TSW #11: May 2019
Bloomberg Businessweek decodes the rise of Gen Z, hearing Wes Anderson sounds, how to read more books in the golden age of content, the mysteries of ‘business casual’, meet the new American aristocracy, Streetwear Impact Report from Strategy&+Hypebeast, Virgil Abloh’s ‘Everything in Quotes’ lecture at Columbia University, management lessons from the streets of India, how to avoid death by powerpoint, the D&AD awards 2019 winners archive.
Bloomberg Businessweek Decodes the Rise of Gen Z
Hearing Wes Anderson — A Lesson in Sound Design
BOOKSTORES: How to Read More Books in the Golden Age of Content
Goldman Sachs, Patagonia, and the Mysteries of “Business Casual”
The Birth of a New American Aristocracy
Streetwear Impact Report from Strategy& + Hypebeast
Streetwear emerged as an antidote to wider fashion trends, stemming from countercultures like skate, surf and hip-hop. It also opened the floodgates to a demographic that was previously “not allowed” to show an interest in fashion: men.
The ultimate driving force behind streetwear is its spirit. Core streetwear consumers do not have limitless income to spend. What they do have is the ability to create exclusivity tied to something much more potent than money — authenticity.
Streetwear should not be viewed as a trend within fashion, but as the fashion leg of a larger shift that has given power to popular culture spanning fashion, art and music, and which is largely driven by black culture.
The distinction between contemporary streetwear and the fashion industry at large does not come down to a sneaker versus a handbag, but to who is driving the taste-making.
With streetwear, the tastemakers are not only taking direction from style that comes from the streets, they are taking direction directly from the audience. It’s the consumer who has the power to determine what’s cool as much as the industry insider. The muscle of traditional fashion institutions — such as print publications and revered editors — has dwindled, while the opinions of general audiences have gained weight.
Ultimately, streetwear is driven by a series of factors that are unprecedented in fashion: men showing interest in style, casual clothing taking a front row seat and the luxury elite bending to the taste of popular demand.
Virgil Abloh “Everything in Quotes” Lecture at Columbia GSAPP
“Young architects can change the world by not building buildings”
“The idea of putting things in a box (like fashion, architecture, music, art etc) doesn’t work for me.”
“Irony is a tool for modern creativity.”
“Modern (meme) culture thrives off the ironic.”
“Humour is an entry point for humanity.”
“The name OFF-WHITE feels wrong, but that felt right.”
“Be a 17 year-old version of yourself.”
“So the only way to get to your end means to start the ‘DOMINO EFFECT’, which is basically put out bad work (till you eventually become good).”
“I think of ‘STREETWEAR’ as a name for a new art movement that is seemingly undefined.”
“It’s important to think about the inter-connectedness between thinkers and designers instead of trying to find a space you can occupy by yourself.”
“I think it’s my ‘DEMOCRATIC DUTY’ as a designer to sort of draw links between current culture and important moments in design.”
“Have a ‘LOADED MESSAGE IN DESIGN’.”
“My greatest design tool personally is to look at what a genre is doing and make it 3–5% different.”
“I am trying to make Helvetica my signature.”
“READYMADE is my palette.”
“You don’t have to be a designer to be a designer. In my lens the culture is the more important part than the perfectionism of it, of like an idea.”
“I always say the world moves as fast as Instagram scrolls up. So keep doing and fast.”
India UnInc & WeSee Capital — Management Lessons from the Streets of India
How to Avoid ‘Death by Powerpoint’
1. Know your audience (and venue)
2. Storyboard up front
3. Draw eyes where you want, when you want
4. Keep it simple, seriously
5. Stay current
