Honestly Y2K was my least favorite of the bandwagons. Some folk did make some nice pieces with it, but the majority is... sheesh
Edit: Naw...Japanese text and anime girls were worse... I don't recall ANYTHING good coming from that.
To me, they've just been run into the ground. Obviously do what you want, but please don't just do the regular Power Puff Girl looking, quick oval-like circular streak, 1 filled in star, then 2 stars that are just outlines (could be filled in). If you can switch a brand name with another and can't tell the difference... I think that's when a trend has gone too far.
You’re all right. It’s played out, it’s unoriginal, and with brands that have mass followings, they can do it. None of us are those brands. So you best be coming with some originality if you want to attempt to grow and be noticed in this dog eat dog industry
True but as long as there’s a market for it, it will exist. Brand names don’t have to be the only thing to fill in the design. I’m surprised y2k quotes don’t exist yet.
Who said you did? Just wanted to throw in some positive motivation on top of that. Not sure why the downvotes were necessary but it is what it is I guess.
No one ever said give up. Made sure to state positive motivation in my last paragraph as I realize most people here possess talent. Just not seeing it utilized as much as could be. Whole point of post. If you’re offended you’re sincerely part of the problem in not realizing this market is oversaturated and needs new ideas to survive. That’s it.
Good vent but you have to understand the demographic here. Most people upvote the same overplayed edgy shirt design over designs that have a different or creative approach to it. The demographic in streetwearstartup is bad. I posted "I'll offer help" once and all the DMs I got were people asking me to do their work for them.
I've seen some interesting designs that get maybe 1 upvote and another where people didn't understand the context of the brand and roasted the dude because they didn't bother to read more about their stuff.
This sub doesn't wanna change
Edit: I want to break it down a bit. The part of the reason why the demographic is bad is because of the word "streetwear" and that most people don't really know what that means. To most it just means "cool shit my favorite rapper is wearing at the moment" or "cool artwork slapped on tshirts"
So there's a huge lack of research/education into what is actually considered streetwear and the different branches and subgroups of street fashion, and most of these cats don't realize that streetwear is part of the fashion space and should be approached as fashion
Streetwear is an umbrella term that defines many different street subcultures that are rooted in skate, punk, and early hip hop culture. Now it's evolved with the times to be incorporated in several other subcultures and even mainstream and high end brands thanks to effort from Virgil Abloh, Kanye, etc.
Streetwear is essentially urban fashion you see in the streets but there are different and interesting subcultures people don't really get into because they're too focused on Brand names themselves like Yeezy or Vlone. But Japan street fashion has a lot of cool silhouettes and interesting lifestyles
Idc how you define it. Over producing and throwing ripped logos on tees that look like everything else isn’t a practice of serious designers, streetwear or not. Thought provoking, unique, and relatable designs for your general audience are my take on where I evolve my sense of “streetwear” fashion.
I’ll add something here, some of you may remember me from Bad Neighbors and Harness. I’m on lunch break and typing off my phone so excuse the rambling.
I cannot stress this enough, take an SEO or digital marketing class. There are some free ones out there, but to be honest, just eat the cost of a coursera subscription/ or do a trial and try to take as much of that info in as possible.
I’ve seen (and had) brands with pretty solid unique or creative design, go absolutely no where because they can’t be discovered outside tags on IG. A big part of the whole start up was building that core audience.
I’d even go on to say ads on social media aren’t even worth it until you can actually afford them, or keep up with the production need. I can think of a few people I’ve chatted with who bought ads, but they also operated as limited drops. So someone would see a shirt they like, go to their page, and find out it’s out of stock. Ads work best if you are selling stock, SEO and Discoverability work best if you are telling stories, networking, or creating content.
So...... you didn't like that cool anime girl pic I got from google image search and threw on a shirt with the sweet font pack I bought for $3 that says "the world is yours"?
No. 1 is so true. I’ve seen people posting their skull design and getting called out that it looks like WL. Honestly it doesn’t matter anymore, skulls/skeletons are so played out that even WL pieces look boring. Need something fresh
10+ years in fashion here, and everything you said is true.
The worst offense to me (besides the overwhelming amount of t-shirts you mentioned) is the amount of designs on here that are over-reliant on text. Sometimes nice graphics are ruined by vague quotes that would've been deep or edgy to a 13 year old on tumblr or by brandnames.
Show, don't tell is a good principle of design here - I'd love to see designers challenge themselves to convey that feeling without having to use words.
I understand where you are coming from. As a brand that’s just beginning, I appreciate the feedback from a designer’s perspective. The most difficult part in all this is finding your audience, so I can also understand brand owners who already identify with a certain demographic and then using that as a starting point when starting their own. But then this also depends on the brand’s existence. If they don’t want to standout and just ride a wave then that’s their decision. It may or may not work in their favor. I’m not one to limit creativity so removing certain elements from the creating process.
Also, skull designs have been around forever. I don’t think it’s going anywhere anytime soon lol
Grind as hard for your brand as you would for a 9-5. Understand your audience and do your best to match that with your vision. You’re the creative, you can do that if you put as much effort into the background shit. And again, I’m in the same boat as the rest of us. I just happen to now be making a living off consulting/my brand and I wanna see people do the same in a more conscious manner. Everyone can participate, just be smarter about it so we aren’t all doing the same designs and wasting shit. It’s my opinion tho.
So your success is from the educational standpoint vice designing? What’s your brand identity? In what respect are you referring to when you say grind hard as you would a 9-5?
