Cole Sessums 3/2/2014 FRINQ Portland

The Streetwear Initiative Streetwear fashion is a once underground movement rooted in antiestablishment and a desire to break away from the mainstream. Streetwear is a unique mens style that soon caught the attention of many. Based in comfy fits like graphic tees, hoodies, sneakers, and ball caps, streetwear designers were able to add a flare of style and edginess that was soon embraced by DJs, skateboarders, and rappers. As the industry grew and expanded within these circles, streetwear brands began to gain rapid popularity. What once had a small, collective gathering is now a global, $60 billion industry. The streetwear industry was birthed in Southern California in the early 1980s. It is rumored that surfboard designer and Los Angeles native, Shawn Stussy, became the father of streetwear when he began selling handmade tee shirts out of the back of his car. His brand, Stussy, began to expand and soon Stussy had its own boutique. As his brand began to expand, many other
Compound Store and Art gallery Portland, OR

designers and up-and-comers

followed Stussys lead and created their own streetwear brands. Although the

industry was mostly rooted in fresh ideas, early streetwear took inspiration from the punk and hip hop cultures. At the time of streetwears birth, the hip hop culture was on the rise. Rappers such as The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur were beginning to bring the genre from the underground to the limelight. By the early 1990s, hip hop and streetwear had become intertwined, as rappers from coast to coast were rocking their favorite streetwear brands. Hip hop collective, Wu Tang Clan, is renowned for bringing the west coast streetwear movement to the East Coast and have become nothing less of moguls of the industry. As the industry continued to expand, two crucial aspects of being a successful streetwear brand became apparent; a luxury feel and exclusivity. As young adult moguls in both the music industry and skate and surf culture adopted the style, different brands began to gain dedicated followings. Fans and consumers began to become loyal to their brands, and the designers behind the brands noticed this. As a result, and a general desire to keep streetwear out of the mainstream, brands began to make limited amounts of their merchandise, so that customers would feel as if they were wearing exclusive clothes that not very many others had. This exclusive aspect helped the streetwear industry to expand. From the late 1990s into the new millennium, the industry began to adopt the style of sporting favorite or local American sports teams. But this was somewhat short-lived as the turn of the century brought about a flashier culture. Smaller and cheaper brands, such as Champion and Carhartt, began to fade from focus as luxury brands gained popularity. Brands like Gucci and Fendi began to take over the industry as hip hop moguls around the country began wearing extravagant, flashy,

and very expensive clothing. But as the economy shifted south with the Great Recession, this flashy style could no longer be afforded by most and the streetwear industry returned to its roots. Based in free-thinking, anti-establishment, and selfexpression, streetwear again returned to the independent, individualistic brands that had birthed the movement. Independent streetwear brands such as LRG, Supreme, and 10.DEEP began to revolutionize the industry. These new brands embraced both the key factors in being a successful streetwear brand and successfully blended its hip hop and skateboarding background with a newer scene of fashion trendy and edgy young adults across the globe. Even though streetwear fashion has become somewhat world-renowned, the true spirit of the movement is rooted in artisan culture. Author of Brew to Bikes, Charles Heying, describes Portlands artisan culture as a unique and individual economy that is rapidly gaining popularity. The streetwear industry is rooted in individuality and the idea of the average Joes breaking free from the norm. Streetwear resulted from a group of adults wanting to both be stylish without looking too grown up and express themselves in a unique, non-mainstream way. This individual and distinct style is an expression of self in a way that many people may find to be different, or even outlandish. And as the trend caught on like wildfire in the mid 2000s, artisan streetwear began to make its first appearances in Portland. A few local shops opened up in Portland between 2005 and 2007, but were mostly short lived. At this time the streetwear scene was still young in Portland, but short-lived shops such as

