*my thoughts and prayers go out to the Menezes family. Im honestly in loss for words rite now. You were a wonderful person and you will be greatly missed...
Stussy is one of my favorite clothing companies hands down, quite possibly my favorite *streetwear* line. With streetwear where it is today, this may not be a popular opinion. Due to changes in ownership over the year, and a shifting direction in design, Stussy has fluctuated in and our of favor over the years. Personally I am not an enormous fan of Stussy’s most recent releases. A large amount of their designs have taken just a little too much of a mainstream touch. It is as if they are trying to re-create the feelings of past Stussy designs but the approach they are taking is a little too Photoshop and not enough pencil and paper.
Stussy is one of my favorite clothing companies hands down, quite possibly my favorite *streetwear* line. With streetwear where it is today, this may not be a popular opinion. Due to changes in ownership over the year, and a shifting direction in design, Stussy has fluctuated in and our of favor over the years. Personally I am not an enormous fan of Stussy’s most recent releases. A large amount of their designs have taken just a little too much of a mainstream touch. It is as if they are trying to re-create the feelings of past Stussy designs but the approach they are taking is a little too Photoshop and not enough pencil and paper.
However when it comes to tradition? No one can hold a candle to Stussy. Take a look at some of the vintage advertisements and lookbooks from years when most of you (and myself) were just barely becoming ideas in our parents mind’s. There is an unbelievable vibe translated through the imagery and the lens of the photographers. There is just something completely authentic about the images. You can tell that these are people Stussy knew and interacted with a daily basis. These are not hired models who fulfilled an image that marketing directors said would lead to increased sales. The term, “lifestyle brand” did not exist when these pictures were taken. These sort of images and the actual life lead by those in the pictures were what allowed for that term to come into fruition today.
Despite the fact that it is hard for me to find more than a few pieces from recent Stussy releases that I am able to purchase, I will forever be a fan of the what Stussy represents in the entire streetwear universe. This is the line that paved the way for everything that every single company you are familiar with today tried to do on a daily basis through their blogs and clothing. Stussy created a brand based off of a lifestyle before there were blogs or the internet to do such a thing.Despite the fact that Stussy himself has distanced himself from the company for many years, the company in its prime had such an amazing visual appeal that I can’t help but declare my allegiance as a life long fan. Even in simple black and white there is a perfect energy and passion for life captured in the older Stussy imagery. The surf lifestyle combined with a seemingly college kid’s take on life combined for a seamless blend of lifestyle apparel that fit Shawn Stussy’s original mission statement, and Stussy’s own life to a perfect tee. (Utterly horrible pun completely unintentional.)
Whether or not you are a fan of the most recent incarnations of the brand, there is simple no denying the implications of where this brand came from. So as far as I am concerned, even if I can only wear vintage Stussy obtained from eBay, the brand is, and will forever be, a classic