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Brands aren’t Companies they’re Universes

Brands aren’t Companies they’re Universes

A brand connects with its audience to separate itself from the rest of brands or companies. In this way, brands are getting closer to consumers and trying to become an essential part of their lives. Resultantly, they influence our individual as well as collective life. 

Major working brands drive sales through their followers, and that is what makes them really influential. There are many things to discuss when we talk about a brand in particular, and it’s pretty astonishing to know how people are emotionally linked with some brands.

Today, we are on the hunt to prove that brands are not merely companies but they are universes. Be with us.

Why are Brands Essential to Us?

A brand is like a real-time identity to your business or company. Some brands have millions of followers worldwide, which makes them really influential or essential to a lot of audiences. Brands connect to their audience in a number of ways.

Each way is to be specified by the service a brand is offering to its people or audience. So it is possible to dig deep in any brand and see what they offer on the table, and you have to see the medium of service or form of products or facilities a brand offers.

Also, some people relate to brands emotionally, which makes them an important part of their lives. So some brands are not just brands but are universes in them as they control such a large audience.

Importance of Brands in our Lives

Let now talk about some of the important features of popular brands that influence people’s lives in different ways. Well, every medium is to be specified by the service offered or facility provided by the brand itself.

Sales

More conversions certainly take place with trust and confidence. Brands help upbringing confidence and trust in the potential customer, so they end up making purchases. That is the process with every running brand around the world.

So an established brand helps to increase the authenticity of the services or any facility it offers. In addition, there are a bunch of marketing strategies for driving sales, and strategies can differ depending upon the service being offered.

Therefore, brands bring about the best of any service’s trust and legitimacy. The conversions and sales also make a great difference when we discuss controlling the people’s lives or followers

Behavior Changes

People deal with brands differently than companies without exhibiting a brand or distinctive title. Audiences seeking more trusted items would be more interested in brand items than the conventional companies.

Brand followers will invest more money purchasing the same facility that they can get for a cheap price without a brand name. This is who brands control people’s behavior in one way or the other. There are many things to mention as we talk about adaptive behavior.

Moreover, people also make lifestyle changes to meet the demands of a brand service or facility. Many research shows that the people driven by the brands following are likely to invest more. So brands do influence their follower’s lifestyles in many possible ways.

Everything is Explicit

There is a great deal of proclamation when it comes to a brand’s services, and it is the exact opposite of companies that deliver services without being clear. Therefore, a clear difference between being just a company and a brand that excels with its claims or promises.

You might have noticed that many ads are playing claiming different things present inside a service. So it is obligatory for a brand to deliver its promises, and it should be transparent about everything it does.

So a brand’s followers can trust the services or products they receive, making a clear difference. On the flip side, if brand followers don’t receive quality decline, they are less likely to trust the brand anymore.

In such cases, brands often lose their followers or clients, which can be difficult to compensate.

Connects like-minded People

Every brand has its unique goal or idea that brings relevant people together. Therefore, a brand can be influential in connecting people with the same mindset.

That is one of the best things about a running brand in any category. It let everyone knows, even except its followers, that service does exist with a particular motive. This is extremely helpful in many scenarios where people struggle to find a service.

Signs of an Influential Brand

It is really important to discuss the qualities of a promising brand. Every good brand has a clear motive that doesn’t divert an onlooker away from the brand’s purpose. That’s highly crucial for any brand in order to secure positive or keen impressions.

If a brand doesn’t promote one stance or service that falls in a specific domain, it can cause confusion among people. In addition, a brand that keeps its claims alive by fulfilling quality or service excellence is also a sign of a good brand.

How Brand Depends Upon You?

Every brand’s success or downfall depends upon all the consumers using its services. Feedback holds vital importance for any brand to flourish. Therefore, if you see a successful brand, then there is a complete story behind that.

People make or fail a brand in the process. So if a brand remains consistent with its promises and doesn’t let its audience disappoint, then it’s a successful brand. Therefore, you (people) decide the fate of a brand.

Final Words

Brands no longer rely on third parties to promote them, advertise their products, and increase their sales. They are making effective use of social media to achieve all these goals. Besides, they have found ways to achieve other business goals via social media, especially during the coronavirus-related worldwide lockdowns.

Now, they’re increasing brand loyalty, and enhancing their influence on their audience. This new marketing and advertising mechanism have shaped them into universes rather than just companies, as they are influencing almost every aspect of consumers’ lives.


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What Did Virgil Mean When He Said “Streetwear Is Dead?”

What Did Virgil Mean When He Said “Streetwear Is Dead?”

Fashion trends emerge out of the blue from unpredictable circumstances and inspirations. Similarly, Streetwear won popularity as soon as it was emerged out of hip hop scenes in New York City in the ’90s. But how surprising it is that the founder of PYREX and streetwear fashion influencer altered his opinion and claimed: “streetwear is dead.”

Virgil Abloh is a fashion icon and a creative director of Louis Vuitton’s menswear collection, who made this statement in an interview with Dazen Magazine. We are curious about this insight, especially the hypebeasts. Now let’s dive into the details.

Launching of Virgil’s Pyrex and Off-White

A brand is like a real-time identity to your business or company. Some brands have millions of followers worldwide,

Virgil has been a passionate kid, and his enthusiasm for art, design, and culture made him a pioneer in fashion designing. His first brand Pyrex Vision suddenly became popular out of nowhere in 2012.

He purchased a deadstock of Lauren flannel shirts at cheap cost, printed them with the “pyrex” and “23” in honor of his childhood hero, Michael Jordan, and sold them for $550 each. It was a huge success for him and motivated him to become an artistic director.

As soon as the Pyrex shuttered in 2013, Virgil launched his luxury collection of men and women streetwear with the label Off-White.

Off-White Consumers and Products

Streetwear is mostly adored by the hype beasts and hip-hop music fans, even if they are not rich. They have a craze of buying streetwear products, including hoodies, sneakers, logo tees, ribbed socks, puffer jackets, sweat pants, hats, tracksuits, chain necklaces, sports jerseys, and loose trousers.

The followers of Streetwear are under 30 and consider it as a fashionable clothing style. Although the products are expensive, they are high in demand because of their catchy and different looks.

Virgil’s Explanation on “Streetwear Is Dead”?

Right after his interview publication, followers became upset with what did Virgil mean when he said “streetwear is dead”? From the reader’s point of view, it simply means the extinction of streetwear fashion. Imagine disappearing off the style and fashion you feel comfortable and look classy in?

The phrase “streetwear is dead” hit hard like anything, especially on all the streetwear lovers who spent a huge sum of money in stocking favorite items.

