By Shoaib Ansar

How Luxury Brands Borrowed From Streetwear

High-end fashion and streetwear were different worlds. Luxury brands focused on tailoring, premium materials, and traditional craftsmanship, while streetwear revolved around skateboarding, hip-hop, and everyday city life. Over the years, the two styles started to overlap. Oversized silhouettes, sneakers, limited releases and collaborations with other brands or artists now appear in the collections of many luxury fashion houses. This shift did not happen overnight, but it changed the way many luxury brands approached modern clothing and design.

Oversized Silhouettes

Loose fits have long been part of streetwear. Skateboarding and hip-hop were all about oversized hoodies, T-shirts and baggy pants long before luxury brands started adopting similar silhouettes. In the mid-2010s, Vetements caught the attention of the fashion industry. This style emphasized oversized proportions, long sleeves and loose tailoring. After Demna became Balenciaga’s creative director in 2015, similar silhouettes soon began appearing throughout the brand’s collections. Oversized​‍​‌‍​‍‌ styles are now quite popular in streetwear as well as luxury fashion. They are a part of the aesthetic of many luxury brands such as Balenciaga, Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Gucci ​‍​‌‍​‍‌too.

Luxury and Streetwear Collaborations

One of the most famous projects to merge luxury fashion and streetwear was the Louis Vuitton and Supreme collaboration. It was shown in January 2017 at the Louis Vuitton men’s Fall/Winter 2017 show, curated by Kim Jones. The collection included jackets, hoodies, T-shirts, bags, travel goods, accessories, and even skateboards. Many pieces combined the signature Louis Vuitton monogram with the red Supreme logo. Following the show, the collection received widespread attention from trade publications and buyers. Many items quickly sold out, and the project remains one of the best-known partnerships between a luxury fashion house and a brand rooted in New York skate culture.

Capsule Collections and Limited Drops

Limited editions have long been used in streetwear. Supreme is considered one of the most famous examples. The brand built its operations around regular drops: new collections were released according to a pre-announced schedule, and many items were limited edition. Luxury brands later adopted a similar format. One of the most famous examples remains the Louis Vuitton and Supreme collaboration, presented in 2017. Many items from this line were available in limited quantities and quickly disappeared from sale. They then reappeared on the secondary market, where individual pieces sold for significantly more than their original price. Today, many luxury brands regularly present capsule collections and limited-edition projects. These projects typically feature collaborations with another brand, designer, or artist. Luxury streetwear hoodies are now common in the collections of many major fashion houses, including Louis Vuitton, Balenciaga, Dior, Gucci, and other luxury brands.

Artists Enter Luxury Fashion

Louis Vuitton began actively working with contemporary artists in the early 2000s. One of the most famous was the collaboration with Takashi Murakami. The first collection was released in 2003 under creative director Marc Jacobs. The artist created a multicolored version of the famous Louis Vuitton monogram and also developed several new graphic elements for the collection. Twenty years later, the brand presented a reissue of this collaboration. Another major project was Louis Vuitton’s collaboration with Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. The first joint collection was released in 2012. In 2023, Louis Vuitton released a collection featuring Kusama’s works again. Her signature patterns were used on bags, clothing, shoes, and accessories. In the Dior menswear line, one of the most famous collaborations was with American artist KAWS. The first Dior collaboration with KAWS appeared in Kim Jones’s Dior Men Summer 2019 collection. Later, the collaboration continued with the release of individual items and accessories. It included clothing and accessories featuring KAWS artwork.

Streetwear in Louis Vuitton’s Menswear Collections

In 2018, Virgil Abloh took over the men’s line at Louis Vuitton. Prior to that, he founded the Off-White brand, which combined elements of streetwear and high fashion. Abloh’s men’s collections at Louis Vuitton included oversized silhouettes, hoodies, sneakers and other items that have long been a staple of streetwear. The brand also continued to release collaborative projects with designers from contemporary culture. One such collaboration was the 2020 LV² collection, made in partnership with Japanese designer Nigo, founder of Human Made and co-founder of A Bathing Ape. It featured apparel, footwear, bags and accessories which fused classic Louis Vuitton elements with streetwear-inspired details.

Conclusion

The convergence of luxury fashion and streetwear is easy to trace through specific examples. Loose fits have appeared in the collections of major fashion houses, Louis Vuitton has released a collaboration with Supreme, many brands have begun regularly presenting capsule releases, and collaborations with contemporary artists have become a regular part of their work. Such collaborations demonstrate that ideas long associated with streetwear are well-suited for the collections of major luxury brands. Luxury brands combined traditional craftsmanship with streetwear influences without abandoning their heritage.