When configuring the list of “Most Impressive Feats”, resurrection stands near the top. The literal death-defying act made famous by religious figures, mythological beings and underachieving sport franchises is often completed in a more cyclical method by clothing brands. Occasionally less glorious than its religious counterparts, most companies are in a never-ending balancing act for relevancy. With countless brands fighting in the same space for the same crowd at the same time, it has never been easy. Some manage to adapt and survive while others thrive on consistent offerings and never stray too far in the red. (I don’t know if Polo hasn’t been somewhat cool/relevant/acceptable in the past 30 years.) Many will plummet off the tightrope and exist in a state of semi-struggle until the casket eventually closes. Abercrombie & Fitch wasn’t meant to exist past 2008. It’s always fun to watch the bad ones teeter into oblivion, and the incessant death is a fundamental part of any capitalist cycle - Darwin’s theories apply shockingly well to Balmain and JNCO. Although I love the carnage associated with big brand demise, happy endings usually provide more to talk about. If one brand had to embody the entire “streetwear scene” from inception to modern age, most would throw Stussy in as the ringleader. As expected from any company with a near 40-year history spanning different cultures, consumers, owners and technology – ups ands downs are pretty common. Shawn Stussy’s hip California surf brand exists far beyond the original Stussy tribes dotted around the globe. His symbolic scrawling signature still lives as an instantly recognizable emblem packed with incomparable history. People would claim I’m idiotic for even hinting that Stussy ever fumbled during its ongoing tenure, but I see an evident decline from roughly 2007 to 2013. (Honestly, I’m not even a fan of the Nike collaborations released during this period.) Once again, the spotlight isn’t the most comfortable location for brands to live in, and Stussy’s misstep aligns with a rough era for a lot of clothing companies. Karmaloop took a lot of hostages and very few crawled out alive. Despite Shawn Stussy, the living, breathing embodiment of Stussy cool, departing from the brand in 1996, the train steadily rolled into the new millennium backed by celebrities, skater dudes and fashion fanatics. (I don’t think referring to the brand as Polo-esque should be deterred. Mass appeal, and global brand power usually result in inarguable, objective success.) Thanks to the internet’s ongoing love affair with anything from the late 1990s and early 2000s, Juergen Teller’s slice of life/indie/tastefully bland/surprisingly natural campaigns have received notable attention in the moodboard era. Paul Mittleman entered his role as Creative Director around the same time and the resulting collections and imagery were super clean with no shortage of early Y2K trends that people still champion. The clothes were quite distinct from the letterman jackets donning Stussy’s scribbled signature and significantly toned down from the 80s and 90s – which I view as an immense positive. The clothing aligned with the time frame, and Teller provided fantastic photos to reinforce the brand’s image. It’s obvious Stussy understood the immense importance of good marketing – whether cool skate guys want to admit it or not – it has always been a major focus for the brand. As the newly-minted decade wore on and Teller’s ads ceased, the brand entered an interesting patch filled with scarves, ugly prints, massive logos and awful beanies. Streetwear companies in the mid 2000s were crazy. For a brand with such an insane track record, you hate to see collections so closely resemble Mishka. But, it’s still kind of awesome. It could be the nostalgia-tinged respect for brands like BAPE and Billionaire Boys Club who absolutely dominated the era, but it’s just funny – and noteworthy – to see such a historically good brand lose its step. I can’t blame Stussy for falling in line with industry trends and consumer demands, and context is everything, but the era favored some absurd, objectively bad items. (So many insane hats!) For whatever reason, fedoras, flannels, mustaches and some weird military scarf/ascot dominate the Spring 2007 lookbook. A lot of the looks remind me of those awful J.C. Penny catalogs with dads playing backyard football and families jumping up together in joyous unison. I don’t want the catalog in my mailbox, and I really don’t want you short sleeve plaids. I just can’t get over the model with the mustache. He’s too close to some youth minister that’s overly excited to tell you about his work AND he’s been thinking about moving to Santa Cruz. His hats make everything worse. This year’s Spring collection featured some t-shirts flipping popular candy logos, which considering the time and everything, I think some are pretty cool in a guilty pleasure kind of way. But, any ounce of surmounting respect is instantly blown away by the Fall drop. Again, the weird novelty fedoras and chauffer caps come to play. The all brown and pink look is INSANE. Wow! If this image was shown to people, I cant imagine they would ever associate it with a Stussy campaign. This eleven-year old comment on the Hypebeast article sums it up pretty well, “aye real talk these outfits kinda whack” – mzfresh. The lookbook also featured some women’s options. I’m not sure how popular this practice was in 2008, but it’s definitely a positive. I love the attempt at gender equality, and Stussy provided equally bad options for females. The beanie, leggings and Keds form an immaculate, unholy trinity. In comparison to how good the brand’s current women offerings are, it’s a shocker. But, you have to crawl before you can walk. Although this year did see a collaborative t-shirt range with legendary cartoonist Peter Bagge, it’s not enough to forgive the sins committed by the Fall collection. I can try to make excuses, but I’m not sure any will suffice for the barrage of 3D campaign pictures. I guess the graphic design capabilities rose too fast, and the team got a little carried away. Honestly, I’m at a complete loss of words for this one. As bad as the imagery is, the clothes aren’t helping at all. Fast forward a few years, and I think we land at the darkest spot in Stussy’s history. By this point, I was fully engaged with online shopping and all the relevant blogs and websites. These collections fully embody all the things that went wrong then. The looks are complete mash-ups, pulling from every Karmalopp-esque trend imaginable. The unsightly floral print, beanies and Charlie Brown hoodies encapsulate a certain time, and Stussy made the perfect photo album if we ever want to revisit. As the era cooled off in terms of ridiculousness, Stussy shifted alongside it and landed on solid ground again. The clothes start regaining some character and recognizable Stussy flair. Tyronne Lebon deserves a lot of credit helping the brand resemble something of its former self. Similar to Teller, his campaigns push me to engage with the brand and pay more attention. Lebon’s work is extremely imaginative and exudes some weird, energetic creativity – unlike brown fedoras ands striped scarves - that pairs well with Stussy’s recent collections. The Lebon-shot campaigns are some of my favorite fashion photographs.
Image is crucial for Stussy. But, due to the company’s size and popularity it exists in a weird little space. It’s hard to be sold in every Urban Outfitters store across America while also trying to convince people the brand still maintains an exciting creative direction. I don’t think Stussy is trying to trick people into believing its still some west coast surf/skate brand, but being in Urban Outfitters can make it seem like the opposite is true. It’s harsh for me to say the brand died during this period, but the offerings ventured a little too close to Crooks & Castles and 10.Deep for my liking. These collections are truly victims of circumstance and a rough patch for trends, but for some reason I refuse to say I hate them. The clothing just isn’t good, and I feel absolutely no inclination to wear anything, but it’s an interesting little slice of history – just unbelievably ugly.
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AuthorMax Theriot Archives
November 2019
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