 It also sounds like a loss for the manufacturers of Streetwear who have been earning large profits.

“I would definitely say it’s going to die, you know? Like, its time will be up. In my mind, how many more t-shirts can we own, how many more hoodies, how many sneakers?” said Abloh in his interview to explain what he meant by Streetwear is going to die.

It was very surprising for the masses and media to digest this opinion by the creator of Streetwear himself. But soon, Virgil gave a clear insight on why he said, “Streetwear is dead.”

Unfortunately, the Off-white and Louis Vuitton designer became a target of backlash on social media after sharing his views regarding George Floyd’s killing. CEO of label Off-white captioned images of violent racism protests and looting of shops on his social media account.

Those captions clearly depicted what did Virgil mean when he said “Streetwear Is Dead”.

“Our own communities, our own shops … this shop was built with blood, sweat, and tears.”

“Streetwear is a community. It’s groups of friends that have a common bond. We hang out on street corners, fight with each other, fight for each other”. But this time, considering it as a community, not a consumer product.

From Embracing Streetwear to “Streetwear is Dead”

“I am all about championing this new era of designers becoming the new rock stars,” shared Virgil Abloh in his blog post while talking about his passion for the Off white brand. He designed his collection of clothes with community-related logos indicating unity, harmony, and peace. Little did we know the end of the decade would be the total alteration of this statement.

The fashion pioneer always had a passion for Streetwear as a community of art, design, and fashion with all the fellow beings. Abloh burst emotionally in the following words while expressing his grief over his notion “streetwear is dead.” “You see the passion, blood, sweat, and tears Sean puts in for our culture.

Moreover, this disgusts me. To the kids that ransacked his store and RSVP DTLA, and all our stores in our scene just know, that product staring at you in your home/apartment right now is tainted and a reminder of a person, I hope you aren’t. We’re a part of culture together.

Is this what you want?? When you walk past him in the future, please have the dignity not to look him in the eye, hang your head in shame….”

Is Off-White Still Popular?

Despite all the mess that happened in recent times, Abloh is still known for driving the “post-streetwear movement” and has earned the title of a pioneer in streetwear luxury fashion. He has millions of Instagram followers.

 Plus, no matter what, he is a role model and fashion icon for his followers. Off-White is planning to be top of the world as it announced in February to seek 1 billion euros in the next decade.

Streetwear is Alive

The youngsters are crazy consumers of streetwear, and they consider these clothes as a class and enhancer of their personalities.

Moreover, Streetwear brands like NIKE, Off-White, Gucci, Supreme NYC, Off-white, and Jordan have launched their 2021 collections. So Streetwear can never be dead as it is a community, passion, and enthusiasm, not just merchandise.

Final Words

Virgil is a passionate American fashion designer who reflects his brand products with love and compassion for the community. We know that he uttered the words “streetwear is dead” owing to crucial circumstances, but it is not actually true.

Actually, this statement was the sentimental outlook and insight of the fashion director of LWMH and GUCCI, as he loves his community and people unconditionally. Additionally, there are a number of streetwear products, and they are high in demand. Hence, Streetwear had a bigger impact on the fashion and luxury industry. To sum up, Streetwear is class, not a trend that is dead or alive.

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Fashion is Dead, Long Live MerchTainment 

Fashion is Dead, Long Live MerchTainment 

Fashion has long been struggling with an existential crisis. However, the challenges it faced in recent times are harder than ever before. The technological advancements, rapid transformations in ICT, and the rise of mercantilism are knocking fashion down.

This can be observed at any fashion show happening around you. Instead of creative designs being showcased nicely, you will see a red carpet camp glowing like a 4k resolution screen, as in the Met Gala, and many other shows. Moreover, participants and guests will be seen encircled by a gang of paparazzis, DSLR-toting cameramen, as well as a crowd of curious people filming the moments with their smartphones.  

The flight of creativity from the fashion industry has not gone unnoticed but has become a point of debate and discussion among fashion critics. You can say that fashion is dead yet the debate around its death is still alive, with many arguing that it did not die but transformed, while others say it’s still breathing. Let’s indulge in this debate to prove with strong arguments that fashion is finally no more with us. 

Fashion and Entertainment

Verily, the fashion industry and entertainment are driving forces for each other. It is not wrong to claim that their semi-symbiotic relationship is centuries old. The entertainment industry prefers designer and latest brand collections to give a glamorous appearance to celebrities and, in turn, promotes the latest fashion among the masses.

You see, musicians are not just performers anymore, and actors are not only bound to creativity in their roles; all have become the epitome of fashion by launching their own brands. 

When these celebrities or better be said characters appear on the stage, the fashion show simply becomes a reality show, or a school graduation ceremony. This is because of the screens installed at the camp, and the welcoming and cheering of the crowd at the time when such characters appear on the screen. They are shown to the crowd on the screen until they enter the building and settle on their seats. 

This routine has brought us to the stage where the fashion industry has lost its credibility over time and has evolved as something we have never imagined it to be. Thom Bettridge has coined a term, “MerchTainment” that better describes this thing that has replaced fashion.  

“MerchTainment is Kim Kardashian wearing Balenciaga bondage gear to her ex-husband’s Balenciaga-styled listening event, and spinning that same outfit into an undisputed win at the Met Gala red carpet. The Met Gala itself might be MerchTainment’s patient zero,” he writes in his article. 

Welcome to the MerchTainment World

Let’s dive into the world of merchTainment, or you can say fashion world, but from a different perspective this time. In 2012, Virgil Abloh, a musician and DJ, launched Pyrex vision, a hip-hop style streetwear brand. Isn’t it amazing that a DJ popped out as a designer from nowhere but with the dead stock of shirts and became famous?

He also became artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s in 2018. Similarly, the famous Merchbar is a partner with singers, songwriters, and musicians and sells hot pop Merch like Harry Styles Merch, authentic Britney Spears Merch, and Michael Jackson vinyl records.

Moreover, we also have a long list of best-selling band merch of 2020, including Sex Pistols 1977 Tee, Bob Dylan Rolling Stone Tee, The Prodigy We Live Forever T-Shirt, and Lewis Capaldi America’s Sweetheart T-Shirt, and so on.

Maybe this is why Thom mentioned, “MerchTainment might be actually anything affiliated with Kanye West, Olympian God of both the music and Merch industries”.

What to Blame? 

Looking into how far it is justified to claim “fashion is dead” gives an understanding that internal and external factors have hit the fashion industry. On the part of fashion designers, they have nothing valuable and acceptable to offer in the latest fashion trends.

