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Let’s Keep It Two Virgils: Streetwear Is Disconnected From the Culture
By telling on themselves, Virgil Abloh and Don C accentuated a growing disconnect with consumers
Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.
In 2020, what we mean by the term “streetwear” is virtually unrecognizable from its origin. At its genesis, the confluence of skate culture and hip-hop created a means for people to express themselves aesthetically outside the conventions — and prices — of mainstream style. This aspect fostered the community Virgil Abloh lamented in comments he made during the first weekend of demonstrations following George Floyd’s death. “Streetwear is a community,” he said. “It’s groups of friends that have a common bond. We hang out on street corners, fight with each other, fight for each other.”
Left unsaid in this statement is that as the price of these garments have risen, the groups of friends who could afford to congregate around streetwear changed. This, coupled with the internet’s ability to push the same goods onto everyone in the world, has created a bottleneck effect. If things are affordable, they’ll be restricted by availability (like Supreme). If they’re readily available, they’ll be prohibitively expensive. The end result is a consumer stuck on the outside looking in. In a world where Off-White hits the same price range as Gucci, why would consumers view them any differently?
If Abloh’s connection to the culture is his superpower, the wave of Black Lives Matter demonstrations — and his response to it — has been his kryptonite.
These factors became evident when a loud but small group of Los Angeles rioters looted Sean Wotherspoon’s Round Two store and Don C’s RSVP Gallery space — moves that earned the disgust of Abloh. “When you walk past Wotherspoon in the future, please have the dignity to not look him in the eye, hang your head in shame,” the 39-year-old designer said of the vandals. Meanwhile, Don C posted pictures of the damage done to RSVP Gallery, with his Instagram stories oscillating between wondering how he’d contributed to…
