The obsession with the ‘luxury streetwear’ moniker
With the evolution of streetwear brands from the underground sub-culture and its original influences such as hip-hop, surf, punk, skate and sportswear, a new form of streetwear has formed in recent years - Luxury Streetwear.
Simply put, streetwear is fashionable casual clothes such as hoodies, joggers, t shirts and sneakers. Streetwear has created a close, direct and genuine relationship with its consumers that the luxury market had been desperate to find. Unlike the luxury sector where traditionally, industry insiders act as gatekeepers to the newest trends, community, people and their authentic stories are the driving force behind streetwear.
The idea of luxury streetwear is in a way a triumph for streetwear as it has demonstrated its intrusion into the traditional luxury fashion space. Luxury brands have now taken notice of the power and relevance of streetwear brands leading to numerous collaborations. Initially, luxury brands navigated this new territory by only taking style notes from such trends whilst retaining their bespoke luxury, however streetwear these luxury brands have now adopted streetwear inspired clothing attire for their own collections.
When you think of luxury streetwear brands the first names that come to mind are Supreme and OFF-WHITE. The collaboration of Supreme x Louis Vuitton in 2017, an iconic moment for the union between luxury and streetwear further cemented the notion that streetwear brands could pierce into the luxury fashion market. OFF-WHITE founder, Virgil Abloh, a pioneer of our time, was also hired as the Creative Director of Louis Vuitton Menswear. Along with other luxury brands, there has been shift in Louis Vuitton and Balenciaga’s collections. Their strategy aims at appealing to the young, digital streetwear loving customers who can afford entry-level luxury items.
One of the pulls of the streetwear market for the luxury sector has been low cost, high margins. Despite what people may think, traditonally, streetwear brands are not known for their high quality fabrics but we know this and we are instead buying into the subculture. The influence of the luxury market on streetwear brands may lead to higher quality fabrics being used which may drives the prices up and away from the traditional streetwear buyer who is not wealthy. On the flip side, if streetwear brands continue to use below quality fabrics can they truly be labelled luxury?
Let’s not forget the essence of a luxury brand which is essentially high quality fabrics, exclusivity and high price point. Hoodies, sweatshirts, tracksuits and graphic t shirt were not garments that traditional luxury consumers would associate with their wealthy backgrounds. An OFF-WHITE tracksuit (Top+Bottom) will cost you approximately £600 - £900, a Supreme tracksuit if you can find one, will cost you approximately £300+ both befitting of the luxury steetwear moniker. A Louis Vuitton or Gucci tracksuit will set you back approximately £2500+. Surely then the burgeoning luxury streetwear market would be out of the range of the average working class person.
Research from Strategy& and HYPBEAST suggests that streetwear buyers are young and not wealthy. Over 60% of respondents were under 25 and about 70% reported having an annual income of $40,000 or less. So can the targeted streetwear customers truly afford luxury streetwear prices? There is an idea that the prices of brands such as OFF-WHITE and Supreme for example are ‘accesible’ luxury as they don’t meet the astronomical prices of Louis Vuitton or Gucci. Luxury streetwear and the young generation’s thirst to be ‘drippy’, follow the hype or just buy what they like despite the price has meant the less privileged demographics are increasing spending within this new definition of streetwear.
Traditional luxury was meant for the wealthy and streetwear was created within an underground sub-culture that was predominantly working class, so is luxury streetwear truly sustainable in the long term or will this fad die out? When the current teens and young adult grow up will our style and love of streetwear change or maybe the new generation will tilt the streetwear or luxury markets in different directions?
The current growth of luxury streetwear has led to a lot of upcoming local streetwear brands labelling themselves as luxury streetwear as if to differentiate themselves from the classic streetwear origins. Despite lacking high quality fabrics some brands are putting higher price points which may actually be stunting their growth as their consumer base compares their clothing to actual luxury streeetwear offerings. Some brands are also labelling their brand luxury streetwear with low prices, a lack of exclusivity and low quality fabrics. Maybe the streetwear market needs to eventually move away from the luxury sector, having learnt and evolved with the support of the luxury market, soon it may be time for streetwear brands to go back to their roots and focus on the circumstances of the custmer base that have been key to its growth and cultural relevance. Streetwear is more than just a trend, its a cultural and lifestyle statement that spans fashion, art, music and sports that the luxury market can never understand. In the long term, the luxury sector’s involvement in streetwear solely to profit may be doing more harm than good.
This op-ed article reflects only the views of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of Tracksuit Society.
References
https://jingdaily.com/streetwear-luxury-future-democratization/
https://www.strategyand.pwc.com/gx/en/insights/2019/streetwear.html
https://strategyand.hypebeast.com/streetwear-report