Street Style out of every style has had the biggest evolution. Before going mainstream, street style was defined by certain people, brands, and elements. Street style has now become this broad spectrum of fashion curated by big fashion brands. Many of the originators, Misa Hylton, Walker wear, Dapper Dan, etc. are overlooked and are still being overlooked to this day when you compare their success to their less cultured counterparts.

I was watching “The Remix, Hip Hop X Fashion” on Netflix. And it inspired me to write on this subject. Throughout this post, I’ll be making many references to the documentary, which highlights the role hip hop has on the creation of Street style. While watching it, I wanted to cry because I thought about attending my first NYFW in 2018. It was an exciting moment for me. I had my mom (A queen of original Street style) pick out all of my outfits. I just knew I was going to kill it. But I was shocked to see the type of street style and people that were being recognized. They all looked the same. Street style is being controlled by luxury fashion brands that aren’t street at all. While some of the coolest looks and black creatives were being overlooked. I was so disappointed. I remember telling myself that I was going to dress more like them. But now that I look back, I’m so proud of the looks I created on a tight budget.

“As black American culture becomes high fashion, eventually it gets reinterpreted into the suburban, white kid context. I think it’s a very important conversation to have about appreciation vs appropriation”- Gabriel Held, The Remix”

Now that hip hop and street style are as popular as ever, ‘Fashion weeks’ have done a better job of noticing originality. But fashion as a whole is lacking appreciation for the curators. And with the current times, this lack of real inclusion and diversity will only continue to stunt the fashion industry’s growth. It pains me to know that almost every minority-owned street style brand from the ’90s/ early 2000s; Karl Kani, Maurice Malone, Fetish, Cross Colours, Enyce, Fubu, Baby Phat, Phat Farm, House of Dereon now fail to exist. Some will say that there wasn’t a market during this time for streetwear but documentaries like ‘The Remix’ give evidence to otherwise. Street style was stolen long before it got a chance to prosper with its originators.

“We create culture but don’t participate in the longevity of it”- April Walker, The Remix

Instead of working with pioneers like Dapper Dan and Misa Hylton, prominent fashion brands chose to sue for copyright infringement and take away opportunities from those who needed it most. When street style hit its growth spurt, instead of honoring these individuals they appropriated their work, passion, and culture. Dapper Dan gave way for celebrities during that time to feel included where they weren’t, in high fashion. Our innovation and style, like many other things, should’ve been a clear enough message of our importance in the industry. But unfortunately, this wasn’t enough to prompt change.

“Black culture, Black fashion, Black bodies is always cool, As long as it’s not on black people.”- Kerby Jean Raymond, The Remix

After years and years of appropriation, we’re still the leading innovators of street style. We created textile printing. We created unisex style long before it was a trend. (E.g. Missy Elliot, Mary J Blidge, AAliyah, TLC) We went from Biggie and Lil Kim driving the sales of luxury brands (Ex. Versace) to artists like Migo’s, Future, Nicki Minaj, and many many more. And thanks to artists like Pharell, Young thug, Lil Uzi, we even took it upon ourselves to redefine masculinity in hip hop, giving big fashion brands another trend that we wouldn’t get credit for. Without artist’s name dropping or remixing style, luxury brands wouldn’t have the platform they have today.

So instead of implementing us in every part of the fashion and entertainment industry including decision making. Their excuse for diversity is hiring a couple of black models, collaborating with black celebrities, or using one black person as a token. I’m sorry but this is not enough. And as you can see, brands could save themselves a lot of PR trouble, if they properly practiced diversity and inclusion rather than use us as pawns.

“I don’t know that we’re profiting off of the consumption and I don’t know if we’re profiting off of the creation and that’s something that disturbs me”- Bevy Smith, The Remix

Don’t get me wrong, I love and support all of the black people currently in these positions. But there are still so many of us, including me fighting for a seat at the table that we created. White Americans get executive-level positions while we rotate underneath them. I’ve heard from colleagues and have experienced too many situations where we’re needed yet overlooked when it’s time for a promotion. I’ve gone to too many corporate interviews where I didn’t see enough people who like me.

I remember my professor telling me a story on how he was hired to help figure out why a brand’s message wasn’t getting across to its audience. He went to the meeting and noticed that he was only surrounded by white men who looked like him. He said, “Well, that was the company’s biggest problem yet the easiest the easiest one to solve”. I imagine what fashion would look like if the “big wigs’ were reflective of the people who actually lead the industry.

“The next frontier in representation is about who is making the decision” – Vanessa Kingori, The Remix

We need more minority-owned clothing brands. More women need to be recognized for their accomplishments. We need black-owned high fashion to not be highlighted as black-owned but simply as reputable fashion brands. We need more black CEO’s. This has to become the norm. The Remix Hip Hop X Fashion documentary did a great job at starting the conversation but now we need to continue it. And every caucasian influencer or creative in the fashion industry should watch this documentary to see where it all began…With us.