I.小鬼,別碰我的拉夫
時間前推個30年吧,如果有個美國大哥對小弟說「小鬼,別碰髒了老子的拉夫。」那麼這個拉夫的後綴無疑會是勞倫,Ralph Lauren.
Ralph Lauren是美國時裝界的經典服裝品牌,帶有濃濃的美式風格,融合了經典與時尚,舒適與上成,無論在歐美還是亞洲,Ralph Lauren拉夫勞倫儼然成為中上層消費者及上流社會中名人的摯愛,幾乎已成為衣櫃中的必備衣著款式!
除過定製線不談,現在的RL,尤其是PoloRL這牌子的男裝也就像上面的圖文給人的印象了:所謂的美式中產階級生活方式品牌,難看的Polo衫,馬球logo,商務老男人熱衷的紫標什麼的。
Polo Ralph Lauren鏈接是PoloRL最新的Best seller單品,說句直白的,跟Gap沒差。
至於說美式風格,談休閑吧Levis,Lee,Wrangler都比你更底蘊更有故事,談正裝吧,Brooks Brothers也可以輕蔑一撇。口碑比較好的,國內有批死硬粉的恐怕也僅僅是對Double RL的丹寧單品。
而站在街頭時尚/潮流的維度,同樣美國精神的CK顯然更年輕化,適合年輕人口味,畢竟有Kate Moss早年的驚艷廣告。
不過請記得我開頭說的時間前推個30年,美國大哥對小弟的話。
在那個年代的一段時期,RL還真是叱吒街頭潮流的老大哥級品牌。
1980S的美東,要說嘻哈團體,花街的職業人士,常春藤的學生有什麼共同點,那就是都會穿Polo RL。原因簡單,RL設計師本人實現了自己的美國夢,也就理所應當地賦予了同名品牌如此的精神。
The son of impoverished Jewish immigrants from Belarus, Ralph Lauren (née Lifshitz) dreamed of imitating the lifestyle and clothing of the wealthy aristocrats living the high life in New England and the Hamptons. Starting with a small run of ties while working for Brooks Brothers in New York, Lauren would go on to found a vast empire on the back of his iconic embroidered pony – unknowingly inspiring a whole generation of designers, rappers and stylish youths in the process.
底層移民家庭出身,做夢都想過上美東上流社會的生活。通過在Brooks Brothers(明白我上面提到BB可以睥睨RL的原因了吧)做領帶生意發家,最終締造了屬於自己的時裝帝國。什麼叫美國夢,美國精神,古有Levis加州淘金賣工裝褲,今有RL窮小子紐約賣領帶創業,實為鮮活的詮釋。
而這樣的故事最對什麼群體的胃口,自然是Hustle for life的嘻哈群體。
「我是住在布魯克林的尼格,我販,吸,搶,偷,我要錢不要命可我有夢想,我一定要過上撒錢摟妞的生活。」
於是么,就有了上面那張圖拍攝的那個Crew:Lo-Life (現在看來倒是很懟High Fashion)
這幫人什麼來路?就是在布魯克林有兩個年輕的街頭團體——Ralphie』s Kids和United Shoplifters Association,共同點是都特么愛穿Polo Ralph Lauren,然後就混到了一起。這一看人也多勢力也大,好吧合併成為了新的團體:Lo-Life.
既然是街頭團體,那Hustle的事情當然得干,Drug Deal啊Pimp之類老行當我不知道乾沒干,這個Crew特色是倒賣服裝。不過是空手賣買,「順」過來東西然後賣。你看看現在so called街頭文化的Sup販子們,很文明素質啊排隊多有序的,銀行卡都揣著呢。
Lo-Life co-founder Rack-Lo received his moniker for his uncanny shoplifting ability….「We used to be graffiti writers, so we would rack cans. One day we were in Jersey and figured if we could rack cans we can rack clothes,」 Rudy-Lo recalls from his days as a booster. He continued, 「The first clothes we took were Benetton. Then we did Guess, Tommy [Hilfiger], and Polo stores. Polo got the most attention, though, so we would get that the most. We took ladies』 clothes, too. We would go to nail and hair salons to sell them. Sometimes we would even sell clothes on the train going home.」
Uncanny shoplifting ability,這個描述簡直有趣,出神入化的「順」東西能力,嗯,黑人盜聖吧。偷了一堆牌子後來發現還是Polo帥而且好賣,女裝也偷,從不愁銷路。坐火車回家路上都能交易,太有街頭畫面感了。
Pic by lo-lifePic by freshlyseriousPic by Very Artistical
我只能說80S-90S美國賣的Polo RL的貨,畫風完全跟現在不同啊,一眼望過去這不就是特么今年炒的80S回潮復古運動風么,FILA啊PALACE,SUP如今搞得這一套。笑。「It never was about Ralph Lauren」 Thirstin Howl III, founder of the Lo Lifes told Complex. 「It was about how we wore it and put it on…you』ll see somebody on the street with the exact outfit but it would not look the same.」
當然Lo Life的創始人也說了,「這跟勞倫無關,我們怎麼穿都是街頭的味道。」這點我還是相當認可的,氣質跟搭配嘛。
另外80-90S的Polo對另一個大佬也有深遠的影響,這人大家應該更熟悉。
One of streetwear』s biggest Polo disciples is Supreme』s James Jebbia. It』s hard to imagine the legendary New York brand would have such fondness for prep were it not for Ralph; Polo』s DNA (and that of its fondly-remembered Polo Sport sub-line) has run throughout Supreme』s collections since day one. You can probably thank the brand with the pony for Supreme』s love of clean-cut oxfords, color-blocked outerwear, rugby tops and collegiate branding. 「What they do is the best,」 Jebbia once told i-D.
現如今Lo Life這個團體不僅沒被時代的潮流淹沒,反而洗白做起了正當營生,繼續推廣自家的文化,遠播海外。比如有個團體叫PPC,什麼意思?Paris Polo Club
另外賣的當然是自己的貨,不用再去店裡順了。
現在再來想想開頭的那句,一個尼格大哥對你皺皺眉,「別弄髒了老子的拉夫。」Make sense?
P.S. 這是第一篇,跟我原本想寫的方向完全偏離了,到第二篇再說吧。
Reference:
Lo Life
Polo Ralph Lauren: the Greatest Streetwear Brand of All Time | Highsnobiety推薦閱讀:
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