What's going on here? We seem to be in a questionable area. Not in speaking of here, this website, but here as in the overall spectrum of whatever you call it.  "Streetwear." Where did this term come from? Nobody really knows, but that doesn't matter. Something to do with people really in touch with the streets created an outlet for their visions.  Who knows.  The problem with the term is not the “niche,” but how not only the consumer, but the brand perceive the term as well.

There are many corporations out there right now creating and transforming existing brands to be just that, "Streetwear." These are people that do not know the street, and do not know what to wear, which become apparent when you see the "new line they dropped." However hard they try it just doesn't work, except, in most cases, financially in their favor. The reason for this might be that because they are just cloning clothing and selling it to clones. They mostly sell to malls and the "we-used-to-be-urban-now-we-switchin'-it-up"
stores. It's cool, they have the money to stay in until it becomes "not financially viable" and they'll be onto the next.

There are also many brands that focus too much on hype. Hype can be good or bad, depending on the brand. For the corporate brand, hype is usually the only hope. They can promote, advertise and drown markets so deep that by time you go up to take a breath, you look around and say "What the f**k is this?"  For smaller brands, hype can be the best thing you can ask for if you can keep up with it. Hype can give you the smaller brand the ability to move up...and become a medium brand.

Now wear was I? Brands. Artists. Can the two words work together? While most artists would say no, most of them would like to sell their artwork, even if it were purely for survival. Brands, though not people, love artists.  In most cases artists are responsible for how people perceive a brand, even if it were just by a logo.  I believe a good amount of the brands associated with "Streetwear" were developed by artists to have an outlet and a means to deliver a message. Artist doesn't necessarily mean a sculptor or painter, but
someone with a vision. Make a design, put it on a shirt.  Easy.  The t-shirt is one of the most common canvases in our lifetime, right up there with the sticker. With the advent of technology it has only become easier, thus the influx of brands will be much greater than it is now. Some of these brands will not survive. Some of these brands will continue to produce their visions.  Some of these brands will take a different route, eventually taking the places of "urban" brands that are not sure if they want to be "Streetwear" or "runway
fashion". So wear are we going?