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In 2009, Kanye West and his friends Virgil Abloh, Don C, Taz Arnold, Chris Julian, and Fonzworth Bentley, crashed the party. They were photographed at Paris Fashion Week outside of the Comme des Garçons Homme show, a photo that has lived on as a visual representation of hip-hop and streetwear infiltrating the world of luxury fashion. That same year, Ye collaborated with Louis Vuitton on a footwear line, another watershed moment that pushed the conversation forward.
Fast forward to January 2017, a collaboration hit the runway in Paris that would blur the line between streetwear and luxury fashion more than it ever had been before. Louis Vuitton, under then-men’s creative director Kim Jones, debuted a full collection with Supreme featuring everything from red monogram Box Logo hoodies to Epi leather Keepalls.
One year later, Abloh was appointed as Jones’ successor at LV, which fused the two subsections of fashion even further. If Ye nudged the door open years prior, Abloh kicked the door all the way down. For the next three years, he invited all of his peers into his new Parisian playground. Don C helped design an official LV x NBA collection. Skateboarder Lucien Clarke was given a signature sneaker with the French fashion house. Abloh’s collections referenced the subcultures that streetwear was built on, from breakers to graffiti, with storytelling that went beyond surface level nods. Streetwear had invaded fully Paris. And it was working.
Other houses attempted to recapture the magic of Abloh at LV. His counterpart Matthew M Williams was given a creative director position at Givenchy. While heading Dior Men’s, Kim Jones invited collaborators like Travis Scott and Tremaine Emory to design entire seasons for the storied house. Nigo was appointed by Kenzo to give the floundering label a much-needed jolt. Bally made a similar attempt with Rhude’s Rhuigi Villasenor, which only lasted one year.
Somewhere along the way, the streetwear bubble seemed to burst. While there is still a strong runway presence in Paris from brands that understand and respect the culture like 424 and KidSuper, and countless other streetwear designers host events in the city throughout the week, many of the big houses have moved away from the more casual streetwear wardrobe that was heralded just a few years ago. Even Pharrell Louis Vuitton, which initially seemed to pick up where Abloh left off, catered more to the quiet luxury sector with preppy knits and slacks as the focal point of its latest col. Jonathan Anderson’s Dior is much more traditional than what we got from Jones. Mike Amiri has fully jumped into his ‘70s tailoring bag.
So, is luxury fashion done with streetwear? Or has the once-niche subculture of fashion carved out a permanent place for itself in the luxury landscape? We tapped in with some of the leaders in our space to get their thoughts.
“Streetwear doesn’t need luxury to view it for validation. Luxury needs streetwear to validate it within the community…. streetwear has always first been concerned with the community and not the respective industries.”
“I’ve always seen the way we dress as being political in a way, just because the way we present ourselves is our own presentation of identity. I think that street culture has always represented the origins of the people who influence street culture the most, which are the oppressed people. That’s where fashion always emerges from. And I am not a big fan of the way the fashion houses have adopted street culture and tried to make it look like something luxury. But I really like the way I do it. It’s a hundred percent authentic. It’s who I am, it’s who my team is, it’s where I come from. So, it’s not an adaptation from another culture into somebody’s design house. It’s really from the heart. We really identify with it on a more intellectual level than the design houses who borrow from street culture identify with it.”
“I don’t think they ever really cared in a deep way, honestly. Streetwear gave luxury access to culture, and that was useful. But luxury has always moved on its own timeline. It’s not built to chase things, it’s built to protect itself.
“It feels like streetwear and luxury borrow from each other when it makes sense. Luxury pulls energy from streetwear, streetwear pulls craft from luxury. But they’re still very different worlds, and you can feel when something’s forced. When it’s real, it works. When it’s not, it doesn’t.
“I think a lot of luxury still sees it as a trend, and that’s okay. Streetwear was never made for institutions anyway. It was made by people for themselves, and that’s why it keeps moving forward, whether luxury is ready or not.”
