The Most Important Fashion Pieces of the 2010s

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For over 100 years, Levi’s has been the authority in denim. But in the mid-2000s, it felt like a new wave of denim wearers were looking for something else. Classic American clothing had found new life. Independent labels from the U.S., Japan, and elsewhere were putting their spin on classic pieces—and most notably hefty, untreated, raw denim. But with these updated takes came updated prices, the truly artisanal pairs reaching up into the $400 range—until A.P.C. gave them the Petit Standard for almost half the price.

As guys wore their jeans to the ground, the Petit Standard offered a more accessible way to try raw denim. The lower barrier to entry meant wearers could still post photos of their “fades” for other denim enthusiasts to admire. Even as the balance of style started shifting toward tailored clothing and eventually to wider legs and thrashed styles, the Petit Standard weathered each storm. And since their introduction, they’ve been the go-to recommendation for well-made, affordable denim—one of the most stable, reliable designs of the 2010s. Throughout a decade in which styles have been incredibly divergent, the Petit Standard has had sustained cross-crowd appeal that shows just how iconic a pair of jeans can become. They might not be 501s, but nearly every guy who has paid attention to fashion has owned a pair. Menswear heads approve of them, sneakerheads, too, along with the stylish guy at tech startups and everyone in between. Their impact was groundbreaking at the time and has only maintained a presence in the industry for longer than entire brands have been in existence—a truly remarkable feat. —Skylar Bergl

H&M has a long history of bringing high-end fashion brands to High Street customers. Since the mid-2000s, the brand has worked with Karl Lagerfeld, Lanvin, Comme des Garcons, and others to put together affordable capsule collections. But it was the Versace partnerships in 2011 and 2012 that were the first to truly capitalize on the hype surrounding them. This was more like a levee breaking than a smart business move. From here on out, the collaboration game would only get more and more powerful, saturated, and necessary for survival in the fashion world.  

For a brand like Versace, that might feel a bit overdramatic. The Italian brand remains a standard-bearer for name recognition in fashion. But its accessibility has always been exclusive. Bringing the brands’ designs mainstream was destined to be successful—especially with a signature piece like the velvet bomber jacket. And it was. Kanye, Swizz Beatz, and Chris Brown all wore the jacket in short order after its release and Scott Disick even brought it back out in 2016. The black velvet in stark contrast against the bright and colorful sleeves was Instagram bait right before Instagram went mainstream. The seeds of the high-low mentality were also starting to take hold, defining people’s wardrobes with accessible items paired against designer-level goods.

With other events like the Watch the Throne tour, the Versace collaboration felt like a lynchpin in the shifting fashion universe. The years following saw luxury houses aim for younger shoppers willing to lineup for regular drops—Versace took it a step further in February 2019 with Kith, a streetwear brand that speaks directly to that audience and a clunky sneaker endorsed by rapper 2 Chainz. That Versace x H&M bomber played a key role in shaping the fashion landscape we live in today.—Skylar Bergl

In 2011, #menswear was still in full swing, but the tidal wave of streetwear was somewhere off in the distance ready to crest. The singular style moment just might have been the Watch the Throne tour. The show dominated headlines as Kanye’s ascension to fashion’s highest order started to take root and the tour wardrobe made even the most ardent tailoring enthusiast think they might want to try out some black T-shirts, chunky sneakers, and pieces with leather trim. Givenchy’s creative director Riccardo Tisci was at the height of his power, turning out pieces made for designer goths years before the edgy aesthetic became truly mainstream. But of all the headline-making garments at the time, the Givenchy Rottweiler T-shirt might stand out as the most monolithic. 

I can remember the first time I saw the shirt like a vivid memory burned into my brain. The paparazzi photos were abundant. The oddest combination of celebrity wore it: Kanye, Tyga, Pusha T, Usher, and Rihanna might be expected. But then others like Liv Tyler and Pink tried it on as well. The oversized, blotted paint-style was such a smash that the brand adapted it to other animals like the shark, and even re-issued am updated Rottweiler design in 2018—Heron Preston made a name for himself by designing a white, bootleg version. Was this a symbol of the oncoming streetwear explosion? Perhaps it was. But at its height, the singular Rottweiler piece felt like one of those truly unattainable grails at a time before resale prices had yet to take off. And to be fair at over $400, it was. Grungy, high-end graphic Ts became common place. The cult of Rick Owens recruited more members and the sneaker resale industry became a $1 billion market shortly after. The rest of the decade fell in the footsteps of the Rottweiler T.—Skylar Bergl 

