Archiwa tagu: Culture

Sneakers that changed the game: Part I

Culture, , , , ,

THE ADIDAS STAN SMITH

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoGD6CfPPgM&ab_channel=VISIMAGAZINEVISIMAGAZINE

In 1978, adidas released its Stan Smith trainer. Originally an endorsement deal with tennis star Stan Smith, it was the first leather, not canvas, sports shoe.

To understand the origins of the Stan Smith, you have to go back to the shoe’s original name: the adidas Robert Haillet.

The Three Stripes tapped Robert Haillet, one of just two French tennis professionals at the time, to be the sneakers namesake in 1965. According to the book Sneaker Wars¸ when the sneaker was introduced in 1965, “the small cast of emerging tennis professionals widely agreed that it was by far the best tennis shoe on the market.” Much like the adidas Superstar, that was beginning to make some noise on the basketball court—the shoe’s leather provided more support, preventing twisted ankles and other injuries.

The debut of the Robert Haillet coincided with a surge in tennis popularity.

In 1971, Haillet had retired from tennis and Horst Dassler needed to find an active player to endorse an updated version of the shoe in his place. Donald Dell, arguably the most influential tennis agent in the business at the time, suggested his client Stan Smith.

While Smith came to adidas in 1971, the shoe was not officially changed to the adidas Stan Smith until 1978.  So, for most of the ’70s, the model was still named the Robert Haillet, before changing the name and adding Smith’s picture.

Sales for the shoe reached new heights once the name was changed and Smith took over. Everyone began to wear Stan Smiths

But as technical sportswear gained momentum in the 80s, Stan Smiths began to lose their popularity as performance shoes. Instead, they became a style staple off court. The universality of the model is owed, at least in part, to its minimal design – an all white pump with just a Most models and versions are in fact made with real leather. Functionally, there isn’t much to the adidas Stan Smith.

THE NIKE AIR JORDAN 1

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEmAgKYV1uo&ab_channel=KicksOnFirecom

On October 15, Nike created a revolutionary new basketball shoe.

In 1984, Nike embarked on the most important sports endorsement deal of all time, teaming up with NBA player Michael Jordan on Nike’s basketball extension brand, named after the basketballer.  Even though Jordan was originally vying for an adidas sponsorship, within the first month of the shoe’s release, Nike raked in $70 million. Then, throughout the 80s and 90s, Nike would drop a new Jordan sneaker for every season the basketballer played.

That’s all anybody needed. Sneakears dropped and sold out immediately. Nike set retail at $65 a piece, expensive for their time, and they sold out as quickly as they do today.

During that first season, and that first go around with the sneakers, Nike released 13 colorways of the shoe. The famous “Banned,” “Chicago,” “Royal,” “Black Toe,” “Shadow,” and “Carolina Blue” colorways, as well as Black & White, Blue & White, Metallic Red, Metallic Purple, Metallic Blue, Metallic Green, and Natural Grey.

“This sneakers is credited with being the catalyst for collecting and reselling,” now is the style. The Jordan 1 is the most popular sneaker on StockX. Notably, last year’s release of the AJ1 Dior blurred the lines between streetwear and high fashion with its luxurious resale value averaging around $10K.

THE NIKE AIR MAX 1

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frO0UaKdJnY&ab_channel=DeFYNewYorkYouTubeChannelDeFYNewYorkYouTubeChannel

In 1987 Nike released the inaugural Air Max sneaker, the Air Max 1.

For Nike, the Air Max 1 sneakers went down in history as a pivotal and innovative design that elevated the brand when they needed it most.

Nike’s Air technology wasn’t new it was developed by former NASA engineer Frank Rudy and introduced in the Air Tailwind in 1978. Air replaced traditional molded EVA soles with gas filled urethane pouches. However, it was the consensus that as performance technology the pouches ought to be felt and not seen. That was until Tinker Hatfield came along.

It wasn’t another sneakers or even a fashion concept that planted the idea to expose the Air-cushioned sole in Hatfield’s mind, it was a controversial building in Paris that many considered an eyesore. Centre Georges Pompidou, a building design that took all its functional and structural elements and placed them on the outside for all to see.

Nike’s first sneakers to reveal the Air-cushioned sole, the Air Max 1, finally released March 26, 1987 and featured in Nike’s first television ad the same year. It was part of the Air Pack which also featured the Air Trainer 1, Air Sock, Air Revolution and Air Safari.

