Luxury Fashion, Street Wear & The Techwear Revolution

Rooted in skate, surf, grime and hip-hop culture streetwear has been a means for the younger generation to stand out and look different, to express

themselves through fashion in a world where the importance of individual style trumps the prestige of a label. Streetwear has always remained underground until its recent explosion; with the help of social media, support from influencers and brands deliberately controlling levels of supply so that they are far below

the level of demand. It has created exclusivity and a constant drive for consumers wanting more. Much like what Luxury brands are replicating today, however they create exclusivity through there high prices and some are even starting to adopt the “drop” idea where a piece of clothing will only have a limited number of units available a concept built by streetwear brands. It can’t just be me who has noticed but since when did high end luxury brands become so interested in sneakers and pouches. The lines between Sportswear, street wear and luxury have become blurred, driving forward this new dominant aesthetic we are seeing in fashion. The explosive growth of oversized hoodies and graphic T-shirts are being embraced by high end brands selling clothes once only seen at skate parks or Thursday morning in the que for the supreme drop. Luxury brands are reinventing themselves to reconnect with a younger generation, allowing them to experiment with new and exciting styles. They have realised the power of the streetwear consumer and the influence they have on social media. Both streetwear and luxury brands have a similar business model to create a “hard to get product” to build scarcity and exclusivity to drive demand. We have seen many recent collaborations from the likes of supreme x LV or Palace x Ralph Lauren and I believe this is just the beginning; I see Luxury brands continuing to embrace streetwear and the influence of pop culture.

 

Tech wear revolution

Every kid who grew up watching The Matrix has, at one point, aspired to dress as cool as the cast. The rise of tech-wear in the past few years has meant this dream may not be too far from reality. There is no exact milestone as to when tech-wear became so popular but a good start is when we saw Errolson Hugh emerge onto the fashion scene, the man behind Nike’s tech-wear sub-label (ACG) and one of the co-founders of tech-wear giant Acronym a brand who fuses sports and utility garments with futuristic flair.
The tech-wear aesthetic is heavily influenced by futurist artistic styles, the materials combine utility feature’s with aesthetic, boots have been replaced for fly knit, cotton / nylon anorak’s have been switched for jet black shells and the chinos have been ditched for high stretch ripstop cargos and if ever in doubt just add more pockets! Over the years fashion has always been a leader in innovation, from the sewing machine to the rise of ecommerce. We often see in fashion brands recycling past designs, tech-wear however I believe is something we have never seen before. It goes against traditional standard cuts and puts together fabrics with the movement of the human body in mind.
Whether we like it or not tech-wear is here to stay, soon enough you’ll start seeing more people dressed like extras in some futuristic, sci-fi dystopian thriller. Many well-known brands have adopted the style and have brought out their own line to stay competitive including global brands such as Stone Island, The North Face, Nike, C.P company and Outlier. If you are interested in streetwear fashion click here to check out some prints I have, I'm sure your gonna love them!