Although Shayne Oliver had been working on Hood by Air on and off since 2006, his first New York Fashion Week show, which took place in February 2013, teleported his brand to a new stratosphere. It’s easy to say that ASAP Rocky, who appeared in that show, lent Hood By Air a wider scope of consumers and buzz, but it was more than that. It was the aggressive music, the clothes, which helped introduce the idea of luxury streetwear, and Kevin Amato’s gender fluid street casting, which featured trans performance artist Boychild. Essentially, Oliver offered a point of difference and welcomed the industry into his, very black, New York City-based, LGBTQI world. 

All of these ideas were distilled down into a Hood By Air graphic T-shirt, which was a part of Oliver’s Hood By Air Classics line and felt omnipresent in 2013. In addition to Rocky, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Rihanna, Nick Young, and Kanye West all sported the brand. And retailers like Opening Ceremony and Barneys New York took note by stocking the pieces, which would quickly sell out. A collaborative T-shirt with Been Trill, which started out as a gift for friends and family who attended a particular brunch, turned into a bigger thing that was sold at VFiles also during February 2013. All of this represented the intersections, and popularity, of Hood By Air during that time.

For the average observer, the T-shirt was just that, a T-shirt, but Oliver later revealed during a conversation with Kerwin Frost and HBA brand ambassador Ian Isaiah, that the logo placements on the chest and arms, something he would spend hours trying to get right, were influenced by documentaries about gay men in prison. Unbeknownst to them, these placements would trickle down to major fashion houses and emerging streetwear brands. Other ideas that Oliver proposed would be copied and repurposed down the line, but in 2013 Hood By Air reflected a moment for designers who were rooted in streetwear, once seen as a pejorative thing in fashion, but had a vision that wasn’t limited to T-shirts and hoodies. Oliver, who announced a Hood By Air hiatus in 2017 and a comeback in 2019, primed the industry for more designers who would follow his blueprint and made it ok, and necessary, for high end luxury brands to present hoodies and T-shirts on the runway and invite new, people of color into the fold.—Aria Hughes

Hard to believe the the jogger pant craze was at the height of its prominence only five years ago. But during a time when the style conscious were ready to put their soft-shoulder sport coats and raw denim toward the back of the closet and “caj” it up a bit with a sportier look, the jogger pant phenomenon couldn’t have hit at a better time. Whether you personally got behind them or not, there’s no denying the impact they had on the industry, considering just about every streetwear and high-end luxury brand from California to England to Japan were adding the trouser with elastic cuffs to their collections. Publish Brand even trademarked the name “jogger pant.” However, none were able to put a stronghold on the trend and dominate the market quite like Ronnie Fieg and his New York-based brand, Kith, which called it the Mercer Pant. 

Thanks to some experimental tailoring with a pair of his favorite military trousers, Fieg re-invented the jogger from what it was—not sweatpants, but not chinos either—into the perfect tailored pants to pair with your favorite runners. They are probably the brand’s most recognizable product. And the same way people started embracing sneakers as an everyday, every situation type of footwear, people embraced Fieg’s Mercer Pant. 

 It’s no wonder LeBron James took to Fieg and his vision, often making the Mercer Pant his go-to jogger choice. It also may have propelled Fieg’s ascension, and he’s showed no signs of slowing down since. All it took was an experimental mindset and some elastic.—Nick Grant

We’re not going to sit here and act like vintage band T-shirts haven’t always been popular. However, the resurrection they made in the cultural landscape of streetwear in the mid-2010’s is thanks in large part to Fear of God’s Jerry Lorenzo and his “Resurrected” band T-shirt series in 2015. Fresh off the heels of his role in helping design pal, Kanye West, on his Yeezus’ tour merch line, Lorenzo continued to build upon his affinity for vintage rock T-shirts from the late ‘80s and early ‘90s that really connected with the wide body, cropped hem aesthetic he was introducing with the brand. He decided to take hand-selected vintage pieces from his personal collection and distributed them in very limited quantities with some of his favorite shops, including Chicago’s RSVP Gallery. And it couldn’t have been at a better time because Fear of God’s meteoric rise was far from slowing down due to streetwear savants craving that grungy, counter-culture look filled with exaggerated silhouettes in muted colors, which was typically paired with skinny, hole-y to hell denim.

