The Rise of Streetwear in India
In its simplest sense, streetwear is the casualisation of clothes that are often inspired by sportswear with styles like sweatshirts and graphic logos. On a closer look, street wear is more of a lifestyle orientation of subcultures including hip-hop, DIY punk, graffiti, skate/surf scene and most importantly the sneaker fandom, all of which form the ecosystem of ‘streetwear’. Streetwear style is generally accepted to have been born out of the New York City hip hop culture of the late 1970s and early 1980s, with elements of the Los Angeles surf culture.
It is an incredibly exciting time for streetwear in India. With rappers like Kanye becoming designers, global style icons and trend setters, the rise of hip-hop as the most popular genre of music and the growth in influence of communities that started streetwear – skate, surf and graffiti – is enabling this form of self-expression in India. An almost universal sense of style among Gen Z and Millennials, the proliferation of Instagram and the gradual acceptance of comfortable, functional clothing, including tees, hoodies and cargos, as work wear have catalysed the streetwear movement.
Today, in India being a Hypebeast/Sneakerhead is matter of pride for the millennials and the Gen-Z. It is a fast growing niche sub-genre of the fashion culture. The way the international high streetwear brands have established themselves over the past few years is commendable. Believe it or not the term Hypebeast culture, coined by Kevin Ma which is now a colloquial term was once considered derogatory. This culture is now set to grab it’s hold in India, brands like Adidas Yeezy, Nike Air Jordan’s, Supreme, Off-White are now making their way into the high-end Indian markets. With the increasing niche for this segment of fashion, many Indian streetwear brands started rising like VegNonVeg, Biskit, Strey, Jaywalking, Capsul etc. Sites like StockX and Hypebeast deliver convenience for streetwear shoppers across the globe.
In a recent interview Bhavisha Dave ,Co-founder & Director – Capsul (left) commented on the types of customers for streetwear in India. The Indian streetwear market is seeing two kinds of consumers — one, those who are fans of the OG (original) streetwear brands, for their heritage, storytelling, role in building sub-culture communities and breaking through societal barriers. Others, those who identify primarily with the ‘hype’ aspect of streetwear. And this is how it is both in India and outside. She also believes that the streetwear market in India is currently very nascent and all the brands are helping build the market, so currently there is no room for competition among them.
The Indian streetwear brands are innovating with the clothes they’re producing, while adhering to the loose silhouettes, gender-fluidity and hip hop aesthetic, are also distinctly desi. Harkrishan Singh’s label, Delhiwear, has a Vardi collection inspired by the kurta; and a Dukaan collection that pays homage to the outfits worn by shopkeepers. ‘Streetwear is art and streetwear is protest’, according to Avni & Amber Aneja, founders of Six5Six Sport and Six5Six Street. Streetwear is being used a medium to express asthetic sensibilities, political ideaologies, philosophical tendencies as well as hobbies and interests of the people who choose to adopt this style of fashion.
One of the important factors which has catalysed the growth of streetwear in India is the release of the film ‘Gully Boy’ starring Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhat as well as the emergence of Indian rappers who have also played an important role in the rise of streetwear in India. Stars like Divine, Emiway, Badsaah, Naezy have managed to gain a cult following, with their followers keen to adopt their sense of style. Ranveer Singh, a global icon who is always in the news for his unique sense of style is a huge follower of streetwear and was recently spotted wearing Jaywalking. All of the mentioned people combined have more than 50 million followers on Instagram, thus holding huge potential to influence people.
With the Indian fashion market already worth $53.7 billion (2019 - The Business of Fashion and McKinsey & Company.) streetwear apparels and brands are now starting to capture more and more market share. Streetwear is gaining more and more popularity among the millennials & Gen-Z. The stage is set for the Indian streetwear industry to explode.
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