Street Style Fashion and Its Importance in Fashion Industry

Street Style and Its Importance in Fashion Industry

Shubham Anil Jain
Department of Textiles (Fashion Technology)
DKTE’S Textile & Engineering Institute, Ichalkaranji, India
Email: shubhamajain125@gmail.com

1. Introduction:
When the street style is being considered, it is something that enhanced from local street and markets then from the big high fashion studios and malls. Street fashion is particularly connected with youth culture, and is most commonly seen in major urban centers. Similarly, as the name suggests that it is something originated from the streets and not from the runway, like other trends people see out there. Street style fashion can be defined as a particular style of clothing and dressing that evolved from the British fashion culture. It is a global approach to fashion which includes styles that converge, vary from mainstream fashion and is purely based on individualism, with any concrete and restricted focus on trends. It doesn’t follow and use current trends. It is found that mainstream fashion often connects street fashion trends as influences. Nowadays, street fashion is gaining more and more popularity. Most of the major young subcultures have associated with street fashion. Street style is found to be different all around the globe.

2. Evolution of Street Style:
As per street style fashion is concerned it has been on limelight for quite some time, but has gained quick and great popularity in the fashion world in the last decade. As in the last decade, everyone witnessed that fashion and style has evolved faster than ever. Baggy style clothing, popularity of jeans with different style names, sneakers and big belts, has taken the minds of fashionmonger for a turn.

Until the end of Second World War, street fashion has not come into existence. But, it has evolved and has always been a fragment of human culture. Many years ago, Christian Dior was considered as the first fashion icon to bring street style fashion for women. This initiative took every woman onto the streets to show what was new and fashionable. This attire particularly consisted of a long circular skirt and a tailored jacket with broad shoulders and a tapered waist. So, many phenomena has been founded for a long time which proved the importance of young people’s street styles, after the war period which is also said to have a connection with the baby boomers born and represented the new sociocultural category which is known as teenager – who has money and power to spend and are considered as an important source of motivation.

Street style fashion existed a long way. From being a social practice that was taken by sociocultural group to an important part of the high fashion industry. Despite the long process, it was well to go by the extensive social culture and economic fluctuations. When the mass production is concerned it had occurred after World War II.

3. Types of Street Fashion:

3.1 Preppy:
This type of street fashion merge Gossip Girl with 90s style, leaving one with a look that would definitely get the person to the principal’s office. Think miniskirts and turtlenecks, knee-high socks and booties, khakis and stiletto, etc which makes this trend so dynamic and at all girl next door. With endless outfit combinations, the preppy street fashion is here to survive.

3.2 Femme-Punk:
To talk about this style, is so interesting and popular. One has mix two different aspects of the personality together into one awesome look. It’s particularly about adding some party look to feminine dressing and softening up some hard-core pieces. So, basically this style is really about merging two different styles, so have fun element with it and make it attractive.

3.3 Hip Hop Fashion:
Due to Street Dreams shows, hip hop has converted fashion through customizing, sampling, and remixing what was there before. According to KRS One, it is one of the nine “extended” elements of hip-hop culture. It refers to a unique style of dress, originating primarily with African-American and Latino youth people in New York City that goes parallel with the expressions and attitudes of the rest of the culture.

3.4 Athleisure:
It is a kind of mixed clothing and, is a constructive style of clothing typically worn during athletic movements and in other settings, such as at the workplace, at school, or at other informal or social occasions. It basically refers to a fashion trend featured by athletic clothing that is both comfortable and aesthetically appealing. The growth of athleisure has also created great scope for investors.

4. Street Fashion around the World:

4.1 Milan:
It can be considered as a good example of how fashion practices contributed into enhancement and commercialization of the city. Milan Street style fashion is one of the most interesting, amazing and respectful in the world of Street Fashion. The reason behind it is that a huge number of important fashion institutions, agencies and events are presents in Milan.