They go either too casual or too traditional and often come up with ridiculous clothing styles. Further, you would have also noticed that the increased global usage of social media contributed to fashion magazines’ downfall.

And many of you would agree that celebrity brands do not serve justice both in pricing and quality. Recently, the pandemic has also proven to be a stepping stone in the way for designers to hold fashion shows and even resulted in the reduction of the swelling ratio by 57%.

Changing Trend from Fashion Magazines to Social Media

Today, we just recall the times we used to wait for the fashion magazines to launch the latest fashion designs and trends. Roughly around six months was required for the manufacturing, model shoots, and then magazines to finally launch. Masses no more follow trends in magazines like Vogue and Harpers Bazaar. Now the brand promotion trends have shifted to online websites and social media. As Bettridge wrote, “MerchTainment is the brand Instagram you actually like”?

In fact, social media marketing is what is happening now globally. This can be seen in branded Simpson’s episodes, and Kanye West’s “The Life of Pablo,”’ and “Kids See Ghosts.”

Nowadays, stores have no new arrivals to surprise the visitors and shoppers. They already put everything on Instagram and the shoppers visit the store to get this item after being in a relationship with this product for over months. 

Fashion Weeks Showcasing Weird Garments

Have you ever wondered who gets inspired by those weird unwearable garments at fashion weeks? Fashion weeks speaks in volume that designers have no more original ideas and nothing creative to introduce in clothing styles.

Fashion weeks in London, Milan, Paris, and New York are criticized for having unrealistic approaches in the latest designs.

Plus, the clothing showcased on fashion runways is no more appealing and has zero relevance to consumer demand. It hits too hard when runways showcase the costumes of superficial film characters and sometimes get too traditional.

Celebrities took over the Fashion Industry

How many of us blindly follow the fashion trends set by our favorite celebrities? Celebrities are fashion icons for the masses, and they have a bigger influence on consumer choice and demand. Celebrities are not confined to their creative roles in media but also stepped up in the fashion industry as designers.

Although their brand products are very expensive and are of no lavish quality, their demand is high. Jessica Simpson’s eponymous line had revenue of $1 billion in 2015. 

Rihanna’s lingerie line Savage x Fenty, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s dual-threat fashion lines, The Row and Elizabeth and James, and Reese Witherspoon’s Draper James are all successful brands. It’s because celebrities have all the power over the designers, owners, promoters, and influencers of fashion, and this is indeed a clear picture of merchTainment.   

Final Words

In a nutshell, fashion remerchandise has merged with entertainment to a greater extent. Both the industries seem difficult to evolve as separate entities as they both share perks and privileges of their interconnected relationship.

But unfortunately, fashion has lost its actual sense and is rapidly changing, creating fuss and confusion among followers. It has died a slow death, as the merchTainment is not a new thing; it was in the process for a long time ago, and now is the time to fully accept and label fashion with it. 

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Streetwear Tribes: From Hypebeasts To Fun Dads

Streetwear Tribes: From Hypebeasts To Fun Dads

Streetwear is a fashion style of non-formal clothing items that came into existence globally in the 1990s. It started its steps from New York hip hop style and California’s surf culture to confine the components of sportswear to punk style and skateboarding to Japanese street style fashion.

Finally, classy couture has become a style to influence. It is commonly surrounded by the casual, comfortable style of jeans, T-shirts, caps, and sneakers. Followers of such particular styles and brands try to gather the releases that come with a limited-edition tag.

Let’s go a little further to understand streetwear fashion.

Original Streetwear Brands

Usually, we can categorize the Original streetwear brands on affordability, comfortability, and authenticity. From their basics, these brands raise their bar by a very direct motive to keep a word on a T-shirt.

Items from these brands usually sell at a higher price due to the availability of the limited pieces against higher demand.

Sportswear Brands

It consists of popular athletic labels that offer athletic pieces and sneakers, key components of sporty streetwear style.

Adopted Streetwear Brands

It may have included the streetwear styles into their goods offering, but their brand motto is not authentically sticking to the streetwear purpose.

Luxury Streetwear Brands

They offer the latest emerging trends of the brand that can’t differentiate between original streetwear & luxury style. These brands have also raised their bar on the name of authenticity but run on a higher price point.

To learn more about these streetwear brands, let’s dig about the approach, style, inspiration, subject-matter, and the style streetwear enthusiasts usually carry.

The Famous Hype Beasts Style

“A person who adopts a certain trend to look cool or being looking like cool hunk or A person who wears the most hyped fashion clothes.” A Hype Beast is a person who tries to gather clothing, shoes, and accessories to impress others.

Although that particular kid doesn’t own anything, he still shows that he makes far more than anybody else. By having the daddy’s credit card, the Hype Beast kid will try his best to make sure to own a pair of his most favorite brands of sneakers, clothes, or any accessories.

There may be some conflicting views about the word “hype beast.” Many people believe that a hype beast is mainly interested in behaving in the latest to get other people’s attention, like purchasing cool clothing (sweatshirts), new shoes, and snapbacks.

Some people say that a hype beast person usually uses other people’s belonging like their parents, siblings, etc. In contrast, others believe that a hype beast has a lot of cash, which helps them buy such luxuries.

The Eastern Bloc Head Style

The eastern bloc head style but robust kind of streetwear wearer is at the top edge of fashion.

They might have been born right after 1991, but they know well the cultural importance of designers’ articles of clothing like Russian wunderkind Mr. Gosha Rubchinskiy; as a sign of success, they can pronounce his surname correctly the very first try.

Fun Dads Style

When the nephew of the Fun Dad explained the concept to the kids, their fashion meant dark clothing. In the name of fashion, the fun dad style makes a person feel more like a man while having some serious compliments on their style. In a culture of streetwear tribe from hype beast to fun dads, the Fun Dads are very easy to find out.

Moreover, you can simply find them at the school gates, where he will be fully covered in Oliver Spencer. Or possibly on Sunday in the park, where, right after a hard net session with the kids, Fun Dad will eventually decide that he won’t actually change, that he will use his Champion sweatshirt for his shandy in the bar.

 It seems to aim to put it on with a 90% sensible clothing ratio and 10% sporty. But they will not ever call it sporty.

The Rich-Teens Concept

The rich Instagrammers originated fashion. When the rich teen has come into the hype, the rich boys started to adopt streetwear fashion to show it off on various social media platforms. Someone may get confused at this level between the hype beasts kids and rich teen kids; actually, they are both the same. Both are time-rich enough, though, and they both are invested in raising their statuses.

