What are the Streetwear Styles?

Streetwear is becoming more prevalent than ever in popular culture. Streetwear is one of the most popular fashion trends today, although the name itself might be difficult to understand. There are numerous clothing categories that fall under the umbrella of streetwear, as well as numerous streetwear subgenres.

The street fashion seen in different cities also differs, with Tokyo’s styles being very different from those in New York or London. But to make things simple, we’ve outlined the primary categories of what is considered streetwear along with their distinguishing features, components, and brands. These are Hip Hop Fashion, Skatewear, Techwear, High fashion and Athleisure.

Hip Hop Fashion

Hip Hop can be credited with pushing streetwear style to the masses (certainly our editor believes so and he’s old enough for it to be first hand experience). MTV was launched in 1981 in the USA and 1987 in the UK and Europe and into the homes of the younger generation to the glee of the fashion industry.

Certainly California surf and skate scene played a big part in the history of streetwear, but NWA and Run DMC were rapping about it and wearing it in the 1980’s long before most websites and so called experts say streetwear culture was even defined. In truth, if you are defining streetwear as a style defined from what young people are wearing in urban areas, then this goes back even further.

Hip hop culture was Baseball caps, durags, baggy jeans, and dripping with bling. Retro hip hip style was high tops and Adidas tracksuits and Calvin Klein underwear.

Skatewear

As the name suggests, the global skateboarding culture helped make this style popular. This fashion comes from California, the state where skater culture first emerged. When surfers needed something to do when there were no waves to ride, they invented skateboarding. As a result, the American surfer style’s easy-going, casual looks captured effortlessly by original streetwear brands like Stussy. They prioritised graphic T-shirts, baseball caps, and shorts heavily influenced the skate streetwear style at first.

Although streetwear fashion has changed since then, its fundamental principles and laid-back vibe have remained the same. The most authentic version of skate fashion is summer, with the major styles including graphic tees, baseball caps, wide-leg shorts, and the iconic skate shoes: Vans. The attire is still laid-back in the winter, but includes hoodies, baggy cargo pants, flannels, and beanies. The aim is to achieve a carefree, unique aesthetic that, regardless of the climate, captures the carefree mood of a Californian summer.

Typically, skate style incorporates humour or pop culture references via slogan baseball caps or graphic T-shirts. The most important thing about this style is how much freedom you can have with it. This gives the aesthetic a wonderfully friendly and enjoyable feel and that common streetwear brands vibe.

Techwear

Techwear is a cutting-edge fashion trend that has gained popularity recently in streetwear clothing and emphasises both style and utility. In essence, it takes very practical items like military vests and cargo pants and gives them a sleek modern spin by styling them with lux fabrics and/or a contemporary colour palette like blacks and greys.

These items’ functionality is inspired by sportswear and outdoor clothing. As a result, techwear comes in a wide variety of shapes and materials, including technical vests and GORE-TEX. Techwear is frequently pricey, especially important parts like a hardshell jacket, due to its emphasis on high-quality materials, functionality, and a sleek modern look such as Stone Island.

However, you can get cheaper techwear designs by sticking to a monochromatic colour scheme with sportswear or outdoor-inspired embellishments and by shopping around and pairing with streetwear labels.

Sports retailers like Nike and Adidas are another wonderful location to purchase; focus on their all-black alternatives or find apparel with few colours and trademarks. The bottoms, backpacks, shirts, and shoes you can purchase in these shops all fit the techwear aesthetic.

Finally, a hardshell jacket or another useful yet fashionable jacket is the key component of a techwear fit. It is advised that you wear a lightweight hoodie under a second-hand windbreaker because these can be pricey. This creates a comparable aesthetic without requiring a significant financial investment in a nicely designed hardshell jacket.

High Fashion

Street style high fashion casual clothing, sometimes known as Hypebeast, is currently the most well-liked and important streetwear trend. Hip-hop stars like A$AP Rocky, Migos, Future, Kanye West, and others actively represent and promote this style. Many even include references to their favourite high-end streetwear designers and companies, including Rick Owens and Raf Simons, in their music.

Designer logo wear combined with traditional streetwear staples like trackies, graphic tees, and trainers best describe this look. With so many companies, including Gucci and Prada embracing the streetwear movement and incorporating it into their catwalk designs, there is no shortage of runway inspiration for street fashion these days.

Some haute couture fashion houses even have brought in known streetwear designers as creative directors like Virgil Abloh and Louis Vuitton. This bridged the gap between streetwear and the fashion elite, with collabs merging the two.

However, even more affordable brands of luxury streetwear high fashion, like Palace or Supreme, can cost you more than £100 each, and in some cases even thousands of pounds, due to their reputation as a high fashion and elite style.

For consumers on a smaller budget, it is advised that you avoid displaying brand names and logos and instead focus on finding affordable alternatives to these items, such as Nike trainers, hoodies, ripped jeans, bombers, etc.

Athleisure

Athleisure, which is the newest name for the streetwear style of clothing for working out and casual wear, can be summed up as t-shirts, sweatshirts, gym vests, shorts, caps, joggers, leggings, yoga trousers, trainers, and gym bags.

The growth of athleisure-inspired fashion, including sportswear, clothes, accessories, and fashion trends, is a significant component of the growing trend with streetwear brands like Maniere De Voir blazing a path.

A modern athleisure aesthetic is created by mixing sports shoes, shorts, tank shirts, athletic gear, and other items. It allows you to live an active and relaxed lifestyle simultaneously while yet looking and feeling good in your clothes. Athleisure wear goes perfectly with relaxed dress standards, hectic schedules, and the rising significance of health and wellness since it symbolises a change in your lifestyle.

Like all trends, athleisure is still developing, and today there are practically endless alternatives for fitness attire for athleisure wearers. The ready-to-wear athleisure options on the market are guaranteed to offer the look that most people are looking for, whether you’re searching for an easy option for working out without the stress of a sporting outfit or a more creative appearance that’s equally comfortable and stylish.

Today’s athleisure attire was developed as a result of advancements in textile science that made it possible to use better-performance textiles. The most current fabric utilised, Gore-tex®, has made it possible for clothing to be waterproof and breathable without looking like sportswear.

The textile industry is continually experimenting nowadays, which has led to modifications in athleisure fashion. In recent years, textile experts have created a fabric that reacts to your body’s temperature. It’s the ideal fusion of design and innovation that incorporates the fashion and utility of athleisure.

And tracksuits doesn’t necessarily mean cheap. Some luxury brands like Reiss have introduced an athleisure range.

In addition to wearing these graphic t-shirts, baseball caps and shorts to reflect your skateboarding style, you can also use small accessories to reflect your skateboarding style. For example, necklaces, pins, customized patches and so on.

Among these, custom patches are a great choice, you can choose your favourite pattern to customize, and it can be used to decorate not only your clothes, but also your bag.