 People were practically levitating toward the nearest spot that stocked these exclusive pieces, including stylish celebrity stalwarts like Chloe Sevigny, David Beckham, and Justin Bieber. In fact, Bieber received a $1,500 customized Nirvana tee from Lorenzo and vintage band T-shirt guru to the stars, Patrick Matamoros, which he famously wore on the red carpet of the 2015 American Music Awards. This would eventually lead to Lorenzo designing an extensive merch collection and stage wardrobe for Bieber’s “Purpose Tour,” and essentially lending Bieber the fashion credibility he never had and telegraphing Lorenzo’s aesthetic to the masses.

 Needless to say, others have certainly taken note of Lorenzo’s strategy to push the rock and punk agenda in streetwear. You can’t walk into a vintage shop or peruse through Depop without finding vintage Metallica and Slayer tour shirts under four bills. Definitely can't credit Lorenzo for all of it, but he Pied Piper'd a whole new market of style-centric go-hards toward this subgenre that already had a formula for success with hypebeasts.—Nick Grant

Face it, Thrasher hoodies defined streetwear in 2016. Though the Thrasher hoodie had been a skate staple for decades, and first strayed into public consciousness in 2011 on the back of Odd Future's breakout year and Supreme's initial collaboration with the magazine, 2016 is when its flaming wave crested before crashing. Hard. For proof, look at the list of non-skate celebs caught wearing Thrasher hoodies during 2016, which included Rihanna, Brooklyn Beckham, Leigh Lezark and, uh, even Adam Levine. That year also saw a wave of Thrasher logo ripoffs and bootlegs, including merch from Justin Bieber's "Purpose" tour, as well as more clever offerings like T-shirts dedicated to Young Thug. But that wasn't it. All that Thrasher hoodie buzz even influenced high fashion. In January 2016, Vogue, ran an article describing Thrasher logo shirts as the official uniform of off-duty models, before launching a full-on skate week later that summer. Skaters were not pleased. Complex even blogged about one New York skateboarder saying, "I think Vogue is fucking dumb and knows nothing about skating, and their approach was ignorant and stupid." After that, as summer 2016 turned to fall, legendary Thrasher editor Jake Phelps (RIP) felt forced to weigh in on the trend, explaining, "We don't send boxes to Justin Bieber or Rihanna or those fucking clowns." And though Phelps' pronouncement ended the Thrasher hoodie craze among the cool kids, the garment had a lasting impact on fashion, helping usher in the luxury skatewear trend that still dominates runways in 2019, while popping up all over the streets to this day.—Andrew Luecke

High profile designers collaborating on sneakers certainly wasn’t invented in 2017. Raf Simons and Rick Owens had found success doing it with Adidas in years prior. Nike tapping names like Riccardo Tisci and Comme des Garcons to work on sneakers are other examples. While most of these were well-received, none of them truly shifted the entire industry the way that Virgil Abloh’s “The Ten” collection with Nike did when it debuted in November 2017. 

For starters, Abloh was given the freedom to tweak and tinker with 10 of the most iconic sneakers the brand had ever produced—the Air Force 1, Air Max 90, and Blazer Mid, for example—at the same time. Some designers don’t get to collab on 10 sneakers in their whole career. Not many people up to that point had been allowed to collab on the Air Jordan I either, but Nike/Jordan Brand let Abloh fully deconstruct it, stamp his branding all over it, and cinch a red zip tie to the laces. It also seemed like literally everyone who mattered, from Drake to Naomi Campbell, had a pair that Abloh customized with his "SIGNATURE," which was written in bold black marker on the midsole. 

The hysteria surrounding the shoes was massive. The Nike SNKRS app broke, pairs sold out within seconds, and most of them still command prices hovering around the $1,000 range on the resale market. 

Most importantly, “The Ten” had a ripple effect that could be seen throughout footwear. Every brand, even Nike, tried to replicate the look of Abloh’s popular creations by using tons of outward branding and deconstructed features. Moving forward, Nike also appeared to be more relaxed with its bigger collaborators—Travis Scott got to flip the Swoosh and add a stash pocket to the Air Jordan 1, and Sacai crafted multi-layered versions of the Waffle Racer and Blazer for its 2019 project. 