But there are a few variations that separate them. For example, Rich Teens are comfortable spending a lot of money on items they may not wear. Rich Teens reached berserk when Louis Vuitton merged with Supreme because their parents had approved to do so.

Rich Teens are the ones who like to get the thing first. Rich Teens are also known as “procurers” because they operate their fashion policy with a one-time wearer due to the higher collection quantity.

The Ladverts

Lads only use sportswear, that’s why we know them by the name of ladvert. The ladverts will never call such clothes streetwear because they don’t belong to this category. Except for many young boys, mostly students, they are cutting their style.

Summary

Every streetwear brand’s worth has derived from a range of resources, like product quality, design, celebrity followings, and artists. But, arguably, no factor seems to be as crucial as the authenticity of the customers purchasing the products. In a recent study, 76% of respondents believed that streetwear would grow majorly over the next five years.

Adopting the right fashion with style, at its best, shows the reflection of someone’s truest self. Even the uniquely made items come before the audience in various fashion groups, or what we like to call “style tribes.”

We have broken down the latest dominating trends in streetwear. The game of fashion style of streetwear tribes is here; what you have to know about all of them and how to gather and style them depends on your choice.

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10 Awesome Popular Culture References in Streetwear [part 2]

It’s no secret that streetwear fashion is all about reappropriation. The best streetwear trends to have ever landed on t-shirts, hoodies, and hats come from outside this industry. Many of the top streetwear brands borrow designs from other industries and launch them as their own after flipping them.

Interestingly, the streetwear industry will become a hollow shell if we take all its designs that are influenced by popular culture. From BRKNHOME’s American Pie to MILKCRATE’s New World Order, all products and brands draw inspiration from pop culture. Let’s talk about more pop culture references in streetwear.

1.    Mad People in New York are Hustlers by MIGHTY HEALTHY

Brknhome is a leading online company owned by Joshua Pong, and Kenta Goto, that creates men’s streetwear fashion This cool T-shirt, which embodies a goofy state of being, is the first item on our list. The roots and inspiration of these t-shirts came from a comedy and reality-based movie, “Hustlers,” in which Jennifer Lopez performed the main character as a stripper who allures men, drug them and cash out their credit cards.

As the logo titles explain the hustle and bustle of the people living in New York with a lighthearted touch, people wear it as their identity and association, and they think it makes them look cool.

2.   Dipset/Ramones T-Shirt by REASON

Now comes another band of t-shirts featuring a black theme knitted on quality cotton. These were introduced by the Ramones, who were a punk rock band in America in the ’70s. Artura Vega was the creative designer of the Ramones iconic logos.

Even the band members have died, their names are still alive as logos on diplomat t-shirts. People consider wearing it as a badge of honor. The logo designs are a public domain with no copyright; therefore, many brands launch their t-shirts and attract buyers.

3.    ‘K’ Sweats and T-Shirts by KINGPIN Scarface

Originally inspired by Scarface (1983), this casual wear had become a trend in the 90s.

KINGPIN has expertly created this captivating theme up on the front with dark color prevailing all the way to the edge, bringing about a promising look. The shirts are also known for the famous Alejandro “Alex” Sosa, a fictional character and the main antagonist in the 2006 video game Scarface.

In “The World Is Yours,” he is a Bolivian drug dealer and the chief supplier of cocaine. Further, Tony Montana, the Cuban Kinpin is also the 17th playable character in PAYDAY 2. In addition, this shirt brings up that classic movie era inspiring streetwear.

4.    Original Logo by ANYTHING

Here’s another important cultural reference keeping streetwear alive to this date is the I Love New York” logo. It was originally created by graphic designer Milton Glaser and was first used in 1977 to promote the city and state when NY was facing a social and economic crisis.

Madison Avenue advertising firm Wells Rich Greene was appointed to advertise The Big Apple and to promote tourism with a song, logo, and a slogan, “I Love New York.” This clothing can provide you with decent value in your streetwear clothing reference and is memorable for New Yorkers.

5.    Snapbacks by HUNDREDS

Are you longing to find a super cool streetwear cap with a famous culture reference? Well, this hat from Hundreds is your go-to option with the signature expression “snapback.”

This flat-brimmed hat has its roots in the early days of baseball when the first baseball teams wore straw hats in 1858, and these are now a part of baseball uniforms today.

 Later in the ’90s, snapback gained popularity among hip hop artists like Tupac and Ice Cube and evolved as hot streetwear.

6.    Supreme Team Sweatshirt by SUPREME

Here’s a great sweatshirt that is inspired by the style wars back in 1984. Supreme was launched in 1994 by James Jebbia. Talking about the logo inspiration, she said that the red box logo with “Supreme” in white Futura Heavy Oblique was taken from the work of Barbara Kruger.

And the shirts striking with an old fashion nostalgia are very favorite among masses: supreme targets skateboarding and hip hop cultures and youth in general.

7.    SSUR Inspired by Star Wars

Moving on to another star wars inspired streetwear back from the famous culture reference in 1977. Ruslan Karablin in New York founded the SSUR clothing brand. It is the epitome of luxury streetwear based on Russian artistic heritage.

A variety of products, including hoodies, sweatshirts, T-shirts, socks, accessories, snapback hats etc., are famous with “COMME des FUCKDOWN” and “COCO MADE ME DO IT” logos.

Also, the brand shirts refer to Henry Chalfont’s elemental Star Wars and its theme that went up at that time.

8.    SSUR Means T-shirt

This fabulous streetwear had taken its inspiration from the mean streets poster art back in 1973. The shirt design represents the glory of 70s cinema, which holds significant importance for cultural references.

You will notice a clear message mentioning something about New York streets and how it’s shown as an enduring conveyance. In addition, the gun violation theme is a part of the primary design element as well.

So, most streetwear fans love the aesthetics of this shirt holding a classic solid reference

9.    Chinatown Gun Shop T-Shirt by STAPLE

The oldest Gun shop in the USA by John Jovino has inspired this casual wear since 1911. The Staple shirt actually pays tribute to the Beretta poster outside.

And the Guns on tees are an embarrassment that peaked in the faux-thugging on cotton stakes around 2008. The work has been presented in the Chinatown font and theme.

The overall design and vibe bring about the perfection of classic presentation while empowering better styling functionality.

10.     FUCT Lips by Stones

Let’s take a glimpse at a very pivotal culture reference put up in the form of a logo by the craft of John Pasche. FUCT (Friends U Can’t Trust) was founded in Los Angeles in 1990 by Erik Brunetti and skateboarder Natas Kaupas.

