At the tail end of 2019, Virgil Abloh rattled hypebeasts everywhere when Dazed approached him about the future of streetwear. “I would definitely say it’s gonna die, you know? Like, its time will be up,” he replied. “In my mind, how many more t-shirts can we own, how many more hoodies, how many sneakers?” If Virgil Abloh is announcing the death of streetwear, pay attention. 

Abloh is a pioneer of the modern streetwear movement and made his debut when he founded the luxury streetwear brand Off-White in 2012, which came to be known for it’s screen-printed tee shirts and hoodies, ironic “quoted pieces”, and the infamous industrial belt. In 2018, Abloh was named artistic director of Louis Vuitton and brought youthfulness, hip-hop influence, and modernity to the historic brand. Upon his appointment, he also became the first black artistic director under a French luxury house. So his opinion holds a lot of weight in this industry. 

Streetwear originated in the 80s and 90s in the form of graphic tees and logos as cornerstones of surfer and skate culture. Around the same time, hip-hop music, graffiti, and break-dancing surfaced in popular culture, inspiring staple street pieces like baggy jeans, crop tops, and snapbacks. Rappers became style idols as the 90s unfolded and iconized pieces like the Timberland boot. “Bling” culture, a style that could be described as casual luxury, also emerged in the 90s, and brands like Gucci, Burberry, and Juicy Couture branched into streetwear. In the early 2000s, streetwear materialized as true athleisure when jerseys, track pants, and sneaker culture reigned. 

New generations carried these ideas into the 2010s where “bling”, skater, and hip-hop merged into in a wide category of Thrasher hoodies, Supreme fanny packs, Yeezy sweatsuits, Jacquemus ‘it’ bags, Gucci dad sneakers, and pretty much every “flex” that dominates Instagram. The 2010s served as a significant point of democratization of street style as trends from the internet influenced brands and vice versa. 

In that same conversation with Dazed, Abloh looked past the 2010s, adding, “I think that like we’re gonna hit this like, really awesome state of expressing your knowledge and personal style with vintage – there are so many clothes that are cool that are in vintage shops and it’s just about wearing them.” He added, “I think that fashion is gonna go away from buying a boxfresh something; it’ll be like, hey I’m gonna go into my archive.”

So has hypebeastery overstayed its welcome in the mainstream? And is vintage fashion actually going to grow to this magnitude?

HYPEBEAST and Strategy&, a consulting firm, collaborated on a “Streetwear Impact Report” in 2019 that concluded that streetwear is still thriving. The report found three-fourths of industry respondents believe streetwear will grow significantly in the next 5 years. The survey also found that consumers spend up to 5 times more per month on streetwear than non-streetwear, and two-thirds believe a streetwear product never goes out of style. 

On the other hand, ThredUP’s 2019 resale report unveiled the future of the second-hand fashion market, forecasting that it will double in 5 years and reach a worth of $51 billion. The resale sector of the market, referring to curated and higher-end pieces, is expected to drive its growth. ThredUP predicts that vintage clothing will make up one-third of closets by 2033. So Abloh might be onto something, but this isn’t so surprising. 

While streetwear was evolving in the 2010s, thrifters were setting trends that reimagined old 80s skate styles, 90s normcore, and Y2K mall fashion. This subculture introduced new staples that mixed with traditional streetwear. Where would 2010s street style be without thrifted Levi’s and checkered Vans?  

 Celebrities are even exploring their own elite version of thrifting: Archived designer. Whether it’s KKW and Cardi B wearing archived Thierry Mugler constructions on the red carpet or Normani posing in a 2001 Chanel swimsuit in Jamaica, it looks like luxury fashion is starting to look backward to move forward. Vintage is getting more attention across the board. 

Abloh’s statement is quite definitive for a genre of dress that shapeshifts in response to youth culture. Vintage clothing is becoming a large part of streetwear, but streetwear basics like hoodies and sneakers are definitely going to stick around for at least another decade. In fact, thrift stores are chock full of them.