the problematic history of hypebeast and streetwear culture

the problematic history of hypebeast and streetwear culture and how social media has become the answer to toxic masculinity

“The men of our civilization have stripped themselves of the fineries of earth so that they might work more freely to plunder the universe for treasures to deck their ladies in. … Men stripped themselves of all excess or femininity, while women are forced to be the object in which men consume.” Germaine Greer, The Female Eunuch.

Womens fashion is often hounded as problematic, from the image it projects of womens bodies to the racial exclusivity and classist structure that remains heavily prominent today. However, less talked about problems is mens (or more traditionally masculine style) fashion. Street wear is casual clothing of a style worn especially by members of various youth subcultures. Streetwear is an all encompassing umbrella of styles & themes as the ‘enthusiasts’ love to ‘sample’ styles from other subcultures & give it their personal stamp. This mainly includes; 90s sportswear, surf style, early 2000s hip-hop, skate gear, Japanese street aesthetics and recently has moved into high fashion and couture.

Since the late 1700s, mens fashion has immensely changed. When looking at the colourful garments that were worn by aristocrats and court members of the past, it’s quite obvious that, along the line, something happened that made men’s clothing far more muted, drab and no-nonsense. How did the epitome of masculinity go from a high-heeled man adorned with jewels, donning billowing, silky, colourful fabrics and even a powdery, made-up complexion, to the austere, monochrome and incredibly subdued three-piece suit? This process, known as the Great Masculine Renunciation, was explored by psychoanalyst John Flugel in his book, “The Psychology of Clothes”. An opinion piece by Anastasia Vartanian titled ‘The Great Masculine Renunciation - A.K.A How the Colour Drained out of Mens Clothing’ speaks on this phenomenon explored by Flugel stating that this ‘revolution in male dress’ was prompted in part ‘by other, bloodier revolutions … such as the French Revolution (1789-1799)’

which exported new social ideals of meritocracy over inherited privilege, and equality over steep economic disparity, ‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity’. As these new ideals permeated society, ‘the decadent dress of the ancien régime fell out of fashion’. According to Flugel, ‘fashion is one of the best indicators of social, ideological and political change’ and The Great Masculine Renunciation ‘occurred around the end of the seventeenth century and beginning of the eighteenth’, was a movement in which ‘man abandoned his claim to be considered beautiful… [and] henceforth aimed at being only useful’. This included the abandonment of bright colours, loud patterns, high heels, shiny accessories and any other types of ostentatious adornment. For contemporary males, it may be a given that an elaborate, extravagant dress has always been merely “a female thing” but evidently that is untrue. Flügel found contemporary European clothing seemed to be out of keeping with what normally occurs in nature where the male ‘is more ornamental than the female’. He argues this is because there was a profound reorganisation of masculinity during the political and economic revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries. An example of this is heeled shoes which were actually originally worn by men from the Middle East due to their suitability for riding. Heels were soon adopted by aristocrats who thought it gave them a virile, powerful edge then became adopted by women because of a trend to look more masculine around the 1630s. In this time, women were donning heels, smoking pipes, cutting their hair and wearing masculine hats. Heels only fell out of favour with men due to the afore-mentioned shifts in social ideology. Women were not privy to the new belief that all men should be given an education as they were seen as ;emotional, sentimental and un-educatable’, so they were left to enjoy aesthetic pleasure as much as they pleased. This is how the high-heel, which once symbolised military might, came to be associated with female narcissism, frivolity and promiscuity.