Compound Store Front Portland, OR

Lifted and Exit helped pave the way for the movement. As a few years passed and streetwears popularity grew nationally, a streetwear store in Old Town Portland had begun to gain quite a buzz in the city. The boutique and art gallery coined Compound (formerly JustBe), boasted a wide selection of exclusive sneakers to coveted shirts, hats, and hoodies from the hottest brands of the time. Compound became a regular shopping spot for sneakerheads and streetwear enthusiast alike. As the store gained reputability amongst both Portlanders and North West natives, Compound soon began to carry clothing from small, new, independent brands as well as popular and exclusive pieces. This notion along with Compounds success led way to a more progressive expansion of the culture in
Upper Playground Store Front Portland OR

Portland. An independent brand by the name of Upper Playground soon opened a store across the street from Compound. Upper Playground is a San Francisco established brand that relocated to Portland in the 2000s. Upper Playground experienced a lot of success in Portland being one of the first streetwear brands to effectively combine the exclusiveness and luxury aspects of the industry with a truly authentic Portland feel. Upper Playground unlike Compound, is a vendor that only sells Upper Playground brand clothing, and because of this they were able to

produce limited and exclusive clothing that was truly unique to the Portland way of life. As time went on, Compound and Upper playground became more popular along with streetwear fashion as a whole in Portland. Similar stores and boutiques began to pop up around Portland while Portland natives began developing and starting their own brands. This aspect of the streetwear culture is what I believe makes it truly artisan. Everyday people in our city have caught on to the streetwear trend and have begun designing their own unique clothing lines. There have been a few different streetwear brands that have originated from Portland that have gained a solid fan foundation. Black Manufacturing, a newer brand out of Portland, has been generating a solid buzz in the streetwear
Black Manufacturing 2014 Line

community with their North West twist of

style and durability. Another local brand, Poler, has been recognized on a national level for their camping and outdoor oriented clothing and accessories. Polers buzz has grown so large, in fact, that the brand was able to open a local boutique on Burnside Street while having their products featured in streetwear retail stores and websites across the country. Poler has even been able to

Poler Flagship Store Portland, OR

open a successful boutique in New York City. Even though the streetwear culture is relatively young and nave in Portland, it is one of the most rapidly growing industries in fashion today. Portland may be slower to embrace the movement then the southern hotspots of California, but it is growing here nonetheless. The streetwear scene seems to resonate mostly with young men (but is beginning to expand to young women, as well), and Portland, being a city full of young, individual, and self-expressing people has and will prove to be a great breeding ground for a culture such as this. The music scene in Portland is also a great contributor to the success of the industry. Young Portlanders can often be found hopping from club to bar and vice versa, immersed in a nightlife that caters to fast-living young adults. This environment along with the growing DJ and Electronic Dance Music (EDM) popularity provides a structure similar to that of 1980s southern California. Parties, music, and fashion trendy individuals, are all keys to the networking that brought about the underground movement that is streetwear fashion. This movement is home to countless amazing designers and artists, dedicated to bringing people something different and attractive and portraying ideals and beliefs with clothing as their medium. I believe Portlands streetwear scene will only continue to flourish and develop as local artisan designers continue to create unique, polished designs and styles that catch the eye of not just local Portlanders and streetwear enthusiast, but fashionistas across the country.

Works Cited 1. Jet, Joshua. The History of Streetwear Clothing. Jet Cadet. N.p., 11 Oct. 2010. Web. 28 Feb. 2014. <http://www.jetcadet.com/blog/the-history-of-streetwear-clothing126/> 2. Sande, Steve. STREET THREADS / Something for Regular Guys. SFGate. Chronicle News, 6 Nov. 2005. Web. 01 Mar. 2014. <http://www.sfgate.com/living/article/STREET-THREADS-Something-forregular-guys-2561921.php> 3. Muir, Alice. Sophia Chang on Streetwear and Design. TLG Magazine. N.P., 25 Nov. 2013. Web. 01 Mar. 2014. <http://tlgmagazine.com/sophia-chang-interview/> 4. Vogel, Steven. Streetwear: The Insiders Guide. London. Thames & Hudson, 2007. Print. 5. Watson, Stephanie. Streetwear Fashion. N.p.: Lerner Group, 2014. Print. 6. Heying, Charles H. Brew to Bikes: Portlands Artisan Economy. Portland, Or.: Ooligan, 2010. Print.