According to Brunetti, the name “FUCT” was a homophone of the “fucked” and made people curious about its pronunciation.

 It is also inspired by 80s music. FUCT has been a pioneering streetwear brand and iconic logos of pop culture, anti-government and anti-religious campaigns.

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What is Bootleg in the Fashion Industry?

What is Bootleg in the Fashion Industry?

Fashionistas are well aware that this is not a new trend. Bootleg fashion first appeared in 1982 and became a prominent streetwear trends in 2016. It may not have truly vanished because it keeps reappearing, but it did have its glory days as a hypebeast favorite.

It has been present throughout the years, although primarily in an underground fashion. It has quietly resurrected since 2017 with a new twist, catching the attention of haute couture brands, which are adding it to their current campaigns and new releases.

Imran Potato: the king of Bootlegging

Bootleg fashion refers to apparel that has been artistically appropriated, with logos modified slightly or popular slogans on t-shirts replaced by newer but nearly equal phrases. it’s basically a carbon copy of the original.

Bootleg items, distributing which is partly lawful, differ significantly from the original, yet present an illusion to make them appear as the original products. However, some bootleg makers are hit with multimillion-dollar lawsuits and desist orders, effectively putting them out of business.

Such products are usually created by the black market and sold at cheaper rates to those who cannot afford to buy the original products of luxury brands. Such items are purposely made to be characterized as a bootleg, and leave people with the option of whether to buy them or not.

For example, you would have seen bootleg Gucci tees with the misspelled name of the Gucci; sometimes ‘i’ replaced with ‘y’ or with a single ‘c’. This trick not only saves the creator from a lawsuit, but also allows buyers to know that it’s not the original product, but a bootleg item. COMME des FUCKDOWN was perhaps one of the most popular bootleg fashion items in the streetwear fashion industry. Its design was inspired by the Comms des Garcons, a popular high fashion brand. The reason behind the growing popularity of this bootlegged piece was ASAP Mob, who wore it in their VICE Shoot held in 2012. ASAP Mob is a band of influential rappers with a huge fan base.

Difference Between Bootleg and Fake Products

As mentioned earlier that bootleg has always been very sought-after products which adorn the wardrobes of hypebeasts. However, with a minor difference bootleg items can be taken as fake products. As in the case of ‘Guccy’ shirts which we discussed in the earlier paras of this article.

So, a fake fashion product such as a T-shirt, or a piece of jewelry is created by directly copying an original product, which is already available in the market. Such fake products are marketed as the original products but with a notable difference in prices so as to get sales by duping consumers. Such counterfeited products are usually imported to America in huge numbers and they feature every luxury item from clothes to handbags, and from watches to jewelry items.

The fake products and companies responsible for counterfeit goods have established their roots deep in the market, and they enjoy a handsome market share amounting to trillions of dollars. You would be surprised to learn that global tech giant, Samsung, announced 2018 about its collaboration with streetwear brand, Supreme. But Supreme had no knowledge about this collaboration. Then Samsung found that it had been negotiating with a fake outlet of Supreme named Supreme Italia. This gives us an idea about the growing issue of bootlegging in the fashion industry. 

Contrary to fake fashion products, which try to dupe consumers by creating a direct copy of an original product, bootleg products are usually created by getting inspiration from a renowned design. They actually re-appropriate the original designs to create their own unique product. Unlike fake products, which are difficult to identify whether they are original or fake, bootleg items can easily be differentiated from the original ones.

Luxury Brands and Bootlegging

Luxury brands respond to bootlegging in multiple ways. Some larger brands such as Adidas always opt for filing lawsuits against the bootlegger, while others go for retaking the copy and made it a part of their collection.

But it doesn’t mean that luxury brands don’t indulge in bootlegging themselves. They do, as in the case of Gucci, which copied a jacket from Dapper Dan having ballooned sleeves. The brand also made this jacket a part of its 2018 cruise collection. For this cheap effort of bootlegging, Gucci was criticized heavily by fashion enthusiasts. Dapper Dan also pointed this out on social media, which resulted in a response from Gucci. The brand claimed that it was a homage to Dapper Dan rather than a rip-off.

They Bootleg their own products

Counterfeit and bootlegging cost billions of dollars to luxury brands when consumers prefer a copied product over the original one due to the same design and look but cheaper price. So, to stop this amount from going into the pockets of other companies, luxury brands bootleg their products themselves. For some campaigns, they create a bad version of their own items by making slight changes in their logo or design. This makes the products, which are originally created by the brand itself, look like counterfeited. In this way, luxury brands succeed in snatching the profit share from bootleggers, which earn huge amounts by copying their products.

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Re-appropriation: Copy vs Originality in Fashion Industry

Re-appropriation: Copy vs Originality in Fashion Industry

An appropriation is an approach adopted by artists to produced new artworks by re-contextualizing the borrowed elements of visual culture. Re-appropriated works always bases on ideas of the original artwork. Although, it’s frequently referred to as stealing, yet re-appropriation is now being taken as normal in the fashion industry. That’s the reason that almost every fashion brand, including Fuct, Supreme, A Bathing Ape, has reinterpreted widely-recognized imagery to give it new meaning altogether.

However, fashion art critics don’t regard this form of art as true art. For them, it’s a lazy practice, and creators of such don’t have the right to own an art piece if the foundations of this piece are based on another artist’s work, be it painting, music, film, product design, or dress design.

But again, re-appropriation is a much deeper thing in fashion, especially streetwear. It isn’t about riding on another brand’s coattails to be dragged around along with it; it’s about creating opportunities and media to address socioeconomic issues, as well as the space between larger companies and their audience they are selling dreams to.

Any brand in mind?

Re-appropriation and Concept of Ownership

The concept of ownership in the fashion industry is blurry, especially when it comes to larger companies and brands accusing smaller brands of stealing their concepts/designs. And it’s quite confusing if we try to judge ownership in the case of a giant kids brand that lodges legal complaints against smaller brands by accusing them of stealing, whereas, it captures videos of children in parks, playgrounds, and other public areas to have an idea about how kids wear clothes in major city centers, and what fashion trends they follow.

Let’s take the example of Supreme, which pursued a lawsuit against Married to the Mob brand. The brand was owned by Leah McSweeney, who was blamed by Supreme for stealing its box logo to create the graphics of ‘Supreme Bitch’. Interestingly, Supreme’s box logo was itself a re-appropriated work of Barber Kruger’s conceptual designs. This implies that nothing is original in the fashion industry, where brands are stealing ideas all the time.

