You Only Pay For The Label!

Often, people ask “why would I pay loads of money for something I can get much cheaper? you're only paying for the label aren't you?”.

It's true, you are paying for the label. But you're paying for what that labels brings. When you pay for a designer label, you get a lot more than just a big name. There are many reasons why these designer labels have become larger than their peers, and this is generally down to:

• The quality of the garment
• The quality of the design and artwork
  
• The frequency of new products

Designer clothes will always come out in seasons, with each one constantly trying to push on the last season by offering new, original additions while also building on their older stuff. This means that each range become parts of a whole, each linking back to the brand in their own unique way.

So the obvious benefit of designer clothing is that you get real pieces of artwork designed on strong hard-wearing material. Oh, and it makes you look pretty good, too

Spring/Summer 2008 Video

Take a look at this promotional video shot by our friends at Space Clothing. It shows some new items by King and Drunknmunky.

Crocs in the summer of 2008

With the summer season fast approaching, many people find themselves looking for bright, loose-fitting new summer clothing items to compliment the hot weather. Summery t-shirts, cargo shorts, flip flops and maybe the odd inflatable crocodile!

Which brings me onto this summer's hottest piece of footwear design - Crocs. Crocs provide high quality, stylish footwear which is perfectly in tune with the summer season due to it versatile and lightweight design. Crocs are also available in a variety of colours and styles, making them a great choice for everybody. And I mean everybody; each style is available for men, women and the young whippersnappers of all ages.

My particular favourite Crocs shoe design is the Crocs Athens. These flip flop shoes are available in a multitude of colours and are a funky modern twist on the traditional flip flop design, with a soft cushioned foot bed and summery design, I find these to be a great addition to any summer collection. I must also point out that they are some of the most comfortable pair of flip flops I have ever worn, due to their excellent patented material and cushioned foot-bed.

Another top style, and named after the magnificent animal, is the Crocs Cayman shoe. These evolved from another Crocs style, making them lighter yet still keeping the incredibly original and unique Crocs format of design. The popularity of this style is crazy and it's expected to grow even more this summer!

Gio-Goi: Peace, Love and Doves

I bet most people that happen across this corner of the Internet and read this blog post were not even around in the 60's. The time of free love and an explosion of self-expression after years of supression.

I too was not around to see this decade, but I've watched the movies, listened to the music and read the gig reviews and it seems nothing short of amazing.

For a while now we have been seeing trends from this era pop back into mainstream fashion. I personally think that most of it should have stayed in the 60's as they seem somewhat naff these days, but I do love it when designers inject some of the spirit of the 60's into their own work, rather than simply copy those old styles in an effort to capture a dying market.

Recently, one of my favourite labels to be showing an influence of this is the infamous Gio Goi. Some of their designs represent a distinct retro feel, be it the minimalist approach of their embossed, early computer style Connected t-shirt, or their Doves t-shirt, which oozes 60's revival through and through.

Something that always intrigues me is that, no matter the state of society, fashion will always reflect it. And where writers write about memories, movies tell tales of fact and fiction, fashion trends will always exist to pay homage in their own uniquely stylish way.

What makes an urban label urban?

It's a good question - what is it about a brand that makes it fall under the "urban" category, and where is the line drawn?

Needless to say that urban clothing is generally considered "designer". More often than not, the designers are influenced by street art, hip hop music and the like, and this shines through in their clothing designs. I would speculate that not all art work is originally intended to go on t-shirts, but if it has that original something and is designed well enough to be transposed onto a piece of material, then why shouldn't it?

The thing with urban clothing is that the designs are usually extrovert, often groundbreaking but always wearable. This makes them hugely marketable pieces with a tonne of street credibility.

When does a label move away from specficially urban, to more general. Well, when in my opinion, the garment design revolves more around the brand than it does the artistic nature of the design. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but brands like Drunknmunky are a good example of this. Many of their designs are brand-based, giving them an instantly recognisable, yet disinctly non-urban feel. Instead, Drunknmunky pride themselves on being original. Thankfully they have an excellent identity to profess this with, as their logo is f**king cool, but it's not urban.

So to all the smaller, independent urban labels out there - keep doing what you're doing. Keep those original, vibrant designs coming, because we love 'em!

Checking in...

Streetwear Review is a new blog focusing on hot new streetwear trends and labels. We aim to bring you news, reviews and useful links to the most exciting new places on the Web.

A great start to this blog would be to tell you about an offer we found on an urban clothing website - Space Clothing are giving away a free t-shirt when you purchase a King Apparel Ethics hoody. For more details see here.

If you have anything you would like to share, please post in the comments and we'll do our best to cover it!