http://www.highsnobiety.com/2014/11/17/streetwear-corporate-ownership/
You don’t have to look far for proof of streetwear’s current boom. Everyone from Business Of Fashion to The New York Times is queuing up to sling you their two-cent take on the unprecedented growth of this once-fringe interest, and the question on everyone’s lips right now isn’t so much “when will it end?” but “how can you get involved?” In 2011, Reuters valued the global streetwear industry at a not-too-shabby $60 billion and since then that number has only grown. It goes without saying that such performance has not gone unnoticed…
In fact, while these impressive numbers still pale in comparison to the $290 billion-a-year luxury goods market, thanks to the continued cross-pollination of ideas between high-fashion and street culture, interest in the long-term future of streetwear has never been greater. Far from being seen as some immature younger sibling to the serious world of catwalks and couture or a diminished version of the high street, streetwear is now a credible, comparable force in the global market and many would like to see it managed in a similar manner. That’s code for one thing: more corporate ownership.
USA Streetwear Market Research Report - 2015
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In a way, streetwear is like porn-we can't exactly define it, but we know it when we see it. Though, that doesn't necessarily make determining the business numbers of it any easier.
In 2006, accounting firm Grant Thorton pegged urban apparel sales at $58 billion. In 2011, the streetwear market was estimated by Reuters to have a value of $60 billion USD. The streetwear industry valued at over $70 billion USD for FY2012, is likely closer to $75 billion for FY2013. The Global Sportswear Apparel Market, which includes surf and skate apparel, was valued at $150 billion for FY 2013. The luxury goods market, fond of co-opting streetwear (think: Givenchy's Rottweiler), is estimated to be worth $290 billion (£230 billion euros) for 2014.
Since the 1968 Paris riots, high-fashion has been inspired by street fashion. Yves Saint Laurent started it, then Vivienne Westwood took the torch by selling high-fashion punk. Raf Simons has been doing "street" menswear with his eponymous brand since 1995--and continues to. Meanwhile, rappers began name-dropping brands as soon as they began to fiow. As the prominence and wealth of rappers grew, the brands they mentioned changed: from edldas to Masion Martin Margiela, By doing 50, rappers schooled street kids on the finer things in life, It's a logical jump--streetwear has always been obsessed with exclusivity and limited-edition goods--which high fashion (with its high prices) inherently provides. 50, in funny twist of events,