The $10 Million Supreme v. Supreme Bitch Legal Battle

How Brands Respond to Re-appropriation?

It’s been observed that instead of seeking relief and justice for infringement of their designs through lawsuits, takedown requests, or settlement, larger brands often go for extralegal ways. Such extralegal ways include shaming through social media or retaking the copy.

Re-appropriation and Independent Designers, or Smaller Brands

As mentioned earlier, brands usually adopt ways outside the legal system to seek relief for infringement of their original work, independent designers or small brands often take it to social media to call out a re-appropriation. Shaming a larger brand for copying the original work of an independent designer or a small brand gives promising results. Let’s take the example of a British designer to understand how does this work.

The British designer, Carrie Anne Roberts, who created the Mère Soeur clothing brand, came to learn that through Instagram that Old Navy was selling T-shirts after copying her graphics tees. Roberts, who designs mama merch clothing and other items, had used the typography “Raising the Future” while designing this particular shirt which Old Navy copied. She had also created another kids’ tee featuring the words “The Future”. Her concept was to create matching shirts for both mother and her kid. These tees were the best-selling items of Robert. But Old Navy copied her design and created similar shirts for mothers and kids with the same typography. The brand was selling the shirts for half the price of the original ones.

Roberts posted the re-appropriations of Old Navy to Instagram, informing the followers about being copied by a larger brand. Instagram users showed tremendous support to her and left negative remarks on Old Navy’s Instagram page, as well as on its official websites. After receiving so much criticism online, Old Navy was left with no option but to pull the tees from its website. The brand also wrote an email to Robert, pointing out that she has no legal rights to Old Navy, as she neither has a trademark for font, and words “Raising the Future”, and “The Future”, nor for the graphic design of the T-shirts. However, they told the British designer that they won’t place new orders for the said shirts.

Two different brands (Left: Carrie Anne Robert’s, Right: Old Navy’s)

Other examples of social media shaming include Italian designer Aquazzura shaming Ivanka Trump on Instagram for copying his sandals “Wild Thing”, Stefano Gabbana of Dolce & Gabbana shaming Chanel for appropriating Dolce & Gabbana’s column-heel, and Alexander Wang calling out Philipp Plein for copying concepts form Wang’s fashion shows.

Re-appropriation and Big Brands

Contrary to the “shaming” strategy which is being adopted largely by independent designers or small brans, big brands go for “retaking the copy.” This occurs when the owner of a design retakes the copy of his design into a new artwork. However, this can also accompany legal action, as well as social media shaming.

Let’s takes the instance of Gucci. Few people would know the story behind Gucci’s iconic double-G logo. In 2012, Trevor Andrew used Gucci’s bedsheet as a ghost costume for Halloween. This was the moment when the alter ego of Andrew, GucciGhost, came into being. Upon getting positive feedback from Brooklynites, he started to post on Instagram after painting the “graffiti-esque” versions of the Gucci logo on clothing, TV sets, boxing gloves, walls, dumpsters, and other objects.

Andrew has also been selling his GucciGhost products including clothing and accessories for years. However, in 2016, Gucci took notice of his activities and responded. But instead of filing a lawsuit against Andrew or asking him to desist from using Gucci’s logo, the brand surprisingly hired him for designing its fall collection. This notion of Gucci was widely appreciated, also by Andrew himself.

Where’s the Law?

There happen numerous cases of copyright violations in the American fashion industry, but the American copyright law doesn’t adequately protect fashion designs just like it gives protection to drama, music, art, and literature. So the outdated American legal doctrines enable American brands to keep copying and re-appropriating one another.

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How Street Culture in Fashion Came to Be and How It’s a Major Force to High Fashion Now

How Street Culture in Fashion Came to Be and How It’s a Major Force to High Fashion Now

People around the world embrace their culture proudly; they wear it upon their sleeves and are not shy from any opportunity to showcase the street culture of their roots. The street style of a region is known as an invention of the culture of that area rather than the mainstream fashion industry. With time, streetwear style has taken a new form of ubiquitousness and is becoming more and more dominant in society.  Street style has always existed but not until the mid-1960s that people came to value the significance of street culture more. 

History of Streetwear 

The history of clothing is parallel to the history of identity. Streetwear has represented the street culture, community identity, and subculture cohesion. Streetwear style is believed to be born out in the late 1970s in New York City and the 1980s with Los Angeles surf street culture elements. The inspiration of the early 1970s and 1980s came from Japanese street culture fashion, heavy metal, new wave, do-it-yourself hip hop and punk aesthetic, and co-existing sportswear legacy. 

Part of early street style inspirations emerges from workwear fashion brands, like Dr.Martens, Adidas, Fila, and Schott NYC. The primary root of streetwear style is linked to realism and the passion to express some meaningful intention. The evangelists who initiate the movement are the founder of skateboard Supreme, the founder of surfboard Stussy, James Jebbia. 

Designer Dapper has given rise to the streetwear style by adding a luxury touch to it. By this, you can see how the initial history of street style male-dominated and that male supremacy in fashion also popped up into the masculine look of early street style. Similarly, In Japan influential Djs and designers, Hiroshi Fujiwara and Nigo play a huge role in spreading street culture in fashion. Then came the 20th century, which was mostly characterized by a strong correlation between street style and fashion. 

Dapper Dan

Streetwear style unfolded a common social practice by sociocultural groups that represented a street culture that eventually became an important element of the mass fashion industry. The formula was simple: people prefer T-shirts and hoodies because that’s what they like and that’s what they think represents their personality well. Streetwear-style clothes can be called uniforms of comfort and self-expression. Common sportswear that was popular as the contemporary style was a product of the street culture of that time: bomber jackets, hoodies, leggings, track pants, and sneakers. Most of these are a revival of 1990s baseball caps and bomber jackets.

How Culture Influences the Fashion Industry 

Embracing every new style that is trending in the fashion industry is important to look good and stay up to date with fashion. But how the culture and fashion are correlated with each other? Fashion and street culture are two sides of the same coin and go hand-in-hand with each other. The more you learn about the fashion of a region you learn the culture of that specific area you are talking about that merges into fashion over time. 

Culture does influence the fashion industry. All over the world, there are various cultures whose people follow different fashion trends and none of the two are even the same. Culture is dynamic just like fashion that evolves and changes with time. If we talk a bit more specifically we can call it a street culture that most influenced fashion rather than the norms of a locality. 

People make sure fashion accessories and apparel must meet the criteria of the street culture they are living in. Culture impacts the choice of fabric and design as well. Simply, what people choose to wear or what their fashion sense is, mostly the prestige of their strong local identity and geographic location. 

