Name: Ronan
Year: Second
Course: Medical Physiology and Therapeutics
Meet Ronan, our second year Medical Physiology and Therapeutics student. He talks to us about streetwear, the global phenomenon that is influencing top designers and brands – inspiring us to become ever more adventurous and experimental with fashion.
What is it that characterizes your own style?
If I had to characterise my style, I’d say I like to keep things simple. Soft colours such as black, navy or white, and simple patterns. I like to take inspiration from Muji and other Japanese brands that focus a lot on simplicity and quality in their clothing. Recently since moving to university, I’ve been incorporating and familiarising myself with the world of streetwear. At first when I thought of the word ‘streetwear’, I saw it as a grubby word that catches sportswear, skate-wear and non-luxurious fashion under one umbrella.
However, I wanted to try it out for myself because at the end of the day, millions of people dress in streetwear for a reason. I found that streetwear draws inspiration from all areas of fashion; merging both simplicity and complexity into their styles, appealing to a wider audience. This is why many people catch onto streetwear so quickly, myself included.
What do you think of today’s current styles and trends within men’s fashion?
That’s quite a broad question, because what can you classify as current? Style trends change monthly, maybe even weekly so it’s hard to pinpoint the exact trend. In my opinion, I’ve seen an increase in vintage clothing and more distressed looks being worn. Sportswear has become more of a daily outfit choice than for actual sporting occasions. Many luxury brands have used more embroidery and more 90’s styles. Altogether many areas of fashion have been recycling pre 00’s styles, showing how designers are thinking into the past, freshening up timeworn pieces and making them current.
At NYC fashion week, street style took centre stage. Braces, checkered patterns, fur coats, leather and tweed were just some of the styles to make an appearance on the catwalk. However, this has led some people to claim that street style is showy, flamboyant and eccentric. What is your response to these claims?
Streetwear brings imperfection to a new light. Miss-matching patterns crossed with simple colours is what makes streetwear differentiate themselves from anything else. I wouldn’t say it’s showy or flamboyant; those types of adjectives are usually related to luxury brands. I would say streetwear is adventurous and allows people to experiment different styles whilst still keeping inside the norm of regular fashion.
Street style has always existed, but in recent years it has become all the rave. Why do you think street style has become such a phenomenon over the last 10 years?
In recent years, streetwear has begun to merge into the world of high fashion; examples such as the COMME des GARÇONS collaboration with Stüssy, reflected the merge and how the difference between high fashion and streetwear is slowly becoming indistinguishable.
Streetwear has already begun to establish itself into the world of high fashion with high-end names like Gosha Rubchinskiy and Vetement causing closure in the gap between streetwear and luxury brands. Vetement is classed as a luxury brand but in my opinion, takes inspiration from streetwear. The Parisian brand has managed to change the way people look at fashion, keeping the quality of the clothes they produce extremely high, but at the same time roughening the style and bringing imperfections to a new light.
Streetwear owes a lot to publicity and social media for its recent boom. With many celebrities pictured swapping their Gucci loafers for Air max 95’s, it makes many people feel they can wear what the celebrities at an affordable price. In 2015, when Kanye West released his first collaborative line with Adidas, it became the most talked about fashion unveiling that year. It brought a lot of focus from critics of streetwear and high fashion and showed an example of how both areas fashion can mix. All in all, streetwear is very popular and still around for a reason; it’s an important part of youth culture and is a significant asset to the fashion world.
Great! Thank you for coming along to do this interview. You’ve given us a great insight into the street fashion world!
Edited by Susan Akyeampong