street fashion and subculture: past present and future

We are the only species which consciously, deliberately alters its appearance. This has been true throughout human history and will always be so because bodily expression can

communicate things which words never can. Far from a superficial, insignificant medium of

expression, the customized body lies at the heart of human nature and capability.

– Ted Polhemus

P A I N …

ATTITUDE …

RITUAL …

IDENTITY …

PERSONAL VISION …

Human beings have always used their appearance as personal advertising - a calling card signaling who we are and where we are at.

As our world grows ever more complex and fragmented, the importance of appearance grows

ever greater: our visible differences and similarities facilitating interaction and

relationships….

Hence the STYLETRIBES appear

STREET FASHIONSUBCULTURES

& STYLETRIBES

PAST…PRESENT…FUTURE

kaustavsengupta@yahoo.com+994 117 117 3www.nift.com

Streetstyles are born in street (and suburbs) and hibernates in street (and suburbs).

The followers may change their mind …but the styles and attitudes will not.

Where the Styles originate?

The urge of being authentic creates a subculture

Oozing through their cloths, hairstyles, make-ups, tattoos & accessories are the attitude. This attitude shows their commitments to the styletribe or subculture they belong to, and this subcultures by anyway, never changes their looks with ever changing moods or

modes of mainstream fashion.

Why people joins in a subculture:

“We are authentic”

“our club”

“Hate Government”

“Fight against common odds”

“secrecy and dark side”

“creative addiction”

“craze”

What inspires to develop a subculture:Society

Economy

Movies Animations Comic strips

intellectual and cultural climate

Music movements

Addiction

Fantasy Myth

Innovation / Discovery

DisasterCalamity

Why a certain number of GANG MEMBERSgather in to form a Styletribe or Subculture :

Because, their AIO matches.

AIO = Attitude + Interests+ Opinions

Innovators Early Adopters Majority Late Adopters Laggards

FASHION LEADERS FASHION FOLLOWERS

T I M E

NumberOf

Adopters

DIFFUSION CURVE : SPREAD OF INNOVATION THROUGH A SOCIAL OR SUBCULTURAL SYSTEM

How long a subculture exists:

“FOREVER”sometimes ahead of fashion…

Sometimes in fashion…

Sometimes out of fashion…

But it exists FOREVER

Afrocentrism

Black Metal Inner Circle

Bohemianism

Conspiracy theorists

Deaf culture

Backpackers

Fandom

Furry fandom

Otaku

Trekkie

folkies

Freak scene

Gamer

Greens

Hacker

US Rave culture)

Graffiti artists

Import scene

Nerd

Cybers

Demoscene

Disco

Emo

Goths

Greasers

Grungers

Hip hop culture

Thugs/Gangstas

B-boys

Graffiti artists

Blingers

Hippies

Hipsters

Metalheads

Nazi-metalheads

Mods

New Romantics

Pachuco

Punk subculture

Rude boys

Skate punks

Raggare

Rave scene

Rivetheads

Trojan Skinheads

Gay skinheads

Nazi-Skinheads

Straight edge

Hard-liners

Swing Kids

Teds

Zazou

Swinging

Chavs

Sloanes

Townie

Urbanites

Computer art scene

Bills

New Age culture

Nudists

Biker gangs such as the Hell's Angels

Body modification and tattoo subcultures

vampire subculture

Vegans

Vegetarians

BDSM subculture

Queer culture

Sexual fetish subculture

Leather subculture

Rockabillies

Psychobillies

Rockers

Scooterboys

Skinheads

Anarcho-skinheads

Punk-skinheads

Red-Skinheads

What is style surfing:

“ Not belonging to one subculture forever”

“Earlier I was Punk…Now being Goth…

Tomorrow I may be seen with Primitives…”

A remarkable social and cultural inversion has occurred in the last fifty years: where

once culture was the monopoly of the upper classes, it now, more often than not, bubbles

up from those on the ‘wrong side of the tracks’. This transformation has been

especially evident in the world of style - with the authenticity of streetstyle challenging and

then toppling the dictatorship of High Fashion.

NOW…

Tell me who’s Authentic…

Couture or Street?

DIY

The true is made false, the symbolic is made arbitrary and the authentic is made into

fashion

Ted Polhemus

PAST

Zooties

Cowboys

Bikers

BIKER GATHERING1998

Beats

Teddy boys

Rockabilly

Surfers

Mods

Folkies

Rockers

Psychedelics

Hippies

Skin heads

Funk

Glam

Rastafarians

Headbangers

Skaters

Punk

Goth

Casuals

Punks2003

Psychobillies

Pervs

Raggamuffins & Bhangra style

New Age Travelers

Ravers

Acid Jazz

Environmental Protest Group

Modern Primitives

Hiphop

Hiphop

PRESENT

As in pop music, the predominant tendency in appearance style today relies upon sampling & mixing diverse, eclectic,

often contradictory elements into a unique, personal statement. Celebrating the confusion and diversity of our age, we surf through both history and geography to find

our own reality - in the mix.

Grunge

Islaja (27) and Lussu (28)

Islaja: "I'm wearing my mother's old wedding dress. The bag is a souvenir from Moscow. Cycling wearing a mini-skirt and French soundtracks inspire me."Lussu: "I love all my treasures found at second hand markets. Last week I made real findings at a dust-bin. Like a dress with church tower prints."

"I like all colors. I don't like tight trousers or too short skirts.I think there's no point in buying new clothes.In five years I'll still have the same look."

Henna (18)

"I'm wearing exceptionally lots of second hand now. The shoes used to belong to my grandmother. I like black-and-white, it clarifies the style. Before I liked bright colours but now I'm into darker tints. The Pope is stylish. I like the pompous style of the Roman Catholic Church."

Anni (14)

"I bought my shoes from a shop and decorated them with pearls. When you make clothes yourself or customize them, you get exactly the clothes you want. I'm coming from Comics Festival. That inspired me to dress up colorfully. Japanese street styles inspire me, too. I would like to be a fashion designer or an artist."

Sanna (21) and Jussi (20)

Sanna: "My favorite brands are Tiia Vanhatapio, House of Björnberg, Dior Homme and Acne. Vintage is my obsession. I like strong, even exaggerated contrasts: old/new, cheap/expensive, black/white..."Jussi: "I'm wearing a hand made sweater from UFF, self made printed tank top and J.Lindeberg jeans. Lately I was inspired by boredom: It made me design the print on my top."

“NOW ANTI-FASHION IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN FASHION”

“ I do read lots of fashion magazines - from all over the world. But fashion ain’t what it used to be. Today new trends are at least as

likely to ‘bubble up’ from street level as they are to ‘trickle down’ from High Fashion. The implications of this for marketing and advertising are obvious - demanding a more unbiased and

sociological approach than that typically provided by the fashion/style/design media. “

NEAR-FUTURE

Techno punk

Cyber punk

Metal is off-course better than meat

CYBORG

Cyberpunk is a sub-genre, noted for its focus on "high tech and low life" and taking its name from the combination of cybernetics and punk. It features advanced science such as

information technology and cybernetics, coupled with a degree of breakdown or a radical

change in the social order.

Postcyberpunk…

Postcyberpunk describes a subgenre of science fiction which some critics suggest has evolved from classic cyberpunk. Like its predecessor, postcyberpunk focuses on technological developments in near-future societies, typically examining the social effects of an ubiquitous datasphere of computerized information, genetic engineering and modification of the human body, and the continued impact of perpetual technological change. Unlike "classic" cyberpunk, however, the works in this category feature characters who act to improve social conditions or at least protect the status quo from further decay.

FUTURE

Transhumanism is an international intellectual and cultural movement supporting the use of new sciences and technologies to enhance human cognitive and physical abilities and ameliorate what it regards as undesirable and unnecessary aspects of the human condition, such as disease and aging. Transhumanist thinkers study the possibilities and consequences of developing and using human enhancement techniques and other emerging technologies for these purposes. Possible dangers, as well as benefits, of powerful new technologies that might radically change the conditions of human life are also of concern to the transhumanist movement

Bio punk...

Mutants

Differences between Cyber punk and Bio punk :

Unlike cyberpunk,Bio punk builds not on information technology but on biology.

Individuals are enhanced not by mechanical means, but by human genetic engineering.

• Videodrome (1983)

· Innerspace (1987)

· Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1988)

• Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (1992)

· Naked Lunch (1991)

· Genocyber (1993) anime

· Crash (1996)

· MD Geist (1996) anime

· Gattaca (1997)

· eXistenz (1999)

· Minority Report (2002) -- The precogs were the result of genetic mistakes

· Resident Evil (2002)

· Code 46 (2003)

· Aeon Flux (2005)

· UltraViolet (2006)

· Children of Men (2006)…not yet released

Movies… inspired by the Biopunk theory :

ThanksFor not sleeping…

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KAUSTAV SENGUPTA

UNAUTHORISED COPY WILL ATTRACT LEGAL ACTION UNDER INDIAN AND USA COPYRIGHT LAW

FURTHER REFERENCES

WEBSITES :

Japanese street fashion

www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/ fashion/japanese_street_fashion.html

Selected street fashion from Helsinki, Finland.

www.hel-looks.com

Toronto street fashion photos, fashion news and trends, fashion industry forum and Toronto event listings...

www.torontostreetfashion.com

Shop street fashion trendy clothing urban clothing tops, tees, tanks, shirts, skirts, beauty products, makeup and accessories from Japan, Hong Kong, Korea.

www.onatoko.com

London designer interviews and runway archive, photo shoots, street style, weekly updated news and a fashion clinic.

www.fuk.co.uk

Selected Readings :

MAGAZINES

• Fashion News – Tokyo, Japan• The Face – London• Duo – London• Baaschix – Florida, USA• Blow – London• Dazed & Confused – London• G Spot : the electronic lifestyle magazine – London• i-D Magazine – London• U.H.F – USA• Zeitgeist – London• Blue – Sydney• Groovy Britains Magazine – London• Sin Magazine – Melbourne, Australia• Don’t tell it – USA• Village – Italy• Skin II - USA

Selected Readings :

BOOKS

• The Black Leather Jacket- Mick Farren, London 1985• Fashion & Anti Fashion- Lynn Procter, London 1978• Skinheads- Nick Knight, London 1982• Urban Rhythms: Pop music and popular culture- Lian Chambers, London 1985• A History of Men’s Fashion- Farid Chenoune, Paris 1993• Today there are no gentleman- Cohn Nick, London 1989• Mods! – Barnes Richard, London 1991• Subculture: The Meaning of Style- Lain Chambers, London 1979• Futura Shock –Jim McClellan, NYC 1992• Postmodernism: The Twilight of the Real- Neville Wakefield, London 1990 • Rebirth of Punk – StudioVoice - Tokyo

With special thanks to Ted who has helped me through out the span of my street life to find out the actual meaning of STREET

Kaustav SenGuptaAsst. Professor & Centre Coordinator

Department of Fashion & Lifestyle AccessoriesNational Institute of Fashion Technology

Chennai

Regional Representative (South)Leather Design Centre

CLE-ILGA-NIFT project

Internal Design Consultant (IDC)Design Studio- SGSY Cluster

+9941171173kaustavsengupta@yahoo.com

PART OF THIS PRESENTATION IS PUBLISHED IN SKIN II MAGAZINE USA – ISSUE 102