While browsing the latest fashion related items online, I always hear people asking for a definition of the term "streetwear." After doing quite a bit of research on the subject, I couldn't find a definition that was to my liking. Since streetwear is a subject getting a lot of press lately, especially in the fashion world, I thought I'd take it upon myself to create a well-written definition of the term. Here it goes...

Streetwear is a broad category used to describe clothing which provides an alternative to Black Business more mainstream pop-culture brands that can be traditionally found in department stores, malls, and other high-volume retail environments. The streetwear movement was a direct result of the "force feeding" of brands such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister, and GAP down the throats of 20-somethings all across the world. Instead of conforming to pop fashion, young entrepreneurs took their own ideas and designed custom t-shirts, sweatshirts, and hats for themselves and their friends. As more and more people grew tired of the same old boring look, they started taking notice of this new fashion, which seemingly grew from the streets overnight. This new "look" varied from region to region, but took inspiration from hip-hop and skateboarding cultures and fused it with in-your-face graphics and sharp color schemes better known as "colorways." Over time, the quality of streetwear brands increased to the levels we see today... where people are willing to camp at stores overnight and spend hours browsing E-bay waiting for that elusive tee to hit the Internet.

So there you have it... the definition of streetwear in a single paragraph. I could have gone into much greater detail, but thought this would give readers a good starting point when doing research on the subject. Streetwear came from just that, the streets, and will continue change as the urban environment continues to shift.