From then onward, Air Max led to a sneakers series that’s still going strong thirty years later.

NIKE AIR FORCE 1

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKAXDs7GhhU&ab_channel=jemetonicPRODUKSHUNZ

The Nike Air Force 1s are not only an inner-city staple, but may well be the most iconic sneakers of all time. Designed by Bruce Kilgore in 1982.  The Air Force 1 is Nike’s all-time best-selling model. Over 1,700 colourways have been released, bringing in an estimated $800 million per year in revenue. Whether in low top, mid, or high, “the Nike Air Force 1 is, simply put, a classic.” To date, the AF1 Low White 07 is one of the highest traded shoes on StockX with nearly 50,000 trades.

In the world of sneakers, few styles last. The ones that do are the true classics—the trends that graduate to staples. They’re consistently worn by both footwear enthusiasts and the general public. The Nike Air Force 1 in its most popular, iconic style: low-cut, in all-white.

Jay Z was one of the first to specifically shout out white Air Forces Ones sneakers, helping cement them as an East Coast hood classic. On the song “Can I Live II”,  a young Jay rapped, “For all my niggas with the all-white Air Force Ones and black guns.”

The sneakers silhouette that entered street culture as an attention-grabbing anomaly had become a mandatory street staple, paired with a white tee and big jeans for a uniform of dope boy anonymity. With more availability  and a lower price point than it had over two decades prior, the Air Force 1 was a phenomenon.

The hyped-up collaborations and limited-run collectibles have given the AF1 a covetable level of prestige and helped spread its gospel to new generations.

 

Art by Annie Leibovitz: Life through a Сamera

Culture, Fashion History, , , , ,

Why should we know Annie Leibovitz?

Annie Leibovitz is considered one of the most sought-after and talented female photographers of our time, her work has been exhibited in galleries around the world and has graced the covers of Vogue and Vanity Fair.

Leibovitz started her career as a freelance photographer for Rolling Stone Magazine and soon became a photographer of worldwide fame, portraying actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Queen Elizabeth II, ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, musician Michael Jackson, former US President Barack Obama and others.

As Leibovitz admitted she was in love with each character of her works, tried to notice the slightest changes in their mood and make the images in her photos as authentic as possible.

In 1970 a friend persuaded Annie to take her photos to Rolling Stone magazine. She came with a suitcase of photos: protests, rallies against the war in San Francisco and Berkeley, Israel, where she shot for a while. The young Rolling Stone staff liked Annie and hired her. She quickly became a star of the magazine and worked there for 13 years.

I want to introduce you to some of Annie’s work, although each deserves special attention.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono, 1980

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Annie photographed John Lennon twice for Rolling Stone. The first time was in 1970. It was this shoot that started her work with the world’s biggest stars.
She was very young at the time, it was her first major assignment from the magazine. John and Yoko were very surprised that it was Annie who was sent by the editors to be interviewed, but they still treated her like a professional.
In 1980, Annie took a picture of a naked John hugging his wife. A few hours after the photo was taken, the musician was killed. The cover with this picture was recognized as the best one in several decades.
Annie said later that she had not planned to realize this idea beforehand – the characters of the photo had not rehearsed before shooting, and Lennon’s pose was spontaneous and „very strong”.

Meryl Streep, 1981

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Meryl Streep, who was to grace the cover of Rolling Stone magazine in 1981, did not like the idea of a portrait session by Leibovitz, and the photographer had a wonderful idea – to put on the actress’ face with a thick white paint, which mimes usually use. The result was that the makeup photo was sold at Christie’s for $15,000.

Whoopi Goldberg, 1984

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In the early 1980s Annie Leibovitz decided to expand into commercial and fashion photography and began taking pictures for Vanity Fair. The new place of work significantly influenced the photographer’s style: Leibovitz paid special attention to the angle and style of her photographs, carefully considering the images of her characters. For example, actress and comedienne Whoopi Goldberg’s photo shoot from Annie took her to the peak of fame. „Friday night I was walking down the street quietly, and Saturday on the same street people were shouting my name,” Goldberg later recalled.

That’s because Leibovitz had an interesting idea – to shoot a dark-skinned actress in a tub of milk. The contrast did the trick: A photograph of Whoopi Goldberg throwing up her legs and arms in the milk bath later sold at auction at Christie’s for $9560.