Clothing has played and still plays a key role in shaping personal identities beyond conventional gender roles as well as, more collectively, those of subcultures who often adopt specific styles of clothing as an expression of solidarity. As the LGBTQ+ community has become part of mainstream culture, so has our style. According to an op-ed by Anita Dolce Vita titled ‘How Queer Fashion Is Changing the World’, “ 9

queer style is not simply an of-the-moment trend but rather a social movement”. Queer style is systemically rooted in gender non conformity and intrinsically tied to the communities identities. It dismantles limiting style rules that have been systematically employed as a means of symbolically and literally perpetuating restrictive binaries and suppressing freedom of expression. Fashion has historically been political, particularly for marginalized groups, especially that of women’s rights activists and the LGBTQ+ community, who are at the forefront of revolutionizing the way in which we look at garments in relation to our gender performance and expression. As fashion critic and journalist Alexander Fury once stated, “Clothes are politicized objects, a sartorial billboard, a manifesto on your back. You can still be arrested for wearing the wrong thing in the wrong place — and, beyond the laws of basic public decency, that’s because people often don’t want to hear what your garments are telling them.” For example, ovements such as ‘The Lesbian Avengers’, a direct action group focused on issues vital to lesbian survival and visibility, utilied traditional feminine and sexual clothing to combat the idea of the ‘lesbian prude’.

An article by Luke Leitch, Deputy Fashion Editor at The Times and The Daily Telegraph, titled ‘Guys in Skirts Is Only the Start—The Menswear Revolution Is Just Beginning’ cited the recent trend of ‘On the runways ... we were seeing other much more scintillating flashes of wearable rhetoric—some of which would prefigure this about-to-pass decade’s transformation of menswear.’ However, the emergence and popularity of streetwear brands such as Rick Owens and Craig Green that seem “purposefully and playfully burdened by symbolic representations of the traditionally masculine” (Luke Leitch) have started to gain significant popularity. “That shift reflects the wider diversification of apex menswear during the 2010s, which in turn reflects the wider diversification of the notion of manliness between 2010 and 2020”(Luke Leitch). With Supreme now valued at $1 billion, streetwear is no longer a niche market, a development that has its critics. “Streetwear has changed enormously as it’s now fully integrated into the fashion system, streetwear has lost its countercultural status” says Luca Benini, founder of distribution and retail businesses Slam Jam, which has been operating since 1989.

You might not immediately associate streetwear with the topic of gender politics. However, with streetwear having gone from a niche, tribal community to a billion-dollar industry, it’s clear that men (and particularly young, straight men) are taking an interest in fashion - streetwear has a grip on pop culture and with its rise comes perhaps a little bit of liberation. Bobby Kim, owner of Los Angeles streetwear label The Hundreds, stated that ‘Streetwear was an easy way for guys who were interested in clothes to get into it and also not be seen – in a homophobic sense – as being gay or trying to be like a girl.’ The space it gives for straight men to express themselves through fashion without worrying about any unwelcome assumptions about their sexuality is important, however, it’s a problem that any such labels would be assigned to someone based solely on their dress (and it’s a problem that this label would even be a problem). The fact that the streetwear industry is dominated by and marketed to men, separating it from the fashion industry at large (traditionally steered by gay men and marketed primarily to women) ... With the rise of male style icons, particularly in hip-hop and rap, who push fashion boundaries yet maintain mainstream and significant masculine respect, although there is a fair way to go, this is a welcome alternative to the oppressive masculinity of the streetwear and hip-hop culture of the past. For instance, lover of streetwear and luxury fashion, rapper Lil Uzi Vert is unphased by the traditional constrictions of the industry. In 2018, he was asked by a reporter about his decision to wear women’s clothing, responding: “I bought everything in the men’s section. There’s nothing else to buy, I bought everything, literally.” Portraying the wearing of women’s attire as a “flex” (a sign of affluence) rather than something unnatural or disgusting is a valuable step. Fashion-wise, women are not limited to the same constraints because for us it is obvious that the choice to wear a dress vs. a pair of trousers from the men’s section does not say anything about our sexuality. Tyler, the Creator, long a favourite amongst skaters, established his own clothing label in 2011, Golf Wang. In 2017, he showcased a softer side to his persona with his album Flower Boy, which inspired an aesthetic embraced by boys the internet over. The album was accompanied by Tyler’s collaboration with Converse, giving the world colourful, flower-adorned trainers. Amongst the colourways are pastel shades of blue and pink; purple and green; orange and ‘candy pink’. Granted, men wearing rosy shades is hardly revolutionary, it’s a start. 11