Street culture is shown vibrantly on clothes people wear and how they caress the history into fashion. Just like “Afghan Vintage Kochi ‘‘ represents the Tajiki street style, a tribe of Afghanistan, a “traditional grab” woven in long strips and sewn together, is a unique Ethiopian attire. Similarly, “Saree” and “lehenga” are the two most popular street style clothes of Indian women. If we talk about Nigeria, a 3 piece embroidered outfit, “agbada” worn by Nigerian on their cultural events.

Culture is Major Force Behind Modern Fashion 

The moment people know about the importance of culture they understand the future of global consumerism after all the fashion industry is all about making cultural statements. The fashion industry runs on the tagline: to be different and unique. The fashion industry is becoming more expensive with time in the United States, around 250 billion dollars are spent only on fashion accessories: bags, jewelry, shoes, etc. Where the new trend of the fashion industry is concerned, culture is an essential part of it. Clothes are a source of nonverbal communication which tells others who we are and where we belong.  

Culture is now a major force that runs behind the fashion industry. From Global consumerism to macro in micro-trend in fashion all influence mannerly by street culture. It is important to know the apparent shift in consumer lifestyle through fashion which is influenced by culture.

  • Elite Culture Influence: High culture like visual art or applied art like design, architecture, and photography. These sources of elite activities draw new ideas and designs. Art has a major role to play in modern fashion. Take an example of the Louis Vuitton coalition with contemporary artists like Takeshi Murakami who had elaborated Louis Vuitton Monogram bags in history.
  • Pop Culture Influence: Pop or popular culture is a sector followed, and appreciated by a larger fraction of the world’s audience. Mercantile culture is produced for mass consumption. Take your favorite and popular TV show, and how everyone wants to dress up as the central character of that show. With widespread globalization, common trends, like wearing Levi’s jeans can be seen all around the globe. 
  • Low Culture: Low culture refers to local culture and local street activities like Hip Hop. The superiority of subculture in fashion can be seen in skateboard culture since the 70s.
Louis Vuitton x Takashi Murakami

Street Cultural Pervasive to High fashion

It’s becoming difficult to differentiate between cultures streetwear as certain styles from subcultures are quickly adopted at mass levels all around the world—thanks to social media.  For example, Tokyo’s teenage Harajuku girls who dressed up in a particular way, their dressing become the sole representative of American singer Gwen’s clothing line as well as his world tour. 

Likewise, the best example of street culture becoming more pervasive is the emerging popularity of the Korean Street style. Apart from government support and affordability of Korean street style, factors like adaptability and marketing are making it spread worldwide.

Over time, a subculture is not limited to a region or country, it’s widely spread all over the world and the internet has a major role to play in it. Now, the question arises if the continuous spreading of street culture worldwide is economical? Or is there a need for segregation among street cultures of different countries?

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10 Awesome Popular Culture References in Streetwear [part 1]

10 Awesome Popular Culture References in Streetwear [part 1]

Streetwear, which became an influence in the 1990s, grew from surf culture and hip-hop fashion. Encompassing punk, skateboarding, sportswear, and elements of Japanese fashion, streetwear usually covers casual and comfortable clothing such as T-shirts, jeans, sneakers, baseball caps, etc. We all are streetwear enthusiasts to some extent. However, most of us don’t have an idea that many of the great designs of streetwear are created after re-appropriation. Smaller as well as larger brands borrow streetwear designs from other sources, without minding the intellectual property rights and ethics. The reason is that the streetwear industry considers re-appropriation as the catalysts to creativity. Besides copying designs from other industries, streetwear designs have largely been influenced by pop culture. Let’s take a look at some awesome pop culture references found in streetwear.

1.    American Pie by BRKNHOME

Brknhome is a leading online company owned by Joshua Pong, and Kenta Goto, that creates men’s streetwear fashion designs. It created men’s streetwear designs on the basis of Don McLean’s cultural touchstone ‘American Pie’. The thumbs-down design, which was originally borrowed from McLean, hints towards the government’s apathy and delayed response to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The back of the Brknhome’s shirts was even featuring the lyrics of McLean’s American Pie, “Drove my Chevy to the levee, But the levee was dry.” These shirts were rightly fulfilling the criteria of streetwear fashion due to their resistive design. The shirts enjoyed wide popularity among youngsters all across the country.

2.   NY Lakers/LA Knicks Logos by UNDEFEATED

There’s something appealing about flipping the familiarity to create a new thing. While we’ve been arguing whether or not the strike-off bar logo Undefeated featured contains any Black Flag references, utilizing the Knicks and Lakers logos but replacing the team names was an initial step that established the precedent for the future sporting tributes.

The shirts were a fine re-appropriation of New York Lakers and Los Angeles logos. Although there wasn’t involved any outstanding creativity, yet the designer played with the logos very well, and so the store succeeded in getting its shirts on the high streets of America.

3.    New World Order by MILKCRATE

Every rap video on YouTube rap nowadays is littered with references to the Illuminati and the shifting world order. We’re obsessed with conspiracy theories, and the North Face’s fantastic logo is begging to be mocked. Milkcrate is an overlooked company, but its New World Order created for sweats and shirts was very popular during the 90s. The brand also added to the streetwear industry and Fabricali with its original, and innovative streetwear designs during the later years.

4.    Pollo by DQM

DQM, you are the kings of the animal-based pun. The Chopper, Bill the Butcher, and Meatallica designs are timeless, but the Pollo items are a standout in terms of overall execution from the New York-based label.

Pollo introduced a new design of streetwear after manipulating the logo of Polo Ralph Lauren. The brand replaced the horseman with a polo player riding a chicken. The articles featuring this wacky design caught the attention of people belonging to all age groups.

5.    Bapex by BAPE

This is the beauty of streetwear that it reflects almost everything that matters for humans. Being inspired by mass culture, streetwear has always been coming up with wacky ideas and designs. As in the case of Bapex, which paid homage to Rolex Submariner in such a befitting way that it took streetwear to new heights of wishful luxuries. BAPE simply allowed the common man to wear the rich designs of Rolex watches.

6.    Andre Face by OBEY

Shepherd Fairey, a street artist and owner of OBEY, launched a campaign that he called “an experiment in phenomenology” where he used the face of Andre the Giant by mixing it with John Carpenter’s “They Live”. After Fairey’s designed tees, Andre’s face and his stickers were seen in every major city of the US.

