The essential streetwear clothes

The term streetwear refers to a particular style of street fashion, which has its roots in California culture and skate culture. It doesn't stop there, as it also encompasses elements of hip-hop fashion, modern high fashion and more.
If you're interested in embracing this style, check out these streetwear essentials to include in your wardrobe. But first, let's learn a little more about this style and its basics.

What is streetwear ?

At first glance, the definition of streetwear is deceptively simple. The fashion industry defines streetwear as fashionable, casual clothing worn by pop culture enthusiasts. The majority of these followers are under 30, live in urban areas and belong to a subcultural group (e.g. skateboarders or hip-hop music fans).

The fashion industry has a hard time defining exactly what streetwear is. Its influences are very diverse: skate and surf culture, hip-hop music, sports, haute couture and K-Pop. Its clientele is just as diverse, covering all income levels, all socio-economic statuses and all corners of the world.

le style streetwear

And no, we're not lazy. Streetwear is more than just a generalized movement towards casual wear. Behind the overpriced T-shirts, the endless lines at sneaker parties and the designer logos on everything imaginable, there's a lot more to it than meets the eye.

Who influences streetwear ?

Everyone from Travis Scott to Kanye West to various models and athletes are helping to develop streetwear trends and culture. If Kanye wore it, you can be sure that it's a short-lived trend. But streetwear is much more than that.
As mentioned above, several subcultures have influenced and helped make streetwear what it is today. Everything from grunge and skater cliques of the 90's to the hypebeasts and hip-hop of today has a big influence on streetwear. As you go through the various streetwear inspiration books, you will find many elements from various subcultures throughout time.

4 characteristics of streetwear style

While streetwear can encompass a wide variety of fashion styles, streetwear looks often focus on four basic elements.

  • Comfort: streetwear consists of casual clothing and athletic basics like sweatshirts and joggers. If you can't skate in it, it's probably not streetwear.

  • Rarity: Hypebeast culture is focused on limited edition items. This perceived rarity can make sought-after items seem more fashionable. This is the same principle that governs high fashion, however streetwear is more affordable.

  • Men's styles: although streetwear is popular with people of all genders, it is closely related to menswear and traditionally masculine items such as bomber jackets and workwear.

  • Contemporary art: some of the most successful graphic T-shirts and streetwear logos borrow from the works of contemporary artists or make fun of classic pieces. Sometimes these are official collaborations, but not always.

Type of streetwear

There are 4 main types of streetwear today :

  • Original: Original streetwear brands are characterized by affordability, comfort and authenticity. At their core, these brands are driven by a very direct motivation to put a word on a T-shirt. These brands include founding fathers like Supreme, BAPE and Stüssy, as well as newer players like Palace. Products from these brands often command a premium price due to their rarity and high demand.

  • Athletic: Athletic apparel brands include the major sports retailers whose sportswear and sneaker offerings are integral to the streetwear style. Sneakers created by brands such as Adidas and Nike are the cornerstones of the streetwear uniform.

  • Adopted: Adopted streetwear brands have incorporated streetwear trends and styles into their product offerings, but their brand origin is not authentically linked to the streetwear movement. They may be luxury or mass-market brands.

  • Luxury: Luxury streetwear brands reflect the most recent emergence of brands that blur the lines between original streetwear and luxury fashion. These brands are also driven by authenticity, but operate at a higher price point and deviate from the standard streetwear uniform. These include brands such as Off-White, AMBUSH and Vetements.

Streetwear essentials

Discover the essential elements of your streetwear wardrobe.

Streetwear Tshirt

Impossible to imagine streetwear style without them - T-shirts can be plain or printed. Printed T-shirts have brightly colored designs, slogans, graffiti. Loose T-shirts or T-shirts that can be worn under a jacket are included. Depending on the fashion, T-shirts can be short or even knee-length as in long T-shirts. Black, gray and white are the preferred colors. For girls, this translates into tank tops and even crop tops. Click here to know more about the history of the t-shirt.

Streetwear hoodies

The hoodie is a streetwear staple that has been in vogue since the aesthetic's origins on the streets of inner-city New York in the 1980s. They're a great addition to your wardrobe, no matter the season, and are functional enough to be stylish whether you're on the street or at home. You can choose from loose-fitting or tailored styles.

Streetwear Cargo 

cargo pants tenshi

Since its origins in 1938, the cargo pants have changed a lot over the years. Originally worn by the British armed forces, they have become a streetwear staple. Today's cargo pants are generally slimmer than the originals, but there's much more to them than that.
Streetwear cargo pants are generally designed to bend easily at the hips and knees, due to their original use in physical environments, and are known for their signature pockets on the outside of each leg (but the pockets can also be elsewhere), near the knee.

Sneakers

sneakers streetwear

Wouldn't streetwear exist without sneakers? Limited editions, customs, collaborations - there is no more emblematic piece of clothing in the closet of the streetwear lover than a pair of sneakers. You could even say that the sneakers make the outfit. You could wear a full suit or a bikini, and if you wear the right pair of Sneakers, you would be honoring the streetwear culture. One pair of sneakers is fine, but we all know that you can't stop at just one.

Streetwear caps

It's often the little details that make your look absolutely fantastic. In the streetwear style, one of these details is the cap. Streetwear caps are also extremely practical. They keep the hair out of your face and eyes when you are on the skateboard and offer protection from the sun.


The era of caps began around 1900, with the caps worn by professional baseball players. Later on, they also spread to the skateboarding community between famous brands like New Era, Adidas or Neff. In addition to the famous baseball cap, there are other models of caps that it is good to know to find the model that suits you. They are distinguished by their closure systems and design.
Caps were originally invented for sports, so they still have practical features, such as the sweatband, brim and mesh inserts that offer better ventilation during activities as well as a super cool look.

The basic principles of streetwear

Here are some guidelines to get you started on the streetwear path :

  • On fabrics: before any other material, cotton is king. You're looking for classic cotton textiles - jersey, Oxford fabric, chambray, twill and another essential that we'll get into in more detail shortly. Some more "decorative" fabrics, like chevron, are nice, but they are technically closer to menswear than to hardcore streetwear.

  • On the form: there is an unavoidable principle if you are part of the classicists. Indeed, in the early 1990s streetwear was interpreted under the leadership of Ralph Lauren: slightly loose chinos, loose shirts, hats, you know the look. But if you want something more contemporary, fitted cuts are the way to go.

  • Consistency: as you will have understood from the above points, there are several definitions of "streetwear" and, despite my own preferences, they are all perfectly valid. But once you've made your choice, stick with it. Mixing styles can be a winning combination, as long as you know how to do it well.

And so ends this introductory guide to the must-have streetwear! There are hundreds of other styles, and millions of ways to wear those styles.


You'll find thousands of new, creative and interesting outfits as you go along with this knowledge, and you'll be able to spot at least the basic streetwear styles. Now all you have to do is get your unique streetwear pieces from our store !

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