Leonardo DiCaprio, 1997

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The photo shoot with Leonardo DiCaprio took place when the young actor was still little known to the general public. Annie decided to look at the image of a young rebel differently than it was represented in the media: a gentle and at the same time serious nature of young DiCaprio successfully combined with the image of a swan.

 „Harry Potter” cast, 2001

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Annie Leibovitz was given the opportunity to be one of the first to do a photo shoot of young actors right on the set. The professionalism of the photographer impressed the creators of the picture, and after the release of new parts of the saga in the world, Leibovitz took up filming the entire cast again.

Cate Blanchett, 2004

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The childishly naive and cute picture of a smiling girl on a bicycle quickly caught the attention of the audience, despite the fact that no huge budgets were spent on its creation.

Annie Leibovitz Ig: https://www.instagram.com/annieleibovitz/?hl=ru

Anime in The fashion World: How and Why?

Culture, Fashion, ,

“If manga weren’t there, fashion would have had to invent it.”

Japanese manga and anime has been all the rage in recent years, even on major runways.

The manga storytelling style, which is defined by lush visuals and text, is derived from age-old works of Japanese art, illustrated scrolls dating as far back as the 12th century; it reached critical mass through serialization in newspapers and magazines in the 1920s. A century later manga is a billion-dollar industry that encompasses fine art, games, and, most notably, anime, its moving image counterpart.

The genre and its video counterpart, anime, has grown to establish a lucrative industry and an international imprint. Well-liked series such as Sailor Moon and Doraemon, in addition to the kawaii character Hello Kitty, have been born out of an explosion of interest in manga all over the world.

Sailor Moon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5txHGxJRwtQ

“I am the Pretty Guardian who fights for love and justice!” So cries Sailor Moon, the eponymous character of the hit manga and anime series Sailor Moon, to the forces of evil who plague her universe. Shortly thereafter, she proceeds to enter battle with her loyal crew of Sailor Guardians  – all while looking astonishingly stylish. 

Nearly 30 years on from when Sailor Moon first leaped off the pages of manga and onto television screens around the world, Naoko Takeuchi’s iconic characters have been endless wells of inspiration for fans of the show. But, now it’s their fashion that’s taking centre-stage. New-generation ‘Moonies’ are taking closer note of the outfits the Guardians wear in between battling monsters.

It’s easy to see why. From the onset, Sailor Moon was always a fashion-forward programme. Unlike other animated shows of the time, the main cast possessed an ever-rotating roster of outfit pieces they would call on each episode: from sweetheart dresses, cardigans, crop tops, and A-line skirts to blouses, turtlenecks, blazers, and button-up shirts.

Overall, “Sailor Moon is full of the best 90s trends and fashion inspirations, I think what resonates with people to this day about their fashion is how real it feels.” – Lisa Fevral, who creates videos that break down each Sailor Guardian’s personal style choices.

“There is no direct limit to who can wear what in Sailor Moon’s world, as long as you know how to wear it”

The styling of the main cast is crafted in a way that doesn’t box the characters in,” and that lends itself well to the superfluous nature of street style.

Guardians Makoto and Rei were often seen mixing masculine apparel such as hip hop-inspired sportswear with feminine colour blocking palettes, as well as the later queer guardians Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus – the latter of whom exclusively wore masculine clothing while in civilian mode.

Haruka traditionally donned classic brown suits, and took on the masculine feats of shibuya classic style with her classic white oversized shirt and red band tied around the arm, an iconic outfit and one of the overall fan favourite looks. “Gender doesn’t make a difference,” Haruka says at one point to the other Guardians after they mistake her for male in civilian-mode. “If you think that, you can’t protect the ones you love.”

TikTok and Instagram is the platform to see Sailor Moon arrive as a street style trend. With most of the Guardians’ looks now archived by the Instagram account @sailor_fashionistas, creator Ella Cheng.

When she first started creating content, many of her followers asked for recreations of anime fashion. Sailor Moon style is so appealing in today’s world because of its diversity of choice. “Most of their clothing choices have their own colour palette and unique ways to style it that reflects their personalities,” Cheng explains.

With more young content creators popping up every day recreating and archiving the fashion of Sailor Moon, it only reaffirms what Moonies everywhere already knew: timeless, dynamic, and sometimes queer – Sailor Moon will never go out of style.

Anime influence

Anime’s influence on fashion goes beyond the runway shows of the past few years. In the early 2000s, animes like Nana inspired a generation of teens with its mixture of goth and 90s riot grrrl style. Today, however, characters are placed directly onto designer items.