7.    Medusa Head by CROOKS & CASTLES

The designs of Crooks & Castles aren’t known for their delicacy, but their swagged luxury concept is one that has risen to prominence after a lot of hard work by the brand. The use of the Medusa head logo as a jumping-off point was a statement of purpose, indicating that this brand was aiming for a whole luxurious lifestyle approach. Under its lavish lifestyle approach, Crooks & Castles also designed a clock, just like BAPE.

8.    Banana by PERKS & MINI

Perks & Mini, with its creative re-appropriations, has always been enjoying a prominent position among the streetwear brands. Getting inspiration from Velvet Underground & Nico, this Melbourne-based brand that was established by street artists Shauna Toohey, and Misha Hollenbach, introduced articles that feature a peeled banana fruit. This re-appropriation that refers to pop culture, is perhaps one the best works of  Perks & Mini. Yet the brand is commonly overlooked in the fashion industry.

9.    Gold Front Misfits by DIAMOND

You may have seen pictures of your father wearing tees with the misfits logo. Yes, this was considered cool once. But just like bellbottoms, it became out of fashion. Diamond brought this back into streetwear fashion by creating a design inspired by the logo of Misfits Crimson Ghost and launched hoodies. Many took the design as a bit crazy, yet it enjoyed popularity as few famous artists also wore it on important occasions.

10.     Cobra Tie Tees by FIBEROPS

Fiberops main designer Alyasha Owerka-Moore, who is known for his original, prolific, and innovative streetwear designs, is responsible for this awesome re-appropriation. He introduced this design when everybody was infected with hip-hop fever. He used the lyric of American singer Bo Diddley’s song “Who do you love,” which was released in 1956. Fiberops printed the line, “Use a cobra snake for a necktie” on its shirts which were sold like hotcakes, even when people had no idea about the song. Fiberops, which contributed greatly to streetwear art, is perhaps one of the most ignored brands in the US. 

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What is Artwear? Here’s Everything You Need to Know

What is Artwear? Here’s Everything You Need to Know

You’ve seen many times photographs of models wearing unique attire that you don’t see people wearing on normal days. The fashion world labels these subtle and sometimes abstruse clothing as artwear. Here’s everything you need to know about artwear!

What is Artwear?

Defining artwear, also known as wearable art, isn’t as simple as it seems. This exceedingly personal outfit is always made by hand, and it conforms to no specific aesthetic criterion. It comes in different variations and is created by employing various techniques, including sewing, knitting, dyeing, leather tooling, tooling, and many others. Although, it’s separate from mainstream fashion, yet it’s related to it. But it’s about extravagance and beauty, rather than comfort, or functionality.

When to Wear Artwear?

On what occasions should you put on artwear? Well, wearable art is usually seen at art and fashion exhibitions, but one can wear it to express its individuality and to give a voice to the distinctive features of their personality. Since it’s a product that depicts creativity, craftsmanship, fantasy, and artistic vision, it can be worn anytime and anywhere but in the presence of an appropriate audience.
Sometimes, artwear is used to pay homage to a person, or mark a historic event, or celebrate an achievement. For example, in 1951, renowned artist Henri Matisse designed and made the ‘Rosaire de Vence Chapel’ to pay tribute to his nurse, Monique. The nurse, besides looking after the artist during his fight against cancer, also posed for many paintings and drawings Matisse created over time. To acknowledge the splendid services of his nurse, Matisse designed a series of chasubles – the outermost garment worn by Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican priests to celebrate the Mass. Priests still wear Matisse’s created chasubles today during Eucharist.

Matisse’s Chasuble

History of Artwear

The artwear movement began in the late 1960s, flourished during the 1970s, and is still going strong in the mid-2000s. Wearable art blossomed at the tail end of the turbulent 1960s, and this is no coincidence. The decade’s cultural, social, and political uprisings offered a critical foundation for art to wear fashion to express individuality and exploring new ways and ornaments for body adornment.
However, the history of artwear can be traced down to 1848, when Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood – comprising Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, and William Holman Hunt – made a joint effort to create unique dresses. Inspired by Medieval art, the Brotherhood offered alternative clothing for women and encouraged them to put them on instead of the Victorian-style bell-shaped dresses.
Other developments the fashion world witnessed during the nineteenth century were the alternative clothing created by William Morris. The artist got inspiration from the art of the middle ages and created simple yet attractive attire. Eastern art also dominated the aesthetic dress designing in the late nineteenth century
Up till 1920, clothing had become a medium for poets, writers, feminists, socialists, philosophers, and visuals artists to express their ideas on life, but in the early twentieth century, the public, especially Europeans belonging to the elite and upper-middle-class, started accepting wearable art. In fact, unconventional dresses were considered to be a symbol of distinction, while the wearer was taken as an intellectual or progressive thinker having a unique taste for clothing. People started admiring artwear and alternative clothing became a point of discussion within the intellectual and artistic circles.
During the 1970s, San Francisco and New York City were the hubs of art to wear fashion where fine art was preferred over craftmanship. This decade marked the initiation and utilization of traditional dressmaking techniques in unorthodox ways. For example, storytelling was introduced in the textile fashion by employing classic techniques of weaving, leather tooling, sewing, dyeing, knitting, and painting.
Nina Vivian Huryn, Sharon Hedges, Janet Lipkin, and Norma Minkowitz are few names to mention from a long list of artists who introduce this genre of artwear

“Do you have a light” :’) Dali shared common points and worked/design’d for Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli (see below)
The vibrance + scope of their work(s) keep on resonating up until now!
Idea-tion-> realization/manifestation! // 2D -> 3D

Artwear in Twenty-first Century

Artwear in the 1990s and early 2000s gained greater acceptance in mainstream textile fashion. With the advent of modern technologies, and the emergence of globalization, artwear got global recognition and people from every walk of life started wearing alternative clothes to highlight their personalities and to make their special occasions even more special.
Currently, wearable art has got a prominent position in mainstream fashion. The artwear is no more confined just to exhibitions and catwalks, but it has made its way to streets, ceremonies, and practical life. Now, it attracts a wider audience and a large portion of the textile business!

Artwear – from Conceptual Clothing to Conceptual Fashion

Originally artwear was nothing but an item of conceptual clothing. It was largely created and worn by artists that had been viewing it as an artistic instrument. At that time, it was worn on special occasions such as catwalks and art exhibitions.
However, wearable art has smoothly made its way to conceptual fashion. It is now wearable clothing having a commercial value. Previously, when artwear started getting business, it was created and sold for a specified market of artists and intellectuals. But in the contemporary world, artwear is very popular among general consumers, who love to buy and wear it.

Conclusion: VERYRARE and Art are indissociable. Plain and simply, artwear = art you can wear.