Abloh had already been a big name. He had come from Kanye West's star-studded Donda camp, turned heads with his Pyrex Vision line, and obviously Off-White was already making waves at the time. But this project made his name matter to a whole new group of people in the sneaker and luxury worlds. Shortly after this collab he was named men’s artistic director at Louis Vuitton. These days it's guaranteed Abloh's name will turn heads, and "The Ten" felt like the launchpoint.—Michael DeStefano

In 2018, no item captured the synergy between high fashion and streetwear quite like designer Matthew Williams' Alyx chest rig. Combining elements of the cross-body bag trend pioneered by skaters with the fashionable bulletproof vests sold by everyone from Young Dolph to Helmut Lang, Williams created a luxury piece that was equal parts high-concept grandeur and gritty tactical workhorse. With his chest rig, Williams took items associated with traditional masculine toughness and transformed them into something beautiful. It was a fashion piece anyone could wear, regardless of gender identity. Though Alyx first dropped the chest rig in 2017, with early adopters like Kanye and A$AP Rocky wearing it then, the item didn't take over until 2018, when celebs like Young Thug, Rihanna, Bloody Osiris, Quavo, and various street style stars got snapped wearing the item. That year, Alyx could hardly keep its rig in stock, with announcements for new pre-orders hitting fashion and streetwear websites as hard as news of limited sneaker drops. No mere vehicle for hype, the Alyx chest rig had a massive influence on fashion and streetwear, inspiring imitators like Heliot Emil. Kim Jones was so intrigued by the rig’s buckles that he tapped Williams to design versions of them for Dior men’s. But Virgil Abloh, seemed to be more inspired than anyone, filling his 2018 debut for Louis Vuitton with a range of similar items, including harnesses, tactical vests, and chest bags. Virgil would also take this theme further, turning his Alyx-inspired harness into formalwear for actors like Michael B. Jordan, Chadwick Boseman, and Timothee Chalamet. Even Chips Ahoy got in on the trend with a Cookie Rig released in 2019 featuring buckles that looked eerily similar to Williams’ hardware. But there's no doubt that the high fashion chestpiece trend all started with Matthew Williams, who only a few years ago was designing Been Trill T-shirts for PacSun with Abloh and Heron Preston.—Andrew Luecke

2019 saw a bevy of phenomenal sneaker collaborations. Especially those that pushed traditional sneaker brands outside of their comfort zone by adding unique design modifications to classic silhouettes. But in a year where Travis Scott finally introduced his very own Jordan 1 or your favorite hypebeast's favorite brand, Cactus Plant Flea Market introduces three batshit crazy takes on styles including the Nike Air Vapormax and the Nike Blazer Mid and the Air Force 1, none were quite as jaw-dropping as Nike’s collaboration with Japanese high-fashion label, Sacai, which is led by Chitose Abe, on the LDV Waffle sneaker. A hybrid sneaker that took elements from Nike’s LDV—originally released in 1978 as one of the first running shoes with a breathable upper—and the Waffle Racer—the iconic shoe that started it all—and fused them together, literally. The shoe features double laces, a double tongue, and a double swoosh detail to create a modern marvel that anyone who gave a damn about sneakers could appreciate. The shoe debuted during Sacai’s Spring 2019 show at Paris Fashion Week in June 2019, and in May was made available and subsequently unavailable in a matter of minutes due to the hype. So, you can imagine how the second launch introducing three new colors went in September, especially after the release date was pushed back, which created palpable hype-induced anticipation. Nike even piggybacked off of the success of this collaboration by re-releasing the Waffle Daybreak running shoe after 30 years of sitting in the vault, while also teaming up with Undercover to drop their own interpretation on the ‘80s running shoe silhouette. 

The LDWaffle certainly brought out the fanboy in us all and became an instant Instagram favorite, where sneaker-loving athletes like P.J. Tucker and LeBron James converged with stylish artists like Lil Uzi Vert and A$AP Rocky to make these bangers the centerpiece of their ensembles. How Sacai and Nike are going to top this with future releases is beyond comprehension, but hopefully they don’t rest on their laurels and continue to think outside the shoebox.—Nick Grant

Complex is celebrating the best in music, pop culture, style, sneakers, and sports this decade. Check out the rest of our 2010s series here.