Indeed, anime not only serves to inspire the way today’s youth culture looks, but is now poised as the subject itself. Evidencing luxury fashion’s infatuation with anime aesthetics was Louis Vuitton’s spring/summer 16 ready-to-wear show, which featured visuals inspired by Neon Genesis Evangelion, Ghost in the Shell and Sailor Moon. Streetwear, on the other hand — has collectively expressed its affinity for Japanese animation via numerous collaborations with the creators of pioneering anime like Akira and Dragon Ball Z.

Recently, Gucci released a Doraemon X Gucci capsule collection for Chinese New Year, placing the manga cat-robot on bags, tees, and more.

Anime styles and allusions are especially prevalent in streetwear. Accessible brands like Uniqlo and Adidas have put out highly successful collaborations with Manga series, high-end brands, closely linked to hype beast culture, like Supreme and Bape have also engaged in similar collaborations.

Merchandise with popular characters and themed home goods are just a few things that have precipitated out the collective adoration of the various shows and series. However, the manga obsession does not stop there.  Louis Vuitton, Moschino, and Prada have all embraced manga on the runway with statement pieces inspired by the signature comic style and direct allusions to viral characters.

Top Anime Collaborations:

  • Bait x Diadora x Astro Boy

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  • The Hundreds x HOOK-UPS

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  • MSGM X Attacker You!

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  • BAPE x One Piece ∣ Dragon Ball ∣ Pokemon

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  • Uniqlo X Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon ∣ Shonen Jump

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  • Air Jordan x Slam Dunk

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  • AKIRA x Supreme

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  • Adidas x Dragon Ball

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Fashion in the 1960’s: the rise and fall of the Hippie subculture

Subcultures, , , ,

Sex, drugs and second hand

One of the most influence subcultures – Hippie or the flower children. Their movement swept the planet in the 1960’s by challenging the traditional values that had been passed down, the Hippies changed culture.

How did the world peace movement come about?

  • Young people in the late 1950’s and 1960’s protested against the conservatism and puritanism that characterized both British and American society.
  • The full-scale US intervention in the Vietnam War in 1965 and the unwillingness of young people to die in the overseas jungle for values they did not share.
  • The Hippie subculture was the answer to the ultimate American dream: a good job, your own house, a couple of cars, a couple of kids and going to church on Sundays.

The fashion and culture of the first half of the decade was little different from that of the 1950’s:  women still wore laconic fitted dresses and men wore suits with a classic cut. Everything changed in 1967 when fringe movements came out of the underground and literally took over the world.

Beginning in the mid-1960’s, members of America’s creative elite began to gather in informal communes where they experimented with psychotropic substances, listened to progressive music and discussed esoteric and philosophical texts.

Merry Pranksters

One of the first and most famous communes of this time was the Merry Pranksters, founded by journalist and author Ken Kesey.

The Pranksters became a link between generations, trendsetters of a bright new fashion and, at the same time, the main popularizers of LSD in America. The thing is that at the time when Ken Kesey was studying at the university, the CIA was conducting tests of the then little-known psychotropic substance, which had never before gone beyond a narrow circle of scientists. The future writer volunteered, and later introduced other „pranksters” to the psychedelic, who shared their impressions with friends and thus increased the demand for the substance.

Among other things, they were the first to paint their buses and outfits massively in rainbow colors, which would not go out of fashion until the end of the 1970’s. The commune members were also into ethnic drawings of Native Americans, Oriental philosophy and preaching world peace – an ideology that was visually reflected in the clothes of Hippies.

Two members of the commune opened the first boutique in the States, which sold exclusively „progressive” outfits in „folk” style, jewellery with pacifist slogans and accessories stylised as exotic.

Hippie&Music

The Hippie subculture could not help but influence fashion, as the most popular musicians of the 1960s were close to it: John Lennon, The Beatles, Jimmy Hendrix and others.

Members of the subculture more often wore deliberately androgynous clothing, claiming gender was an idea imposed by modern society. Both men and women wore loose-fitting jeans and shirts made from the simplest possible fabric. Unlike their mothers and older sisters who emphasised femininity with flamboyant make-up, hippie girls often wore no make-up at all, trying to be as natural as possible. Both men and women grew their hair long and their hairstyles were uncomplicated, with popular styles including braids and straight hair. Another important step in the fight against the contrived rules of ‚civilised’ society was the rejection of bras – many girls thus defended the right not to alter their figure depending on fickle ideals of beauty.

