When talking about his creative process, Hiroshi Fujiwara (the godfather of streetwear) said, “The most interesting things come from unexpected places."
Truth.
At Pattern, some of our most interesting work in digital commerce has been inspired by an unexpected source: streetwear. That’s right. Not from technology advancements. Not from long held design principles. Not from business fundamentals. But from the authentic and individualistic spirit of streetwear.
From its dual beginnings (in the USA at least) in SoCal surf wear and New York hip hop culture, streetwear manages to simultaneously mirror and shape culture at the same time. Drawing from music, youth, contemporary art and fashion trends, it remixes and reshapes its influences which in turn impact the very industries it draws from.
At Pattern, the intersection of streetwear and consumer behavior is influencing how we think about and design for commerce. It’s pushing us to be more authentic, more creative, more communal and really… just more interesting.
Over the past 6 years, our work has been both directly (drops, collabs, community) and indirectly (creative freedom, unexpected moments, intentional friction) influenced by streetwear culture.
Check it out.
Beyond The Drop: How Sure Wins Fuel Creativity
Drops are a trademark of streetwear and sneaker culture. Newness + Anticipation + Scarcity builds hype and almost 100% guarantees selling out (of stock, not soul).
The buzz breeds real community before (sharing excitement) and after (posting scores).
We love all of that for the brands we work with. But what we love most is the design process when success is a given: Artistic freedom. Gone are the guidelines to play it safe. Designers can take chances and break out of the norms to take the creative to the next level — because buyers are going to buy. This is our chance to crank up the volume.
Why go the extra mile when success is a sure thing? Partially because we love letting creativity shine, yes. But mostly because drop customers are looking for energy, not a predictable experience. We go beyond the technical functions of supporting drops and embrace the hype with the same “in the moment” vibe.
We’ve embraced the drop energy with our strategy, design, loyalty and growth projects across clients as varied as Bobbie, r.e.m. beauty by Ariana Grande and Houseplant by Seth Rogen.
Embracing A Collab Mindset In Everything
Collabs are a trademark of street and sneaker brands. They pave the way to embrace inspiration from unlikely sources, tap into new markets and celebrate cultural icons. Often limited in availability and part of a drop, collabs are also a great way to generate revenue and excitement without committing to an evergreen product line.
Win Win.
What's really cool is that the collab model that streetwear brands pioneered is applicable across a huge range of products and industries. At Pattern we've put this strategy to work for clients as varied as Houseplant and their Airbnb collab, Metallica and the San Francisco Orchestra's S&M concert, Netflix.Shop and Equator Coffees' Chefs Collection collab with Michelin Starred Chef Dominique Crenn.
We love creating experiences to celebrate collabs because they are a chance to bring in new voices, styles and stories with a design framework that breaks out of the host brand’s guidelines. But why limit this mindset to collabs?
You do not need an official product collab to call out where your brand finds inspiration and infuse those elements into the design. This approach adds new visual energy, fuels interesting content and shows your brand is thinking beyond itself.
Integrating customer voices may be the ultimate collab.
Street Disrupts Everything… Including the Shopping Funnel
Streetwear is the ultimate disrupter. It sparks discomfort with norms. It continuously upends trends. It embraces physical comfort while reminding people not to get too comfortable with anything.
So it should be no surprise that Streetwear has flipped the shopping funnel on its head.
People don’t follow the typical brand awareness > consideration > conversion path when buying drops and collabs. Instead they often start with purchase (catalyzed by community hype not brand promotion) and then get to know the brand better through social, email/text, physical locations like pop-ups, and the site. Essentially, hype flips the funnel.
Product strategy is the content strategy in streetwear and sneaker culture. Product cycles, collabs and placements are the key drivers of connection and engagement. And we are seeing this expand to other verticals.
While non street brands still need to engage and inspire with content, how that content is shaped has changed. Every customer touchpoint becomes a potential full funnel player instead of just the site. Stories must be told in modules, not pages wherever they appear. And … stories must be told everywhere, not just on homepages and blogs.
What’s Next?
This was (almost) a whole thought piece that didn’t mention AI. While we see a lot of potential for AI to spark or scale design, we believe the streetwear influence will remain a good balance to the tech advances afoot. Streetwear and its influence demands we approach design as a craft versus commodity. It calls for grit and intentional friction in a time of arguably too smooth production. And no doubt, streetwear will also incorporate and influence AI in its own way overtime.
One thing won’t change. Streetwear culture will continue to embody contradictions - just like the best design always does.
About The Author
Michael Janiak is the co-founder and Executive Creative Director of Pattern. With a long history of working with brands ranging from pre-launch startups to Fortune 500 enterprises, Michael's mission is to continually harness the power of good design to help founders, disruptors and visionaries find their place at the intersection of culture, community & commerce. A creative director, designer and artist, Michael has been working across interactive design, graphic design, motion graphics, video & integrated campaigns for over 20 years. A lifelong surfer, snowboarder and skater, Michael likes to spend his free time outdoors, creating graphic art & typography experiments, minting NFTs and traveling with his family to new & exciting places around the world.
About Pattern
Pattern helps brands unlock their next catalyst moment through experience-driven eCommerce. We design modern brands, eCommerce experiences, products & platforms that help founders, disruptors and visionaries find their place at the intersection of culture, community & commerce.
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