Urban Wear - A Popular Style That Changes With The Times
Urban wear got its start on the streets of New York, was influenced by the hip hop artists in other major cities, and is still popular today. The identifying features of urban wear are the oversized pants, the bold colors, and the flashy jewelry. The changes that have occurred in the style have been mostly due to what popular hip hop artists have worn on stage.
When urban wear started out, the predominant feature was athletic wear like tracksuits and sneakers. The athletic wear was often name brand with designers like Tommy Hilfiger, DKNY, and Calvin Klein becoming popular brands to wear. Many designers tried to become a part of urban wear by having popular hip hop stars wear their labels for performances.
A recent trend in urban wear is for artists to create their own clothing labels instead of wearing other name brands when they perform. Artists like Russell Simmons, Diddy, 50 Cent, and Eminem all have clothing lines that they sell, mostly online. Many well established name brands like Nike and Adidas still produce clothing geared specifically for urban wear, and charge a rather high amount for it.
There have been several trends that have come and gone in urban wear, like parachute pants and Du Rags. Other trends that gained popularity after being sported by an artist on stage, have remained a large part of the urban clothing retinue. Throwback jerseys were very popular for a while, now close fitting t-shirts designed to show off large belt buckles are more prevalent. The bling that was worn by successful hip hop artists as a demonstration of wealth has become a cornerstone in urban wear. Although platinum has replaced gold as the metal of choice, the general rule still remains - bigger is better.
Urban wear seems to strive for high impact and high visibility. While certain elements have changed over the years due to the strong influences of hip hop artists, there are certain elements that have remained the same since the beginning. Bold colors and designs have been the driving force behind design from the start. From shoes with oversized, colorful laces, to hoodies covered in tattoo inspired art the goal of urban wear still seems to be to get noticed, which it does.
