Streetwear

Streetwear is a distinctive style of street fashion. Rooted in Californian surf and skate culture, it has grown to encompass elements of hip hop fashion, Japanese street fashion, and modern haute couture fashion.

Foundation

As with many grassroots cultural movements, streetwear has been notoriously difficult to define. While under a constant state of evolution of style and creative direction (as with many street trends), one constant of streetwear has been the types of clothing produced, commonly centering on "casual, comfortable pieces such as jeans, t-shirts, baseball caps, and sneakers".

The movement is generally accepted to have been born out of the Los Angeles surf culture of the late 1970s / early 1980s. Brands included Ocean Pacific, Hobie, Off Shore, Gotcha and Life's a Beach. Local surfboard designer Shawn Stussy began selling printed T-shirts featuring the same trademark signature he placed on his custom surfboards. Initially selling the items from his own car, Stussy expanded sales to boutiques once popularity increased.