LRG Fashion Show

Current king of urban, LRG, had a "street show" yesterday, apropos of what I'm not quite sure, but I do know it was sponsored by Sprite. In case you haven't noticed, urban brands have worn out their welcome and they've been replaced by next-step-up brands described as street. LRG is what I would describe as a bridge brand. It has half a foot in hiphop and the other half in street, thus making it the perfect transition brand for kids who want to take the next step, but don't want to make it a giant one.

What exactly defines street brands? Well, street is not unlike an urban brand in that some of its DNA is taken from the hood's flashiest dressers, though it was always noticeably more affluenct (and white), taking its first baby steps in a handful of international big city boutiques, which stayed connected and fed off of each other via the Internet.

Street is also more mixed up than urban, taking its inspiration from a variety of sources--rap, rock, action sports, and mashing them all together. Unlike urban brands, the street game isn't so much about perfect coordination of apparel archtypes like polo shirts or licensed jerseys as it is unique design, capable of creating an image of exclusivity. In other words, there are graphic tees and then there are graphic tees featuring a design created by a collaboration between two of the streets hottest grafitti artists. And doncha know? There are only 100 in existence.

As for LRG's show, I didn't see anything that blew me away, but I have to admit, their design and color game is tight. They took some pretty standard apparel items and brought them to another level by doing what good street brands do best--focusing on creating unique prints and color combinations, along with neat stitching and other add-on details.


^^Again, nothing special about the guy's get up other than its rocker feel, which illustrates the mash aspect of the brand, but I do like the girl's printed, three-quarter length hoodie. Again, it's not anything brand new, but the length and the print updates the look.


^^The print on the guy's jacket is slick. Take note, btw, that he's wearing boat shoes, which I predict will continue to take a bite out of sneaker sales. As for the beautiful sister on the left, hmmm, as Ms. Hill would say, "Babygirl, why be a hard rock when you really are a gem?"


^^This is actually Rocawear, which also took part in the show. The print on the guy's jacket is neat, but the white sneaker look MUST go! Most of all, the cropped varsity jacket on the girl is adorable and one of those archtypes that brands like Rocawear excel at designing.

And that's it from the fashion show. What follows are some of the attendees, some of whom were making some pretty intersting style statements themselves.


^^Kanye is one of the leaders of the street style movement. He makes his share of mistakes, but I love how much fun he has with fashion. In this image, he's wearing what I like to call his unity scarf. I interpret it as a finger in the face of the current anti-Islamic sentiment that exists right now in this country combined with a shout out Muslims brothers worldwide. It's like hey man, we're not all effing assholes. Could this trend go as mainstream as do-rags? I'm not sure about that. It might just die a quiet death. That guy to Kanye's right? I think, but I'm not sure, that that's one of LRG's founders.


^^The boys show off their goodies. That's Farnsworth on the far right. You know, Puffy's ex-umbrella man. How genius was that move, right?


^^Melyssa Ford looks yummy as a hot fudge sundae so I understand Kanye's inability to resist, but if I'm his girlfriend, right about now I'm feeling like taking my earrings off. Then again, I could never be with a famous rich guy mainly cause I'd die from stress by the second day of the relationship.


^^Here's skateboarder Stevie Williams, wearing DGK gear, which I think is Reebok's skate brand.


^^Designer Richie Rich sports a cute New-York themed tee shirt.


^^Kanye's shoe game is always tight. Unfortunately, my knowledge of which brands are which is not. I'm almost embarrassed to guess what I think the brand is...oh well, what the heck, Vans?


^^My least favorite current trend: the giant face on a tee-shirt. Melo, hun, you have an adorable face, let it shine all on its own! What's that you say? Michael said he'd kick you off the team unless you wore his shirts to event like this? Oh okay, fair enough. Sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do.