This is Not Fashion: Streetwear Past, Present and Future

Description

This is the story of streetwear. King ADZ and Wilma Stone recount how a long line of subcultural movements have been incorporated into a multi-billion-dollar global industry and taken over both the high street and high-end fashion. Starting from the building blocks of repurposed sportswear, workwear and combat-wear, they explain just how it is that a revolutionary sartorial trend has evolved to encompass a vast range of disparate tribes, offering a powerful sense of belonging and identity to all. The story begins in 1972, in Jersey City, USA, with the birth of the first ever streetwear shop, Trash and Vaudeville. The journey then encompasses punk, Ivy League preppies, the hip-hop kings and queens of Harlem, the dresser/casual movement born out of British football culture, the skater scene of California, the paninari scooter-brats of Milan, and much more. We are shown how streetwear, worn with integrity and swagger, has transcended culture, race, gender and age to become a lasting worldwide phenomenon. Whether focusing on major brands such as Stüssy, Carhartt, Tommy Hilfiger and SHUT or today’s up-and-comers from South African townships or downtown Seoul, this dynamic study surveys the scene. It also takes a look at how the Internet era has changed the ways streetwear is sold and consumed, and how the field may evolve in the future. Packed with profiles of industry pioneers, Q&As with key figures and over 300 illustrations, this is the complete history of fashion’s fastest-growing and most influential movement. Review: Streetwear Scrapbook - I picked this up due to my teenager's increased interest in fashion and streetwear for him to dip into (he wasn't interested), and ended up flipping through the bulk of it myself. I've always had an interest in subcultural styles related to music scenes (mod, rudeboy, punk, hardcore), and an appreciation for plenty of others (hip hop, skater, surfer, etc.). Never heard of the authors, but this is their loose personal scrapbook of various topics, people, images, etc. related to streetwear. The book opens with an attempt to explain what streetwear is, and as it goes on for pages and pages -- eventually confirming my suspicion that you can more or less fit anything under the banner of "streetwear" and that the term is ultimately meaningless.... Next is a section called "Wardrobe Essentials" which lays out the key unisex basics that any streetwear brand generally includes: t-shirt, hoodie, sweatsuit, tennis/polo shirt, windbreak/cheater, demin, chinos, baseball cap, bomber/flight jacket, and "classic" footwear (a whole several books unto itself). The bulk of the book then becomes a quasi-chronological history of streetwear, starting in 1972 with Trash & Vaudeville, then moving to UK punk, then early 80s preppy, then hip-hop, then casuals (aka dresser, which I'd never heard as a term before), then club/rave, then paninari (which seems slightly chronologically off to me), then the Stussy brand gets its own section for some reason, and then comes skater/surfer/snow wear. Each of these sections gets lots of photo references, and a list at the end of the key brands in that space. This is followed by a section on street art-influenced streetwear, which is also pretty shaggy in the sense that everything is influencing everything at this point, so trying to put a category on it feels odd. Then the book kind of peters out with some random interviews with designers and brand people, and then cities you should check out... All in all, it's a visually delicious book, and published by Thames & Hudson, so the design and quality is great. The text isn't super-illuminating, and so it's kind of like a really nice bound magazine one can flip through to see cool images. Review: Covers most aspects. - Good book. Covers most aspects.