5 film degli anni '90 che hanno influenzato lo streetwear di oggi

When I was younger I didn’t know a lot about fashion, but I always had clear ideas about what I was wearing and what I wanted to wear. I grew up listening to hip-hop music, buying sneakers and, as a real tomboy, watching NBA with my father.

At 10 years old I didn’t know what streetwear meant, but I knew how to mix the styles that interested me, and the key word was always one: comfort. In other words I’ve always been a fan of '90s fashion, but most of all of '90s movies: two art forms that complete each other and allow us to have a global view of that period.

Below the top 5 of the movies I believe have had, and still have, a huge impact on the streetwear world:

#1 La Haine - 1995

The film, directed by Mathieu Kassovitz, follows the uneasy routine of three friends - born in France to immigrant parents and all 3 deeply embittered by the way the society treated them - in a time period of 19 hours. Despite more than 20 years have passed, the situation depicted in the movie remains relevant in the present, pointing out that there will always be a struggle between the youth of the suburbs and the police in the biggest cities of the world. Sportswear is used here to express a sense of rebellion: Nike, Carharrt, Lonsdale and Everlast, each brand is indicative of their inner conflict. Streetwear has moved from the street to the catwalk in recent years with subversive and ambitious designers such as Gosha Rubchinskiy and Demna Gvasalia.

#2 Kids - 1995

A raw and realistic portrait which show the difficult reality of a group of adolescents living in New York's suburbs. The film is also a tribute to hip hop, indie rock but especially to skateboarding, so much that Supreme worked with Larry Clark - the movie director - several times over the years, and last year launched a collection inspired by the film to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Recently, James Jebbia admitted: "Supreme felt like Kids in real life”.

#3 Menace II Society - 1993

The film follows the life of a young man named Kaydee "Caine" Lawson and his closest friends, grew up in the south of Los Angeles. Scenes of violence, vulgar language, and the drug-related content is a raw but real portrait of urban violence, and when the film was released in ’93 has received much criticism. It’s one of the cinematic strongholds of hip-hop culture, and carries the voice of a whole generation. Streetwear in the movie is much more present than you might think: from Cross Colours oversized sweatshirts to Guess long-sleeve tees, I bet Asap Rocky, for his new capsule collection for Guess Originals, has taken inspiration from here.

#4 Friday - 1995

The film is a 16 hoursì window on the lives of unemployed Craig Jone aka Ice Cube and Smokey. They have to pay $200 to a drug dealer before 10 pm that night. Hilarious is the first adjective that comes to my mind, and one of the primary reasons why I recommend you to watch it - if you haven’t already. The second reason concerns the goodies worn by Craig and Smokey: from flannel shirts to Nike Air Force 1, the pocket tee and ever-green Chuck Taylor's black: an absolutely current combo.

#5 Boyz in the hood - 1991

The portrait of the Los Angeles’s black ghetto in the late '80s, where violence and gang fights are commonplace. At the center of the story we find young Tré and his brothers. This movie not only shows the daily struggles of black people in America, but also streetwear style that then affects an entire generation. Baseball jacket, baroque fantasies simil-Versace shirts, baggy jeans, caps and denim shirt: the debut of streetwear in the late 80s and early 90s, all pieces that can be found on present catwalks.