However, despite the wins in chipping away at gender constrictions, I should be careful in assigning too strong a progressive label to this movement. Hypebeast culture is by no means a liberal utopia. An article titled ‘To Survive, Streetwear Must Abandon Sexism’ from 2018 by Enrique Menendez and Nav Gill addresses the idea that ‘streetwear is a culture built on an unwavering sense of community’ and at the core of this is ‘streetwear’s unique ability to appeal to men in ways that have eluded mainstream fashion’. Ironically, the very idea of streetwear was, in the beginning, that it was ‘the antithesis to traditional fashion’. But whereas mens fashion has traditionally been ignored, ‘streetwear is a game changer, enabling men to express themselves through style without having to worry about societal labels they deemed unbefitting’. From its creation, ‘streetwear was set on a path to gain prominence within the fashion industry and also in other cultural industries, shielded by its ‘boys’ club’ mentality … bolstered by male privilege, it found itself grounded in sexism and the objectification of women.’ According to Bobby Kim, owner of The Hundreds, a Los Angeles streetwear label ‘From the very start, streetwear has been this weird, strangely male thing, But I think the reason why it was like this from the very start is because of the subcultures that this fashion was associated with.” An article titled ‘we need to talk about streetwear’s problem with queer people’ By Douglas Greenwood asks ‘What will it take for the streetwear community to address the rise of anti-LGBTQ+ hate speech breeding within it? Fashion is gay as hell. From Yves Saint Laurent to Karl Lagerfeld to Cristobal Balenciaga, the greatest designers in history have ... been queer men. ...The fashion world has long been a safe space for members of the LGBTQ+ community. Nowadays though, that’s not entirely true.” He sites the origins of streetwear in skating and hip-hop culture as potential reason for the often ‘socially-conservative culture’ of the ‘hyper-masculine views’ of streetwear and “part of the reason homophobia is so salient in online streetwear communities is the way queer lingo has been used as a pejorative, a slur, by its members for so long”. The hypebeast community appeared to have a highly transphobic side too when Supreme unveiled their ‘link-up’ with the legendary photographer Nan Goldin. Her work, often depicting LGBTQ+ people, is intrinsically tied to the idea of rejecting manufactured and sanitised culture.

When Supreme chose to use some of Nan’s work depicting the drag queens and trans women she had photographed over the years, the response was ugly. Greenwood sites “Fear of backlash or trolling” means that many of “streetwear’s queer leaders online would prefer to downplay their sexuality … There’s a lot of homophobia and negativity shown towards the LGBTQ+ community … it all adds up to create a level of normalisation surrounding homophobia” in the streetwear community.

The dark corners of the streetwear industry don’t invalidate the culture as a whole, though it is still a conversation that must be had. The movement is flawed and has a terrible homophobic and sexist underside, but credit should not be taken away from those who are making it more acceptable for other men to express themselves through fashion. Perhaps it’s natural that in such a male-dominated sphere there would be instances of toxic masculinity, but it fosters some hope seeing those who are using the environment, which was born as the antithesis to fashion, to push style boundaries. For example, K-pop and its stars are known for breaking traditional gender boundaries. An article from the Korean Herald titled ‘K-pop stars lead luxury brand genderless trend’ states that ‘high-end labels are more and more embracing a blur of the masculine-feminine divide … and K-pop male stars are leading this trend’. Korean pop stars, known for rocking makeup, perfectly groomed styles and the polished pretty-boy look ‘are leading luxury labels’ gender-bending movement’. As we see the idea of visual activism and queer fashion becoming mainstreem and clothing moving away from traditional gender ideals, hopefully we will come to see clothing as a realm of self-expression regardless of traditional gender roles.

For more information i recommend watching the video ‘Queer Style as Visual Activism’ from the youtbe chanel ‘dapperQ’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqSSzRvJf84