A little piece on designer fashion and its place in pop culture

With all the celebrity stories we read in the paper and all the things we see on the TV, isn’t it funny that something as accessible as fashion would play such an important role in the way we perceive and consume this information. Read on for a quick glimpse on how fashion, music, art and the celebrity culture are all relative to one another…

Like many others things such as music, movies and sport; fashion has its firm place in popular culture. Fashion runs parallel with society on just about every level, sometimes mirroring it and sometimes paving the way. We consume what we see and we embrace what we like the look of.

Probably the closest thing to fashion is the arts, in particular, music. Musicians and artists are often regarded as trendsetters and the more accessible their attire, the more people can latch onto these trends and feel part of something big. Many artists over the years have capitalised on this by releasing their own clothing lines, offering not just their music but a whole wardrobe of clothing items and accessories to accompany it.

An intriguing aspect of designer fashion specifically, is that everything is relative and, where music and art somewhat govern the fashion style of its creatives, they wear what they choose to accompany their art because their clothing is a direct influence of their art. Whether the music is indie, goth or hip hop, a specific fashionable style will exist to accompany it. This means that the artists are more accessible as these clothing items can be bought for reasonable prices in shops or online.

The trick to borrowing a style from a celebrity is not to copy, but to experiment and accessorise. You don’t want to be branded a copycat wannabe.

Take a look at this popular mens designer clothing website stocking leading labels such as gio goi, drunknmunky and duck and cover.

Run for Cover!

Every once in a while something will come along that’s quite special. Not just in the fashion world but at street level. We have just taken delivery of a brand new range of clothes that are sure to make you stand up and take notice. Designer menswear is rarely this comfortable and stylish.

The label of which I speak is duck and cover. This clothing brand has ben around for some time, and it’s name might bring about many images. It *sounds* stylish, and it is. Be sure to check out the full clothing range, especially the jeans as we think these are extra special!

Everybody’s Lovin’ Crocs!

With the summer season pretty much upon us, many people find themselves looking for bright, loose-fitting new summer clothing items to compliment the hot weather. Summery t-shirts, cargo shorts, flip flops and maybe the odd inflatable crocodile! This brings me onto the summers coolest piece of footwear design – Crocs.

Crocs provide high quality, stylish footwear which is perfectly in tune with the summer season due to it versatile and light-weight design. Crocs are also available in a variety of colours and styles, making them a great choice for men, women and children.

My particular favourite Crocs shoe design is the Crocs Athens. These flip-flops are available in a multitude of colours and are a funky modern twist on the traditional flip-flop design, with a soft cushioned foot bed and a summery design, I find these to be a great addition to any summer collection. I must also point out that they are some of the most comfortable pair of flip flops I have ever worn, due to their excellent patented material and cushioned foot-bed.

Another top style, and named after the magnificent animal, is the Crocs Cayman shoe. These evolved from another Crocs style, making them lighter yet still keeping the incredibly original and unique Crocs format in tact.

Why Urban Clothes?

Quite often people ask “why should i shell out loads of cash for something I can get much cheaper? you only pay for the label!”.

In essence, this is true. But when you pay for a designer label, you get a lot more than a fancy name. There are reasons why these designer labels have become larger than their rivals, and this is generally down to:

• Quality of garment
• Quality of design
• Frequency of new products

Designer clothes will always come out in seasons, with each season constantly trying to push on the last season by offering new, impressive additions while also building on their older stuff. This means that the collections become parts of a whole, each linking to the brand in their own individual way.

So the obvious benefit to designer clothing is that you get REAL pieces of artwork designed on strong hard-wearing material. It makes you look good, too

Spring/Summer Fashion in the Urban Jungle

Take a look at this exclusive Drunknmunky, King Apparel and Mish Mash video shoot courtesy of Space Clothing

Peace, Love & Doves…

I bet most who stumble across this little corner of the Internet and read this post were not around in the 60’s. The time of free love and an explosion of self-expression after years of being seen but not heard.

Unfortunately, I too was not around to see this decade, but I’ve seen the movies and read the gig reviews and it seems nothing short of quality.

Just recently, we have been seeing fashion trends from this era pop back into the mainstream. I personally think that most of it should have stayed in the 60’s as they seem somewhat naff these days, but I do love to see designers inject some of the spirit of the 60’s into their work, rather than copy those old styles completely.

One of my favourite labels to be showing an influence of this recently is Gio Goi. Some of their designs represent a distinct retro feel, be it the minimalist approach of their embossed, early computer approach with their Connected t-shirt, or their Doves t-shirt, which oozes 60’s revival.

Something that always intrigues me is that, no matter the state of society, fashion always reflects it. And where songwriters sing about memories, movies tell tales of old, fashion will always be there paying homage to times gone by in it’s own unique way.

What’s in the “urban” branding?

Ever wondered what it is about a supposed “urban” brand that makes it what it is – urban?

It’s probably fair to say that urban clothing is considered designer-wear, designed by artists more than entrepreneurs with money in mind. Designers are more often than not influenced by street art, urban music and the like, and this penetrates through in their urban clothing designs. I would guess that not all art work is originally intended to go on designer t-shirts when it’s being produced, but if it has that original spark of imagination and is designed well enough to be transposed onto a piece of material, then surey there’s nothing stopping it!

What makes urban clothing unique is that the designs are usually extrovert, often groundbreaking but always wearable. This makes them hugely marketable pieces with a tonne of street credibility that appeal to a very specific market, and this is not necessarily mainstream.

But when does a label move away from specficially urban, to more general? Well, in my opinion, when the garment design rotates more around the brand than it does the artistic nature of the design. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but brands like Drunknmunky are a good example of this. Many of their designs are brand-based pieces, giving them an recognisable, yet disinctly non-urban feel. Instead, Drunknmunky pride themselves on being original and breaking. Thankfully they have an great identity to profess this with, as their logo is f**king awesome – but it’s not urban.

So a message to all the smaller, independently run urban labels out there – keep doing what you’re doing. Keep up with those original, vibrant designs because we love them!