This weekend while reading the WSJ style section my eye was caught by the headline, “Am I Too Old To Wear Streetwear?” My response of course to that is: “That’s a very unhelpful question.” I prefer what the designer Virgil Abloh has to say about it, “Streetwear is a catchphrase, I look at it as a modern way of styling.” Streetwear offers an unusual piece that you can mix with something minimalist like a long black Yamamoto dress. It is yet another tool of expression.
After NYFW you can’t help not thinking about streetwear as increasingly streetwear has evolved to be considered high fashion and high fashion has incorporated elements of streetwear. On one of my earlier visits to Dover Street Market, Prada was displayed right next to the streetwear brand Supreme. Streetwear as conceptualized by brands such as Vetements, Off-White and Hood by Air really deserve at this point to be called fashion. They are conceptual, have beautiful tailoring and wonderful details. The quote in my title is by Miucca Prada (who’s clothing I am wearing in this photo and who also has a Ph.D.) and relates to the initial vision for her designs. I like the phrase in this context because it seems to aptly describe the movement of this kind of clothing from the street to the runway. At the end of the day although streetwear incorporates the rawness and grit of the streets, it is still expensive.
Streetwear influencing high fashion is not a new phenomenon. Since 1968 when Yves St. Laurent was inspired by the Paris street riots and Vivienne Westwood started to sell punk, streetwear has always had an influence on high fashion. Streetwear today is a conglomerate of the evolving historical and cultural references of the designers who create it: skate parks, hip hop, Japanese fashion, high fashion, post Soviet culture, the digital age and graphic tees. As a pragmatist philosopher and now a fan of neuroscience, I have always believed that transacting with our environment sculpts us, allows us to incorporate new identities and change throughout our lifetime. Neuroscience now tells us that in fact that transaction changes our brains. The culture of streetwear designers is not “their” culture, it is also our culture. So for me a more helpful question than the one asked in the WSJ is, ” What can I learn from the stories streetwear is telling and what parts of that story will help me to tell mine?
What is streetwear saying to you?
I am constantly surprised by questions that ask if I’m too old to wear anything. I will be the judge of that. If the mirror reflects pleasure, out the door I go.
Thank you for your beautifully written and thoughtful post. I share your love for neuroscience.
I am constantly surprised by questions that ask if I’m too old to wear anything. I will be the judge of that. If the mirror reflects pleasure, out the door I go.
Thank you for your beautifully written and thoughtful post. I share your love for neuroscience.
Street wear is the germination of ‘real’ fashion and provides endless cultural cues. I wasn’t aware that Miucca Prada had a PhD but it does make me appreciate her clothes all the more, and what to learn more about the ‘messages’ behind them. I have always loved Dame Vivienne Westwood interpretations – and how she uses historical references in her clothing. Thanks for the thought provoking post.
Streetwear helps me be "anywhere but in-between".
Streetwear helps me be "anywhere but in-between".
Streetwear is what most think of as: what you wear "out there." Sometimes I forget just how much time is spent "out there." I think many so called fashion faux paus could be some one whose tried to make there "in there" fit "out there."
Street wear to me means artsy, gritty, edgy and poetic.
One reason I love having white hair is that I can wear "streetwear" without looking like a ten year old. I used to feel I needed to give a lot more thought to an outfit including jeans and baseball cap, knowing it could diminish my adult persona. At this point, I find it easier to incorporate styles from all genres, knowing that they complement, rather than overshadowing, my own identity.
I love your comment about "unhelpful" questions. There are some that simply need to be ignored.
Excellent thought-provoking post, Lyn… my fellow cerebral fashionista…
Excellent thought-provoking post, Lyn… my fellow cerebral fashionista…