“I think luxury is still going to take hints of streetwear. The streets are where every trend starts.
“I will say, it does look like luxury houses are telling their employees to clean it up. Now, I don’t know that for a fact, but just when I look at it, it looks like that. It looks like they’re telling them, “Hey, we want to cater things to our businessman client who buys suiting.” I think that’s what it is until somebody else gets in the mix. What it looks like though is that Virgil had it so on fire and so anti-establishment that now they’re like, “Man, we need to contain this.”
“Streetwear reached its climax, but I always thought we could continue to elevate it or do it in different ways because I’m such a lover of streetwear. I’m trying to elevate streetwear from a position of fabrication. I look for a leather hoodie, I look for leather track pants all the time. The brands that you want to do it aren’t doing it. I love wearing a luxury brand’s hoodie, a luxury brand’s varsity jacket because of the attention to detail.
“It’s definitely not as authentic as a brand that comes from the streets delivering it. But like I said, everybody has a point of view. I think it’s okay to take cues from other cultures, just do it properly and respect the culture that you are referencing.”
“I think the luxury houses got a little bit addicted to this more mass market consumer, and made a lot of money in the process. But maybe they kind of lost their way. When the luxury houses were courting a more mass consumer, streetwear was the thing.
“But no, they’re not done. They’re still going to make a fucking flannel shirt. They’re still going to make a puffer jacket. They’re still going to make all these items that would’ve been deemed streetwear. So I don’t think they’re done in the way of design and inspiration. We’re a long ways away from them not being inspired by what we call streetwear.
“I came up in a time where luxury was not inclusive. They didn’t want me as a customer. They did everything they could to not have me as a customer. And so I wasn’t even looking in that direction. My 21-year-old knows every luxury houses last five seasons. I think I was 30 before I could pronounce Balenciaga. Luxury and streetwear didn’t mix, but it wasn’t like they weren’t making and being inspired by what we’re deeming as streetwear.
“It goes brand for brand. Some dove fully in and maybe lost themselves. So yeah, I think you have to be careful with how much you commit, especially when it’s not your thing. I think anything could be streetwear depending on how you rock it. When I’m wearing my Dries coat that I paid six grand for with my Jordans, some jeans, and a hoodie, that streetwear. But Dries didn’t design it to be that, per se. There’s a bunch of brands who like that look and are going to design that look. Some are authentic and some are not.”
“Let’s say, for the sake of this conversation, I am streetwear. I would argue that maybe streetwear is done with “luxury.”
“These companies will continue to take the dollars people are willing to give to them for as long as they can. If they are changing strategies for merchandising and marketing, it’s probably because they have exhausted the market and their “exclusive” goods are no longer desirable. In a way, it feels a little back to business as usual on my side. [Luxury] dated [streetwear] for a while and has had its fill.
“I can only speak for myself here. I reject the idea that I lack anything in my life because I can’t afford a piece that was never designed with me in mind. No one in that space speaks to me because they are out of touch with who I am. I understand their concept of luxury and I call their bluff. It’s all a facade where there is rarely a value for money in exchange. I demand, at the very least, a return on my investment when it comes to being a consumer.
“We are speaking to our people directly and pushing to be the best in our on way. We are delivering the same level of quality, in a lot of cases from the very same suppliers. Our clients appreciate the commitment to achieve a certain level of execution on the idea or the feeling that is more culturally relevant to us. Even if it’s not perfect product, they join us on the journey and we’ll get there together.
“I like a vicuña knit also. But have you tried it on? It’s not cool.”
“Luxury never truly started a relationship with streetwear in order for there to be an ending. Their only real attempt at engaging with streetwear was Virgil at LV. There was never a sincere effort, just a failed attempt at commodifying what we do. If there had been real engagement with the culture and the community, more creatives from this world would have been hired and integrated into these fashion houses. That’s why it fell short: they thought they could do it on their own.
