Urban wear is bold, fresh and expressive of the hunger and in-your-face fearlessness of the hip hop generation. Urban clothing is distinguished by trendy looks, controversial designs and an up-to-the-minute look.



Urban Wear Goes Designer

From the beginning there has been a preoccupation with "designer" urban clothing. It is not enough just to look "urban". New designs must be flambouyant and in your face. While youthful-looking in many regards, most urban clothing designs have been earnest and very concerned with projecting a "screw you" image.

Some recent trends in urban wear have lightened up quite a bit - acknowledging that urban wear - and the attitude projected by the entire hip hop crowd - is just like most other trends: more imagined than real. As designs began to migrate from the rapper-inspired, and usually rapper-owned design shops to more established, mainstream labels the transformation was almost inevitable. It is not credible (or even desirable) for mainstream labels to pretend they are downtrodden and unhappy with the status quo. They are the status quo. And so are their customers.

Brands such as Ecko, Akademiks and Rocawear are identified with the urban wear trend and are well known for lines inspired by the street culture that was the source of both rap and urban wear designs. In fact many of these original labels were founded by rappers themselves. Like many celebrities they were simply trying to transfer their image and notoriety into their clothing designs.

At the same time newer companies such as Vokal have further modified the urban wear label to include fleece loungewear, denim, high end velour, and brightly colored athletic jerseys. Baby Phat takes a different approach. They create a blend of hip hop style and sophisticated metropolitan fashion. The result is a refined urban look suitable for well to do trendies.

This is nothing new. Co-opting fringe trends is what the fashion industry does best. It is simply trying to cash in on the way different groups of consumers follow different trends. And it only makes sense to go after people with the time and money to pay high prices to make a suitable impression.

Wholesale Urban Clothing

On the other hand, the fact that the urban clothing market is changing rapidly has resulted in the development of a significant market for wholesale urban clothing. Since urban wear designs turn over quickly and manufacturers have to stay ahead of the curve, they are quite prepared to move large volumes of last month's designs for cut rate prices.

As a result enterprising clothing merchants can buy up sizable lots of over stocked items and sell them in large quantities - often on the internet. These items go for much lower prices than you can find in most retail urban wear specialty stores.

Some web sites will even sell wholesale urban clothing in quantities as small as four or five. This allows consumers to buy three or four items for the price of one. And it is ideal for people seriously interested in staying with the fashion trends. They can essentially replace their whole wardrobe for a fraction of what it would cost if they bought their clothing from trendy retailers.