Trends are something that everyone who is a consumer is probably aware of, they're the reason that we probably all open our wardrobe doors and sigh fairly regularly, and we feel that we wouldn’t be truly aiding you all on a journey of being more ethical if we didn’t address difficult to navigate situations such as trends, whos sheer being is to encourage us all to over consumer all of the time. Within this article, we want to highlight some of the current trending ideas in streetwear and how to tackle them from a more ethical standpoint.
1. Sport Influence
Sportswear is something that almost fits interchangeably with streetwear, as many of the most popular brands originated from sports, from Stussy and surfing to Supreme and skateboarding, and even with the popularity of sneakers from Nike dominating the streetwear world, but with drops being released each week, how can you partake in the sportswear trend and reduce your impact on the planet? It may seem like a simple answer but thrifting, and second-hand products work perfectly with this style as particularly when sports brand release sweatshirts and hoodies, even football shirts, they often focus on a vintage revival style, even amply named by Nike as the revival hoodie, whereas if you purchase your sportswear second hand it will already have the worn-in feeling, take this reebok sweatshirt from our other finds editorial for example.
Places to buy:
Your Local Charity Shop
Image Source: Other Material.
2. Tech/Outerwear Style
This influx of tech and outerwear styles into streetwear may come from several starting points, brands such as Stone Island and C.P company have always had a place in streetwear, and often feature technical fabrics and cuts, and can also be found second hand, as seen in our Other Finds editorial. But brands such as Arcteryx and Salomon have also begun being seen throughout streetwear, but how to have an ethical approach? Brands such as Greater Goods are a brand that offers products such as hand-knitted balaclavas with a real focus on sustainability and upcycling and also collaborated with Arcteryx on a reworked product line, so we recommend signing up for their newsletter to see what they will innovate next. Other options are to purchase from brands such as Salomon who have a strong commitment to sustainable innovation and easy to navigate styles that feature animal-free fabric alternatives, whilst still being conscious. Another way to offset the ideology of buying for trend, particularly within this style is to wear your products, if you're buying an anorak or pair of hiking sneakers, take your products out to the countryside and increase their purpose and longevity in your wardrobe. Buy for purpose and try to minimise the thought process of buying just for a season.
Image Source: Georgia Dochoda.
Places to Buy:
3. Cut and Sew/ Patchwork
This is a trend that can be linked to themes such as sustainability, although not exclusively, as we move towards societies that are more aware of our wastage before we even get our hands on products, the natural progression is to want to find a way to cut down on this waste, and there are options for buying into this, take the brand American Madness, who patchwork Carhartt jackets into new iterations and colourways. Within this patchwork trend, this could be a perfect opportunity to take on the task your self, repurpose your own wardrobe, and if you're thinking 'I don’t have any leftover fabrics.’ places like Ebay stock second-hand fabrics that you could purchase, to increase the life cycle of that product, or you could even take to your own wardrobe, which may sound counterproductive, but the statistics state that many of us only wear our products 7 times (Barnardos, 2015) so why not go to your wardrobe and pick out those items that you love the colour of but don’t like the style of any more and see what you can make?
Places to Buy:
Free Patterns:
4. Natural Fabrics
Natural fabrics are an area that appears to be slowly being innovated and being found within more mainstream offerings, as one issue that sustainability is yet to tackle is affordability, which is an ethical issue in itself that we hope to address through Other Material, as exclusivity is a major issue within fashion in general, particularly sustainability. However, through brands such as Nike, Stussy and Reebok, we have seen more natural fabric iterations as of late. These are often found through hemp weaving but also plant dyes and mushroom leather more and more, but where can you find these products? London based brand Story MFG have focused on natural processes from their conception and outlined the factories and processes they use in detail on their website. For a more affordable more consciously minded option, Carhartt features an organic cotton range and Nike has their move to zero collection looking at recycled materials in their Space Hippie style.
Image Source: Other Material.
Places to buy:
5. Oversized
A trend that is popular not only in streetwear currently but seemingly all over the fashion markets and with a deep origin story from the likes of streetwear is oversized clothing, As all clothes can be purchased and worn oversized in relation to the 4 previous trend points, the advice with this point is not a specific brand or product that is being executed well or ethically, but instead advice on mindset. Although it would be easy to purchase anything and everything oversized at the minute, there is a possibility that as trends change and styles fade in and out, that as is often found, your opinions on this style may also change. Therefore our advice is to buy timeless, similar to the ideology behind the tech and outdoor wear trend, ensure that the product you are buying has a life and a purpose within your wardrobe after the potential trend may die down. For example, it may be wise to purchase layering garments oversized as they are likely to be repurposed. For example, an oversized sweatshirt can be multi-purpose for the gym alongside fashion in the future, however, a more formal blazer jacket may not. This same rule could be applied for items such as shirts that can offer over and under layers that are likely to move with you through season after season.
A final piece of advice is that if you do want to buy into the oversized trend, and you do feel that this piece may not travel with you through season after season, considering buying second hand and also being familiar with reselling. Second hand can allow you to potentially be more flexible with trends and style swaps without directly contributing to supply and demand.
Image Source: Molly Muzsla. Image Source: Other Material.
Places to buy:
Anywhere! (Or Nowhere! you probably already have it)
Overall, this look back over the trends that are likely to become more and more visible within the streetwear world, the main takeaway is to remain and to continue even more so to develop on being hyper-aware of considering all options and being honest about the best decision for you, your wallet and the planet.
Let us know what your latest trend transformation is in the community tab.