomerate of this new blend of streetwear and fashion. Slam Jam Socialism, Dover Street Market, CLOT, or 10 Corso Como carry runway-ready lines like J.W. Anderson, Sacai and Yang Li, emerging lines like Bianca Chandon and Brain Dead, as well as established streetwear icons like WTAPS and Patta.

THE NEW LUXURY

In the world of the new luxury, aspiration is not about price, but cultural values. Patagonia, Supreme and Stüssy were brands built on the premise that there was a whole cadre of fashion enthusiasts that the industry was completely ignoring. So in their own way, they created fashion that understood the cultural codes of this previously untapped market. Virgil Abloh’s rise to Louis Vuitton and Shawn Stüssy’s partnership with Dior do not mean that street- or outerwear have become elevated, but that luxury is now a level playing field. The most important lessons from streetwear and outdoors are not business practices like drop models or collaborations, nor is it about the timeless aesthetics of sportswear and military staples. Rather, its legacy is tied to establishing shared values grounded in a strong, self-assured brand identity that emerge from worlds such as skateboarding, surfing, basketball and hip-hop.

Bobby Hundreds, co-founder of The Hundreds, rightly said “streetwear doesn’t die, it multiplies. Streetwear dies every night, but it is subsequently reborn and renewed by the morning. We mark endings with new beginnings. Because the streetwear generation is about regeneration.” Streetwear and the love for outdoor sports were small niche markets. Ten years later, Dior is collaborating with Shawn Stüssy and Patagonia has become part of Wall Street’s regular dress-code. Brands have become intertwined with identity. The spirit sits at this intersection of capitalism and culture. By its DNA, streetwear’s appeal stems from exclusivity. It is not a specific look, it is an attitude of conceit. Exclusivity was about limited edition (production) and rarity (distribution). Now, it is mainly determined by price. The customer wants to stand apart by wearing unique clothing. In the past, that specialness came down to rarity. Customers traveled and hunted in obscure neighborhoods to find limited-edition treasure. Or, he or she knew someone who knew someone and bought precious goods with social capital. Both have been distorted by the internet and influence of social media. The merging of trends have prioritized commerce over community. There is less sense of culture now, but a focus on clothing and capital. Most young people entering the fray are lured by the financial value of things, as opposed to the relationships or story. The magic of streetwear and outerwear was in connecting the creator of great products with the consumer. Releases bring the people out, but the experience is what brings them together. There were lines outside of a stores on Fairfax in Los Angeles or in Soho, London. Streetwear’s lifestyle was cultivated around independent boutiques, in neighborhoods around the world from Harajuku, Tokyo to Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York City. When visiting the likes of Mexico City, Barcelona or Shanghai, I would spend my days strolling the streets, connecting with the locals, visiting stores, and copping some of the exclusive products I would not be able to purchase back in Europe.

After all, fashion is constantly redefining itself, which makes it impossible to define it as one thing. Streetwear and outerwear in particular are about culture. They are not about clothing. They are about stories and memories. It is a lifestyle. It is how we define ourselves. In other words, in the concert tour of life, fashion is our merchandise representing our identity and offering a sense of belonging to our community.