4.2 London:
As it is known that London is one of the most important Fashion capitals but it differs with Milan and Paris, London’s style is more related to the fashion sense of royalty, culture and strong street style culture. London was an explorer in the development and management of second-hand markets which speaks about other underground propensity in street fashion. Because of a multinational city with a great concentration of the whole range of cultures and traditions they carry, London is identified as a place where street style incorporate not only basic popular fashion concepts, but also works as a medium to express social and cultural identity.

4.3 New York:
When it comes to photo shoot of models, in runway makeup, in front of open warehouse places and garages or just connecting on the street, it came from the fashion capital of The United States. This city plays an important role in fashion setters as regards street style. New York Fashion Week, one of the popular semi-annual series of events express the season trends not only in USA but also have strong impact on fashion and clothing industry of the rest of the world. Even it is seen that the guests of fashion week events, supermodels and even fashion designers used to follow street style culture.

4.4 India:
In India, this style is becoming popular by copying this style from the Hollywood movies as Indians are always captivated by fashion. In India, there are various traditions which help in achieving this street style. Especially this street style is followed by many of the college students for their daily and routine and they get help from the online shopping which helps them to express or make themselves as a cool dude around the public.

4.5 Paris:
Paris generally captures the same position as one of the most respected fashion centers in general and street style, in particular. Similarly like the Milan, Paris’ look can be considered through structure of fashion fads, designers, luxury and capital, artists and a hippy lifestyle. Even, Paris is a good example of creating the ‘city look’, a combined image – certain fashion dresses, specifics and lifestyles focus definite urbanity in a city’s context. The fashion understanding can provide strong connection and a clear knowledge of Paris as a center of street style fashion.

5. Importance of Street Style Fashion:

1. In today’s era, street style has reformed the fashion industry and social movements throughout the years.
2. Even if one like athleisure, are considered as fashionista who creates looks from the boutique shop, are a lover of luxury clothing, a fan of loungewear, where street style has no limits.
3. In the past, from the suffragette movement to the Black Lives Matter T-shirts worn, dressing and street style have played an important role in social movements.
4. If American style streetwear is considers, it has become popular within the kingdom of hip-hop, social media, and skateboarding culture. Street style is of great importance and found many things to people. It could be casual, enjoyable, mixing different cultures together, it could be about music, and creating different styles and fashion.
5. Today, the street style industry has grown into a major section of the fashion and apparel industry. With the rapid growth towards luxury fashion, luxury has become new style of street level that is why it gained a lot of importance.

6. Conclusion:
In today’s world street style has evolved a lot. The “street” approach to style and fashion is particularly based on individual personality, rather than focusing only on current fashion trends. Due to street style fashion methods, a person can demonstrate their multiple, negotiated personalities, in addition to utilizing subcultural and merging styles or trends. This itself is a performance, as it creates a space where identities can be explored through the act of dress. Street style is an extremely famous, trendy, quick, addictive side of fashion that has changed many of the ways in which fashion is made and followed. Even the great fact regarding street wear is that it’s market does not target only the teenagers aged 15-19. In fact, today people that buy certain streetwear brands could go as high as 50 years old, and were born, or spent their teens, when the craze of streetwear first took place, so owing to this it has a great and huge scope for fashion industry in next coming years.

7. References:

1. Style and it’s importance for social movements, https://fashinnovation.nyc/street-style/
2. Has street style jumped the shark? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_style
3. Woodward, S. (2015). The Myth of Street Style, Fashion Theory, 13(1), 83-101.
4. The evolution of street style: How it became the ultimate fashion trend, https://getbaggizmo.com/the-evolution-of-street-style/
5. The Influence Of Street Style On Fashion, https://oggli.co.uk/blogs/news/the-influence-of-street-style-on-fashion
6. The Different Kinds of Women’s Street Fashion Style, http://globalfashionstreet.com/the-different-kinds-of-womens-street-fashion-style

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Mazharul Islam Kiron

Founder & Editor of Textile Learner. He is a Textile Consultant, Blogger & Entrepreneur. He is working as a textile consultant in several local and international companies. He is also a contributor of Wikipedia.

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