Skate Fashion

Skate fashion, despite the sport itself being over 30 years old, is a relatively new thing among youth culture. As well as this, music seems to influence the fashion more than the sport itself. Skate fashion started to establish itself in the early- to-mid 90s. It followed the then-recent wave of grunge rock music, which had taken the western world by storm. This new music was different than anything the youths had ever heard. It mixed in elements of punk, metal and rock and blended them together in the form of bands such as Pearl Jam, Rage Against The Machine, Alice In Chains and probably most notably Nirvana. This new wave of music led youth culture in a different direction away from past radical fashions such as punk and the early hip-hop scene. Along with it came a new breed of fashion.

It is often argued that skate fashion already existed before the early-to-mid 90s and that skate fashion is nothing more than an evolution of punk and metal sub-culture fashion. However this new fashion was different than any other because it wasn’t as extreme and categorical as other fashions and sub-cultures. The fashion took on to youths like a bee takes to honey because of the new music reaching out to the modern teens and youths and sending out the message of what the world is like through a teenagers eyes. The controversial aspects of the new music (including several cases of band members being addicted to drugs and alcohol) were only more fuel to the flame as it was an idea that paying homage to these new bands was a statement of rebellion against societies portrayal of what makes a good person.

Around the same time as the Grunge revolution, Punk Rock music was also starting to emerge. Punk Rock was indeed an evolution of punk music because it sent out a message of rebellion and ant-establishment but it was nowhere near as radical. Instead its main focus, like Grunge, was topics that youths could relate to. Bands like The Offspring, Green Day, Blink 182 and NOFX would stick to the traditional punk sense but would also talk about teenage relationships, school life, puberty and just general things teenagers and youths could relate to. Nowadays though, because of the heated conflict between the western world and the Middle East, Punk Rock seems to have taken a step back to its roots of rebellion against governments and other politically fuelled topics.

Grunge and Punk Rock music kind of fused together into one fashion and sub-culture that is skate fashion. A traditional ‘skater’ (although it is proven that a large number of ‘skaters’ don’t actually skate) wears baggy jeans or cargo pants, a particular style of skate shoe and usually a dark coloured hoody with a desired band logo or skate fashion make design somewhere on it. Some of the most famous labels that are associated with skate fashion include DC, Etnies, Vans, Billabong, Element, Quiksilver and Volcom.

Skate fashion was at its peak around the millennium because of the new wave of ‘Nu-Metal’ music that had taken the music scene by storm. Skate fashion coincided well with this new wave of music and much like grunge music people would pay homage to their favourite new Nu-metal bands. Bands like Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, Sum 41, Puddle Of Mudd, Lostprophets and Papa Roach were just some of the bands that took skate fashion in a slightly different direction away from the Punk aspects but still remained largely similar in style.