Streetstyle (mis)appropriations

AS PFWM draws to a close, the city is set to calm down. Until the Women's edition next month when the city will once again be abuzz with camera flashes going off left, right and centre and the world's fashion community strutting down Parisian streets. Speaking of streets, they definitely made their mark on the Parisian catwalks in more ways than one. Or did  they? Is so-called streetwear 'cool' being shamelessly instrumentalised?

Street influences are nothing new on the catwalk but the way in which they were taken on by certain brands this season was rather blatant, to say the least. By that, understand a huge gap in ethos and lifestyle philosophy between brands that couldn't simply be bridged by a collaboration 'x'. There is of course, one assumes and hopes, a heavy dose of irony in there but in several instances the marriage is ideologically awkward and a bit unsettling.

Good streetwear is simple, straight and to the point. It relies on basic fundamental codes rooted in a culture that most of those who choose to wear it adhere to. And that means something, or at least it used to. Of course streetwear can look great on the catwalk, but when it's more of an appropriation than an interpretation, it just makes you realise that it takes so much more than a logo to make something cool.

The Chicutopian (@barbedchic)