25 Reasons Why Streetwear Is Still Relevant

Your brand could be on the way out the door, but if someone well-respected is seen rocking one of your pieces, the "cool guy" factor takes place and relevancy isn't the issue anymore, it's "can I produce enough pieces??" Look at what A$AP did for Pigalle and SSUR.

The original streetwear heads are expanding into things that get their brand more coverage, and grows the industry. The Hundreds Magazine features up-and-coming talent alongside some of the most well-known names in culture today. Alife throws some of the sickest events on the East coast, all while keeping their brand name out there and supporting the industry.

iPhone cases, boxing gloves, shot glasses, even Tenga sex toys. We can't even guess what someone will come out with next, but it will have to be out there in order to be original because streetwear labels are popping up on everything.

Do you know what an original box logo T-shirt goes for? Probably not because they're impossible to find. How about an all-over print Ice Cream shirt or BBC hoody? Vintage streetwear is cooler because those pieces are classics, and if you're lucky enough to own a piece of history, you will be 1000x cooler than the kids waiting in line every Thursday for a new drop.

Is Hood by Air considered streetwear? Jeremy Scott? Visvim? Streetwear is not clearly defined by any standard. It's because of its versatility and its ability to transcend labels and descriptions people try to give it. The only way you will ever know if something is streetwear or not is if it is. Otherwise it's not. Whoa. Minds blown.

Supply and demand, my friends. Streetwear's accessibility will have kids scouring for the best digs for the first day of high school until the end of time.

Point blank: the shit looks good. If you know how to rock it and you do it with good taste, streetwear really is the only way to be the freshest kid on the block.

Like punk rock and hip-hop, streetwear is as much an attitude as it is an aesthetic. Streetwear is part of counter-culture. And we like it that way. Fuck you if you think otherwise.

Supreme in 1994. FUCT in 1990. Stussy before anyone. Some of these brands have been around since before you were born. And you know what? People still rock them. While there are some streetwear brands that made the expansion into malls and ended up becoming diluted versions of themselves, OG's like Stussy continue to maintain a strong but limited retail presence, put out relevant, desirable gear, and still have the integrity they started with.

Yep, Karmaloop is it's own reason. With thousands of brands running through their e-halls, Karmaloop is a streetwear ambassador. You don't have streetwear without Karmaloop cosigning you at some point, because there's a fourteen year old kid in Idaho who will discover the site tomorrow, and his whole world will be blown open. As long as Karmaloop is around, streetwear is sittin' pretty.

While some people grow out of streetwear as they age, many continue with the brand closest to their heart. It isn't about the clothes at the point, it's a way of life. Streetwear tends to have that kind of hold on people. Just look at guys like Glenn O'Brien with Supreme or Eric Clapton with Visvim; that's dedication at their age. Brand loyalty is a huge reason streetwear isn't just relevant, it's a mainstay.

Good or bad, there are an inordinate amount of fake streetwear pieces out right now. More than ever. And that is a big reason why streetwear is still relevant. If Supreme hats and Bape hoodies are still being horribly forfeited, then it means people are still buying them because the real pieces are either too hard to get or too expensive. Either way, keeps the business popping.

There's something about a girl in a 10 Deep tanktop and some short shorts... Even though girls make anything look better, some girls just make streetwear that much more appealing. All you have to do is take a look at these lovely ladies and you'll get the picture.

Streetwear is synonymous with skateboarding and skateboarding is cool as fuck. Not much else to say about that.

Do you think Jalil Peraza's new line would've gotten the press it has if it weren't for folks like Jay-Z and Kanye cosigning heavily? Maybe, but we'll never know. When you've got friends in high places who support, thus coercing the masses into thinking it's the shit, then, well, it becomes the shit. Streetwear has that effect instantaeously. It's the "I want what he's got" mentality and it's powerful.

Kids aren't lining up around the block a week before a release for nothing (yes, this still happens). There is something about a Supreme Box Logo T-shirt or a Black Scale x A$AP collection that makes them so hyped they'll sleep on the sidewalk. Kids just wanna be down.

Names like Nigo, James Jebbia, and Shawn Stussy are synonymous with style, not just streetwear. With those names at the forefront of the scene for decades, fans have grown to not only like streetwear for the style, but they also have developed a deep respect for the brand heads.

Mark McNairy is doing big collaborations with streetwear brand Billionaire Boys Club. So is APC with Supreme. When menswear brands and figures are still supporting streetwear brands with collaborations or just huge cosigns, you know something is incredibly special about it.

DQM started as a T-shirt and sneakers shop. Today they are dropping cut & sew collections with pieces that wouldn't stand out at J.Crew. This evolution factor is what keeps people interested throughout the years. While they still sling plenty of hoodies and baseball tees, the move into button downs and safari jackets opens the brand up to a wider audience without alienating the OGs.

Streetwear polices pop culture (and itself) with parody. The 50 Greatest Pop Culture References In Streetwear is a good place to start. Like FUCT riffing on the JAWS poster, Supreme's take on The New Yorker mascot Eustace Tilley, and the numerous parodies of the Polo Bear (most notably by Acapulco Gold and Taz Arnold), streetwear is often like an inside joke for people that get it. And it's actually funny. And if you do "get it," you will always want more.

As long as brands like Supreme, Comme des Garçons PLAY, BAPE, and Undefeated keep collaborating with each other, people will keep buying streetwear. New brands are great, but it's the icons that really keep things moving. These are the brands that we will always want to own, and a collab between any two (or sometimes three) multiplies the hype times infinity.