The Evolution of Urban Clothing

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By: www.articlewheel.com

Added: 28 April 2008 Views: 86

Path : Fashion

Clothing

Keywords: fashion clothing textile wear underwear material people dress dressed get cloth pants shirt evolution urban

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Urban wear has now been with us for a number of years. It is an outgrowth of the hip-hop culture, and by extension, of the "extreme" sports universe. If you are a fan of hip-hop or are into extreme sports, then you know exactly what is is meant by urban wear.

Urban wear or urban clothing is always bold, fresh and expressive of the hunger, restlessness, and in-your-face fearlessness of the hip hop generation. Urban clothing is also distinguished by trendy looks, controversial designs and a constant need to change and appear up-to-the-minute.

Designer Urban Wear

From the very beginning designers of urban wear have been concerned with creating "designer" fashions. Just looking "urban" is not enough. New designs must be aggressive, flambouyant and in your face. Of course urban clothing must always look youthful, but at the same time most urban clothing designs have been serious in their own way and always conscious of projecting an "I got my issues" image.

Some recent trends in urban wear have lightened up quite a bit - acknowledging that urban wear - and the attitude projected by the entire hip hop crowd - is just like most other trends: more imagined than real. As designs began to migrate from the rapper-inspired, and usually rapper-owned design shops to more established, mainstream labels the transformation was almost inevitable. It is not credible (or even desirable) for mainstream labels to pretend they are downtrodden and unhappy with the status quo. They are the status quo. And so are their customers.

Brands such as Ecko, Akademiks and Rocawear are identified with the urban wear trend and are well known for lines inspired by the street culture that was the source of both rap and urban wear designs. In fact many of these original labels were founded by rappers themselves. Like many celebrities they were simply trying to transfer their image and notoriety into their clothing designs.

Inevitably, newer companies such as Vokal have stepped in and modified the world of urban wear to include fleece loungewear, high end velour, denim, and striking, brightly colored athletic jerseys. Another company, Baby Phat, takes a different approach. Their thing is to create a blend of hip hop style and uptown metropolitan fashion. The result is a more refined urban look that well to do trendies can buy into.

This is nothing new. Co-opting fringe trends is what the fashion industry does best. It is simply trying to cash in on the way different groups of consumers follow different trends. And it only makes sense to go after people with the time and money to pay high prices to make a suitable impression.

Urban Wear Goes Wholesale

On the other hand, the fact that the urban wear universe is transforming itself so rapidly has meant the development of a major market for wholesale urban wear. Since urban wear designs change quickly and manufacturers need to stay ahead of the curve in order to survive, they are usually quite prepared to sell large volumes of the last cycle's designs for very low prices.

This allows enterprising clothing merchants to buy up sizable lots of over stocked items and sell them in large quantities to retailers and directly to consumers - often on the internet. These items sell for significantly lower prices than you can find in retail urban wear specialty stores.

For consumers interested in buying five or six items at one time this is ideal. It makes it possible for someone interested in changing fashion trends to replace their entire wardrobe for much less than it might otherwise cost.

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The Evolution of Urban Clothing
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