Child's Play
Dakotah Malisoff
High Fashion and the Street The culture of our rising generation is influenced, but not defined, by designer labels. The influence of big name brands is not soon to leave, but it isn’t the driving force in defining today’s trends. While our government might be a reflection of upper class rule, fashion doesn’t have to be. Class divides have been central to inequality in America since it’s founding. The look of youth today, whether intentionally or unintentionally, works to do away with that. Chanel, Dior, and Dolce do not control the look of college kids wandering city streets. Instead, the blending of high style and affordable, informal wear speaks to us and the casualization of avant-garde and couture. Born out of California skate and surf culture, streetwear has been a part of urban youth subculture for decades. In recent years however, we’ve seen streetwear “trickle up” into high fashion circles. Kim Kardashian can be spotted out in a full, plush sweatsuit paired with a set of clear Yeezy heels. Recently, she was seen sporting sweats with a binding white corset and a huge parka. In one comfy casual look, Kardashian reflected the marriage of comfort, necessity, and both upper and lower class culture—a look undeniably influenced by her husband. Kanye West is the first non-athlete to sign with Adidas in a ground-breaking deal. His influence, and the influence of hip-hop on street and athletic wear, is growing with each Yeezy release. Athletic wear is no longer separated from haute couture. The new Vetements x Champion collection proves casual sportswear is not immune to the innovations of high fashion. Vetements takes an ordinary sweatshirt and shreds it, literally and figuratively. Armhole cut outs leave the sleeves dangling, adorned with long Champion logo tape trims that extend beyond the sleeve itself. On Net-A-Porter, the tracksuit is seen
paired with a pair of bold red Vetements ankle boots. Thirty-three-year old Gosha Rubchinskiy founded his namesake brand after graduating from Moscow’s School of Technology and Design. He’s an artist-turned-designer who’s menswear line mixes high style, utility, and comfort. On the Gosha spring 2017 runway, suit jackets are paired with sportswear t-shirts, and dress pants are paired with hoodies. The new Gosha x Fila collaboration retails at a considerably lower price than his personal line, but reflects much of the same sensibility, combining sportswear and unorthodox design. It’s no coincidence that more affordable sporting good brands like Fila and Champion are collaborating with designers to bring their looks into haute couture circles. Youth street culture is becoming just as relevant to high fashion as high fashion has always been to contemporary society.
Abigail Baldwin
Bursting the Binary Street style-inspired brand Vetements came on the scene in 2014 and has quickly created a name for itself that exceeded the reputation of its head designer, Demna Gvasalia, who previously designed for Louis Vuitton. The first collection of relaxed fit trousers and structured jackets wasn’t earth shattering, but it was the beginning of a transformative label. In the years that followed, Vetements has combined avant-garde and streetwear, blurring the lines between men’s and women’s clothing. Fashion has always reflected the gender norms of the time. Today, the lines between the binary sexes are less distinct, and the new look is at the forefront of that development. Online retailers like BKBT Concept have done away with marketing for gender altogether. Shirts, jackets, wide leg trousers and even dresses are all labeled as unisex. Rising luxury brand Pyer Moss has also done away with gender in their recent collection, with designs in the same vein as Vetements featuring long lines and oversized silhouettes. Other influential, youth-oriented brands such as Acne Studios, Lazy Oaf, and Unif still have separate sections for men and women, but they endeavor to break boundaries in other ways. Lazy Oaf’s men’s and women’s Spring 2017 campaigns have more in
common than meets the eye. Relaxed fits, pastel colors and beat up jeans infect both of the campaigns equally. The girls rock loose, skatewear-inspired denim, and the boys work well-coiffed hair and pursed lips. Androgyny, which has long been avant-garde, is becoming a definer of today’s youth culture. Expression goes beyond gender, and the most influential young brands know to capitalize on that.
Opposition At the recent Vetements Fall 2017 show, the brand broke boundaries with it’s diverse casting. The models, regular people plucked from the street, reflected different races, body types, and even ages. Looking at the image of an elderly man in a structured white button up dragging his red velvet coat luxuriously behind him, it seems the blurring of boundaries goes beyond just class and gender, but also transcends age. The hottest runway styles right now are all about opposition—take what is trendy and current and distort it; be uncool in the coolest possible way; be on the next level. But subculture is also oppositional, taking what's hip and rejecting it instead choosing rebellious self-expression. Today we see a phenomenon that has existed for a long time: subculture influences high fashion, which trickles down into the mainstream and is then opposed by the very subculture that inspired it. It’s a constant seesaw. For example,
look at trendy highwater trousers vs. Vetements new, deliciously ridiculous, extra long pants, hems dragging dramatically on the runway. These oppositions have always existed, but that does not negate the uniqueness of our generation. Don’t be fooled by tradition into ignoring the innovations of our youth culture, or culture in general. There’s always a new spin to be made on the old. Today we see it with the takedown of gender conformity, and the rise of sportswear collaborations and diverse representation. Tomorrow, the elevation of the casual and the marriage of avant-garde will robe the everyday passerby.
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There is no denying the enduring influence of youth cultures of the past on today’s fashion. Museums highlight the hippie culture of the ‘60s, and TV longs for the MTV-fueled teen culture of the ‘80s. But what about today? The heart of all subculture is self expression and personal style. Despite the impact of the past, the youth style of today is not just tiredly looking to the past for inspiration. We are not defined by the same music or economic conditions that our parents were. We are not wrapped up in the looks of a long-gone generation. Today’s garb has moved beyond retro into a zone all its own. Today’s trends reflect the blend of couture and casual, of youth culture and designer wear. Online retailers, sports wear brands, and designer names all show these fusions in their own way to reflect the fact that style can go beyond gender, age, and social class.