“Streetwear isn’t something they ever fully understood; it’s like a parent trying to understand Gen Z babble. There’s effort, but no fluency. There’s a disconnect. No matter what their opinion is, it feels unqualified because they never truly understood it.”
“I think it’s evolving into something else. Streetwear became a whole economy. Streetwear has never been bigger, in terms of the amount of brands that exist and that operate in that creative space.
“We see more and more trying to use that amazing global platform that Paris Fashion Week is. You see so many people from those brands just coming and navigating in that space. You see so many of those brands just doing pop-up, doing dinners, doing parties, and I think it’s great. And I feel like that’s so definitely following in the steps of Virgil, who made the most of Paris as a platform. He was the king of Fashion Week in the sense that he was doing the party, the pop-up, the show, the collab drop, and he was visiting all of the little brands’ pop-ups.
“Streetwear is a little different than maybe what it used to be, but when it comes to kids coming from this side of the culture and just trying to make clothes, if that can sum up what Streetwear is now, if that’s the definition, I think streetwear is alive in that sense because they’re still the same energy and the same type of people that are using the same vehicle to express themselves. But the way it works with Paris in the Fashion Week, I don’t know. I feel like that person is more willing to come and use that platform. And that’s because Virgil identified that platform was there for him to use and for him to take. And I think we are walking in his shoes and trying to do the same.”
“Luxury isn’t done with streetwear, streetwear just needs to show its value again. Like anything else, we are only as good as how they think they can leverage us. It’s sad. I hate relationships of convenience, but the streetwear luxury thing was a relationship of convenience. In luxury they were a bit stale and flat, and started to notice luxury was getting and looking older.
“And now they feel like they have the recipe with creative directors like Pharrell at Louis Vuitton, and Grace Wales Bonner at Hermes. Those decisions would have never been made 12 years ago, so they can never be done with us, but now we just have to change the value proposition.
Everything has been oversold. Luxury won’t tell you that their numbers are dismal right now, but you can see it in their earnings. And any streetwear brand that’s meaningful has cut their distribution back as much as they can. Smart people already know. Look at Supreme’s new owner [Luxottica]. It’s a company who can hold it and nurture it over time. We are all paying for the sins of the pandemic and overconsumption.
“The thing that’s clear is, whoever is most connected to youth culture and Black culture wins. And no one wants to say Black culture anymore because it’s just not safe. You look at people who went contemporary, even this quarter zip. There’s a shift back to the middle and away from less edge. How much more Louis Vuitton streetwear do we need? Dior was completely street at one point. There is something to be said about good clothes and tailoring. Look at Bottega. They are doing it best with the blend of tasteful, luxurious looks with the edge of street.”
“I think there are different eras and interpretations of streetwear, and I don’t know that there’s one person who can definitively define what it is. To me, streetwear is simply what people are wearing in influential cities. What’s happening on the ground, in real life, where culture is being shaped?
“So no, I don’t think luxury is done with streetwear at all. Luxury will always need the attention of the most influential young people in the world. Whether they’re in New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Tokyo, Berlin, or São Paulo, luxury brands, especially large conglomerates, will continue to follow influence. And influence typically comes from people who are out living their lives.
“Luxury is still a business. If there’s money to be made, the major players will engage. And if a street-level trend starts gaining traction on TikTok, on Instagram, through influential celebrities, you’ll see elements of it show up on runways within months. That’s just how the ecosystem works now. At the same time, you’re seeing refinement across the board. Fabrics are getting smarter. More wool. More poplin. More shirting. The silhouettes are cleaner and more tailored. Even footwear has shifted. If you look at Paris now, you see far fewer sneakers and many more hard-bottom shoes. That evolution has been happening steadily for the past few years. But that doesn’t mean the relationship is over. It’s just changing shape.
“Designers are more likely to see streetwear as a legitimate genre, part of the language of fashion. Boardrooms, on the other hand, may be more inclined to view it as a trend. Both perspectives exist simultaneously, and that tension is part of what continues to shape the industry.”
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