Japenese Influence On Streetwear Clothing

Although streetwear clothing began as casual clothing for skate and surf kids on the west coast, there were several influences that changed the look significantly in the later years of development. One of the influences was the way that the Japanese clothing designers reinterpreted streetwear clothing in the late 90s.

At that time, many of the Japanese designers were taking streetwear clothing to the next level, adding pop culture influences such as toys, games, anime etc to tie in with the streetwear sensibilities. The surf/punk look was replaced by the then-current Japanese fascination with all things anime or manga and soon the western designers were taken as well by this new look. Around this time surf design king Stussy went to Japan to learn more from the Japanese and even made bonds with various Japanese designers, others soon followed.

Soon streetwear clothing began to see more punk and hip-hop graphics blended with the wild cartoony look of the manga-inspired Japanese T-shirts and street clothing. By the end of the century, the two styles merged to create a new streetwear look that was international in feel. In the late 1990s, the rest of streetwear was following with Stussy to learn from the Japanese. Stussy has continued his connection with the Japanese streetwear designers. In November of 2009 he collaborated with NEXUSVII’s Tomohiro Kono to develop and release a line of retrospective streetwear clothing to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of his clothing line.

Currently the Japanese influence on streetwear clothing has grown to the point where many American designers are forming partnerships with Japanese designers to create new looks that are even more of a cross between the two cultures. A good example of this is the recent announcement of a deal between surf-king Stussy and one of the major Japanese streetwear clothing labels Applebum for a line of new T-shirt designs that feature Stussy’s signature graphic with Applebum’s fashion aesthetics.

T-shirts are not the only streetwear that has seen a huge Japanese influence, as seen by Adidas rock star Creative Director Kazuki Kuraishi who went on from there to bring his own flair to such brands as A Bathing Ape and Neighborhood. Like many designers for streetwear clothing, Kuraishi also designs CD covers and fliers. As the cross –cultural influences continue, look for more Japanese designers working with American clothing companies and American streetwear clothing designers bringing their look to Japanese streetwear.