CULT STREETWEAR

From its origins in American workwear, via west coast subcultures, extremesports and subsequent commercialism, streetwear has become to fashion aship-hop has to music: a global phenomenon. Incorporating cultural codes ofdress, the best in graphic design, as well as exemplary brand-building -the products not of corporate giants but cottage/tenement industries - theleading streetwear brands have become influential beyond the sphere offashion alone. Streetwear may form a fundamental look forout-of-office-hours dress for teenagers and middle youth alike, but itsleading lights have connections with the worlds of art, advertising, musicand interiors that make them as potent as ‘designer' brands manytimes their size. Showcasing over 30 of the most exciting and - importantly - pioneeringof streetwear brands, this book focuses not on the endless me-too labels,but those that have shaped the market since the late 1980s. Cult Streetweartells the stories of the people behind the brands - from entrepreneurs tograffiti writers, DJs to surf dudes to sneaker nuts, from LA to NYC, Londonto Berlin and Tokyo. It explores each brand's cultural resonance, andexplains why so many have gained a cult following while continuing to breaknew ground in a market with unlimited scope for innovation.