With the decade coming to a close, we thought it appropriate to look at the moments that defined our industry. We obviously had a unique front row seat to what ended up becoming the 3rd wave of Streetwear. Looking back on it all, much of what defined this decade in Streetwear was rebelling against the previous status quo. But while certain things change, that driving force still remains the same.
Please take what we write with a grain of salt. Working within the industry, it’s hard to be completely objective. That said, I think we did a pretty good job running down not only the things that shaped Мишка, but Streetwear as a whole during this past decade.
Sometimes the most defining moments weren’t terribly positive, but don’t take that to mean that we don’t feel the future isn’t bright for Streetwear going into the next decade. We’re all just eager to learn from our mistakes, and hopefully our successes.
And now on to the list!
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10) Screen Prints to Oxford Shirts: The We Grown Up Now Movement
Like a lot of things in Streetwear, this happened in Japan first—by the time most folks stateside caught wind of Streetwear, Japanese brands were producing full cut & sew collections. Screen printing is a quick, easy, and dirty way to get an idea and an aesthetic across. But to tell a more complete story in clothes, at some point you’ve got to put some pieces together. Looking to grow as fully as some of the more established Japanese and US brands on the market, brands always dabbled lightly in cut & sew. But over the past two years, the predominant fashion trends took a lot of aging and less enthused Streetwear fans away from the candy colors and folded them into the new trends of Americana and heritage brands. The market demands, the companies supply. Plus come on, what are most people going to do with a goat head t-shirt past 26 years of age? (Well, maybe keep it safely stashed for when you hit 35 and inevitably hit the whole “Dammit! I don’t want to look like my dad” phase…)
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9) Supreme Goes Online
Supreme has long been (and still is) the standard when it comes to the most coveted of Streetwear brands. They pioneered inaccessibility when it came to Streetwear. If you wanted Supreme, you used to have to go either to their shop in NY or their shop in Japan, and wait in line (and keep your fingers crossed that they would be willing to put out the item you were looking to buy). The next best option was to pay inflated prices to a re-seller who was willing to do the waiting for you. But then one day it all changed… Supreme had a website, then an online store, which, while not open 24/7, is open often enough that when coupled with mailing list notifications, it gives anyone, anywhere in the world U.S., the chance to buy some Supreme goods.
The reason why this is such a defining moment is because for the longest while, the Old Guard of Streetwear seemed to consider (or at least treat) the hype blogs, forums, online stores, and boutiques sprouting up left and right as a passing fad, thinking that one day it would all go back to the secret handshakes, winks and nods, “We’re big in Japan” system. So when Supreme went online, they made the statement that needed to be said for anyone still in doubt: “the game has changed”. Of course, this being Supreme, they still will do everything in their power to run the rules of the game in whichever way it suits their (much deserved) ego.
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8) The “All-Over Print”
What was once the golden goose is now the bastard step-child we might be all too quick to write off. To be fair, Streetwear didn’t invent the so-called all-over print—high end design houses had been using patterns and prints for eons, and the oversized all-over print tee was very much a staple of the merch catalog for any 90s band worth their salt. Streetwear only brought this sometimes garish design concept back at just the right moment. What started with t-shirts quickly evolved into hoodies with A Bathing Ape leading and dominating the market. But Bape merely created the the impetus for countless smaller and larger brands to not only run with, but actually establish their brands through a few key all-over pieces. Eventually, major retailers like Old Navy and H&M took notice and begin introducing cheaper (and usually higher quality) all-over print alternatives to the Streetwear mainstays, killing off the once dominant trend. So while most scramble to distance themselves from it as a played-out relic, let’s not forget its significance.
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7) 2003 AKA The Year Streetwear Broke
2003 was a noteworthy year for Streetwear, mainly because it was the year when the collective conscious of various like-minded entrepreneurs with similar tastes and backgrounds sought to go out into the world and leave their mark. That mark happened to be starting a Streetwear brand. We started in 2003, The Hundreds started in 2003, Mighty Healthy, King Stampede, 3Sixteen, Rockers NYC, Triumvir, Pricele$$ (RIP), and countless other brands (some still around) either started up or at the very least laid the seeds for what most might call the third major wave of Streetwear in ’03.
But not only was this the year many of us went into heavy debt, it was also the year that the people behind these brands helped make the very noticed paradigm shift in saying Streetwear doesn’t exclusively have to be about Hip Hop. It can be about a whole wealth of other things that influenced us growing up besides the 5 elements. Still, truthfully, none of this would have been possible were it not for…
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6) The Nike SB & Quickstrike Craze
It started with Co.Jp Dunks and NikeTalk, then came the ignored Pro Bs, which then spiraled into the must have SBs followed by quickstrikes, hyperstrikes, sneaker boutique collabs, and most importantly, kids waiting in line for days on end just for a pair of new sneakers. Sneaker collecting had hit its tipping point by 2003 as well. The culture around it was fully realized, and now that everyone had the freshest and rarest kicks, they needed clothing to match, apparently. Enter the Streetwear brands, many of whom got started making tees to match SB colorways and trying to capitalize on the the sneaker hype. This would, of course, lead to some being stocked in the same boutiques where the sneakers were sold and becoming the first nod in legitimizing each venture into a full fledged brand. Ironically, all of this probably could have been nipped in the bud had Nike decided to introduce NSW 5 years sooner than they actually did. Thank you to Nike for that oversight in letting all of this happen.
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