Hippie&Feminism

Naturally, the drive to assert women’s rights was also influenced by the second wave of feminism and the sexual revolution, which was in full swing in the late 1960’s. The year 1966 saw the publication of the famous scientific work of the researchers Masters and Johnson, which, for the first time, seriously examined the individual physiological responses to sexual arousal and refuted the myth of the allegedly innate asexuality of women. European film stars like Brigitte Bardot, who were not afraid to be overly revealing and who were nothing like the role models of the dainty Jackie Kennedy or the elegant Audrey Hepburn, also contributed to this.

WOODSTOCK – 1969

Four days America will never forget.

A record 500,000 people attended. The four days at Max Yasgur’s Dairy Farm were a feast of peace, love and music, briefly turning everyone into one big family. nothing could ruin the fantastic atmosphere of the festival: people were willing to stand in kilometre-long traffic jams to get to the farm, knocking down fences to allow free passage and sharing food with each other by setting up field kitchens. „Woodstock was a real sensation at the time. Within nine months of its conclusion about 200 000 children born out of wedlock were born. It was the beginning of the sexual revolution and the end of the „hippie era”.

The grey crowd turned into a colorful crowd

The main driver of style was the desire to distinguish themselves from the crowd in mass-produced clothes of similar styles. Instead of helping big corporations, hippies bought clothes in second hand shops or tried to produce them themselves. Unfortunately, in the early 1970’s, the Hippies’ worst nightmare came true: clothes adorned with ethnic prints and psychedelic designs became part of mass culture. They began to be made by the very big companies against which the protest was directed.

The influence of the subculture today

Hippies are forever in history with their music, philosophy, mood and style. In one way or another they are firmly rooted in the history of fashion and in one way or another there will always be some element of the Hippie style with us, no matter if it’s a bandana, a bracelet, a tie-dye, or psychedelic prints. There will always be something we can borrow from the hippie style and incorporate it into our everyday look. Hippies are a vivid mark on the history of fashion, and we all know that fashion is cyclical.

 

“Everything had to be more luxe, more expensive.” – or Juicy Couture world

Fashion, ,

„Velour California”

Velour mania in California started with Juicy Couture tracksuits and If you ask me how I see the early 2000’s, I’ll say without a doubt that it’s JUICY COUTURE.

Juicy Couture was started by two friends in 1997. Gela Nash & Pamela Skaist-Levy, both residing in Pacoima, California, decided to create their own fashion label, Travis Jeans, selling maternity pants. In 1996 they changed the name to Juicy Couture.

The iconic low-slung sweatpants and matching slim-fit hoodie arrived at a time when logomania and conspicuous consumption ruled supreme – age of excess.

 

“Everybody wanted it, and everybody was wearing it.”

The brand’s popularity came in 2003, when Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie began filming their reality TV show “The Simple Life.” Almost daily, the duo wore matching Juicy Couture sets in every color of the rainbow and it was amazing. As “The Simple Life” became a smash hit, Juicy’s wares started popping up on Hilton’s fellow tabloid fixtures like Lindsay Lohan, Madonna, Britney Spears, Eva Longoria, Beyoncé, and Kim Kardashian. Juicy’s started to be literally everywhere and on everybody.

Jennifer Lopez, who was wearing the outfit in her music video with Ja Rule has taken juicy suits to the next level of popularity. The video “I’m real” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD2D6phvRRk ) have 5.2 million views on YouTube and the fact that she appears there in a Juicy set says what an influence they had on fashion. “I shocked everyone when I decided to wear it! It seemed fitting since the song is called ‘I’m Real,’ so I decided to be ME!!,” -Jennifer Lopez in her Instagram.

At the time, it was like carrying an Hermès Birkin— only less expensive.

Crazy trend not going to stay on the plot forever, especially if it has been everywhere and on everyone and is exactly what Juicy was. By the end of the 2010’s, the brand was starting to lose popularity. BUT the fact that one tracksuit was able to achieve such a crazy result is amazing. Everyone wanted to be in Juicy, it was the style.

The early 2000’s is an era of chic that is now popular again, and there is charm and style in it. So, to say now that Juicy is making a comeback is not a total loss of taste, but rather a manifestation of it. The legendary costumes we all know are slowly making a comeback. Comfort and sexuality are back in fashion, which is exactly what Juicy Couture is.