The rise of streetwear has been inescapable, with the youth-culture trend revolutionizing the face of retail over the last few years. Starting from independent, grassroots brands and now filtering into the mainstream via global retail conglomerates, consumer demand for streetwear seems stronger than ever. The symbolic peak of success being the valuation of Supreme, a New York skateboarding brand, at $1 billion, which was then subsequently followed by another streetwear unicorn in Detroit based sneaker startup StockX.
This puts streetwear and athleisure brands in a completely different league compared to more conventional fashion brands like
According to Vogue Business, streetwear demand continues to grow, with U.S. teen interest seeing exponential growth in brands like Supreme and Champion and streetwear-influenced designs continuing to drive sales for the luxury sector. Streetwear has been a reliable draw for high-end brands trying to capture a younger market, with several established fashion brands finding success collaborating with niche streetwear labels.
Arguably the most infamous collaboration, and one that set the tone for subsequent partnerships, was the Supreme and
British fashion institution Burberry collaborated with Russian designer Gosha Rubchinskiy, taking the traditional heritage check design and fusing them with Russian youth-culture inspired by football and 90s rave aesthetic. Premium luggage brand, RIMOWA paired up with Off-White to create a transparent suitcase, a fresh variation from the popular aluminum-look cases that RIMOWA was famed for.
Building on their catwalk success, LVMH then tapped Virgil Abloh—the American designer, DJ and stylist who first came to prominence as Kanye West's creative director—as their new men’s artistic director. His appointment at the creative helm of such an established brand was a definitive indicator, cementing the exponential influence of streetwear.
The move to embrace streetwear was not just about sales though. Although it was a possible catalyst behind sales, (LVMH saw a 16% increase during the first financial period of 2019, in comparison to 2018), the company took care to call out Louis Vuitton's “striking and innovative” creativity, highlighting their “universally acclaimed” fashion shows in its quarterly corporate report.
The fashion shows were just the start, with a significant focus on the streetwear-clad crowd that attended them. Instead of traditional advertising campaigns, social media is the go-to platform for shoppers to discover streetwear and its influencers, with designers filling their catwalk FROW with social media influencers like Emma Chamberlain and model Karlie Kloss.
This dose of youth culture at traditionally industry-only events defines the real value that streetwear brings. Whether it’s young people, social media or a fashion trend, it brings relevance and cultural currency, thus making heritage brands much more appealing for a younger consumer.
Take the example of
It’s not a one-time project for Ralph Lauren either. Learning from streetwear success stories is helping brands speak to a whole new generation of customers. In a bid to court them, Ralph Lauren plans to increase marketing spend by $100 million over the next five years, with the creative class firmly in mind.
The main challenge that businesses will face is recreating the not-so-secret ingredient that made streetwear brands a success in the first place. The community. Established brands may be able to partner with the right designer and they may be able to change their model to the weekly drop that’s common with streetwear brands but will they be able to replicate the mutual values and sense of belonging that has been key to growth?
Tia Castagno, managing director and global head of innovation at media agency Vizeum, says, “For me, success can be measured on whether you manage to build a real tribe around your brand rather than how many ratings you can buy and how many people you’re reaching. Think of a brand like Supreme and the fact that when it does a drop it has a queue outside of the shop that goes three times around the block from hours before, if not the night before.”
Community-driven brands are seeing tremendous success. Whether it’s a tribe of loyal beauty lovers at Glossier, a meeting of entrepreneurs at WeWork or a bunch of creative trendsetters on Depop, building a community doesn’t just facilitate customer success, it fosters brand loyalty.
With more retailers inevitably rushing to cash in on the streetwear trend, brand loyalty will be the one thing setting them apart in a saturated market. Time will tell which brands have got it right.
