A Brief History of Streetwear 4373

A Brief History of Streetwear The term streetwear is common place in today's fashion world. It is used to describe high quality clothing that draws influence from its surroundings. These influences tend to be from "the street" taking in everything that surrounds them, such as graffiti and much like graffiti sometimes express political and social issues of the here and now. Punk - So where and when did streetwear originate? Many people speculate as to the when and how of the styles origins but it is clear that it started at the end of the 1970's and the early 1980's. It was an exciting time with the emergence of punk and what would become hip hop. Both of these musical styles embraced a do-it-yourself ethic brought about by the mainstreams refusal to except them and both styles had strong roots with in the skate and surf scenes. Influenced by the punk and rap scene whose acts would produce their own records, mix tapes and t-shirts to sell to their fans many surfers and skaters started to follow suit. Often surfers and skaters would produce their own branded boards and t-shirts with their own unique styles. The first of these to make an impact on the scene was Shawn Stussy who placed his tag like signature on his boards and t-shirts. As his cult status as a surfer rose, so did the popularity of his boards and clothing.