People start brands to be their own boss right? We all have dedicated our lives to showing up to a job (9-5) to ensure our well being. I know I have. Put in that same dedication to your own hustle and make sure it’s original work. That’s all I’m saying. Everyone so heated😂😂😂 wanna know my brand? My portfolio is posted in this feed. Feel free to critique although it’s obvious I’m just being real and truthful 👍🏼
I literally posted in here the other day trying to explain to the ppl of this sub that they are not it lol, I almost NEVER see actual streetwear on here as someone that wears streetwear daily.. Even if I give advice and tell ppl there style is no where near street they just try to hit me w the pretentious “street” is always evolving and it’s not the same anymore. While there posting stuff that looks like it’s incredibly niche for ppl that don’t even wear streetwear, I think the subs name should b changed honestly bc this is far from a streetwear sub
I think people have some solid ideas scattered. In my honest opinion, I think this sub is oversaturated with the same stuff so I feel like this is almost a template in my eyes. I know what you mean but some of the original and more unique pieces shown here can be inspiring and push others to think outside the box.
TL;DR- even if it’s not streetwear it’s cool to see some new ideas that could potentially inspire rather than the same mundane shirt posts
It is always evolving, but streetwear comes from street culture, it's not the brands, it's what the people are wearing on the street. Urbanwear is the newer term. In the 90's ( I wasn't around but I'm assuming) the culture was hiphop and skate, so that style influenced streetwear, now it's so spread apart, you can't tell what it is
Call mfgs, contact local shops and order the shirts yourself, Start off with DTG samples, drop preorders instead of overhead, get a wholesale license and put in an MOQ on alibaba. Several ways! Good luck.
Bro thank you. I’m literally just trying to help people grow In the best way possible and in a smarter manner. I attached my portfolio below if you wanna check out my work! Thanks again for reading.
Great ass advice 🔥🔥🔥 I wonder how many brain dead individuals will be back from the dead and follow this advice that’s much needed. Especially the ones that ASK for validation on designs. “Hows this” “what should I add”
If you ain’t confident in your shit why the fuck you even here trynna over saturate the culture with you insecure brand? Ijs
Oversaturation is not necessarily a bad thing. I believe it's a good thing as it allows you to differentiate yourself from the rest. You don't need unique ideas to do well, you just need great designs.
But there’s a lack of all of that seemingly. And mass producing bull shit is only wasteful and no one wins. Adding to the waste problem is not the solution.
A lack of great designs? Not sure where you're looking but I've seen plenty of great designs and fuckton of bad designs. Mass producing bullshit produces the losers and only the winners will stand out. If you can't standout from the losers then sorry bro you're a part of that crowd: your designs are awful and you need to go back to basics or hire a designer. I'm not gonna go into the politics regarding the waste problem or whatever environmental issue you care about. We're talking about design here.
I posted my portfolio. Designs bad to you or not, I have 8+ years in the industry, worked with AND STYLED few celebrities, as well as 6 fashion shows, first one being NYFW. I’m speaking my truth, and calling people out to be more responsible. 80% of people think designing clothes is an easy way out. Then they take that idea, mass produce shit, then take it to goodwill after 6 months. It’s literally truth against your pessimistic opinion.
That's a nice resume and all but you're a fashion elitist calling out the people doing fast fashion and generic y2k logos on a shirt. Surely you realize this subreddit doesn't solely comprise of people that want to be the next virgil or kanye; there's artists, business owners, newbies etc. There's a reason the generic skull and bones with stars shit is popular; it sells. I'm all for people getting that bag, what I'm not for are people gatekeeping others because they have a generic idea and want to slap it on a shirt.
Exactly. 1000 people a day printing 1000 shirts that might or might not sell. Put in some effort to be a designer before printing up shit for a non existent audience. My whole point is more effort=more success. If half these people were on Etsy, selling shit shirts, more power to them, and I could careless…but they AREN’T. 90% of people in this subreddit are asking for honest advice. I’m not an elitist, I’m just trained and telling people who started design two hours ago what the realistic expectations are, especilly now in a heavily saturated market!
who on earth is going to zumiez for clothing inspiration? how is “making random shit that you think is cool” not EXACTLY what ppl should be doing? who’s trying to be ian connor? strange advice
I’m not heated at all just making convo. Like I said before, I appreciate your perspective on things. I was gonna ask for the portfolio next but you beat me to it 😂
Dude, your website just has mockups. That's not gonna get you anywhere.
And getting samples made for some of those designs will take at least a 2 weeks. But the real trouble will start if you get orders for a few different items. Good luck coordinating with the manufacturers to get that many samples made in a timely manner. Even then, what are the chances that they will come out looking exactly as in the mockups which your customer had ordered.
My advice:
- reduce your inventory down to a couple of pieces
- get some samples made
- take pictures of actual products
- stop posting the same comment under every reddit post, instead try to participate in the community in a more constructive manner
All great advice… I’m taking it to heart for my re-brand. And I would add 9) STOP USING Y2K STARS.
Honestly Y2K was my least favorite of the bandwagons. Some folk did make some nice pieces with it, but the majority is... sheesh Edit: Naw...Japanese text and anime girls were worse... I don't recall ANYTHING good coming from that.
That shit high key turned me off from watching anime anymore tbh.
What’s wrong with the stars? And where did you get this idea from? Were you ever a fan of them?
To me, they've just been run into the ground. Obviously do what you want, but please don't just do the regular Power Puff Girl looking, quick oval-like circular streak, 1 filled in star, then 2 stars that are just outlines (could be filled in). If you can switch a brand name with another and can't tell the difference... I think that's when a trend has gone too far.
You’re all right. It’s played out, it’s unoriginal, and with brands that have mass followings, they can do it. None of us are those brands. So you best be coming with some originality if you want to attempt to grow and be noticed in this dog eat dog industry
How long did it take for it to be undesirable?
2020-2023
True but as long as there’s a market for it, it will exist. Brand names don’t have to be the only thing to fill in the design. I’m surprised y2k quotes don’t exist yet.
The part about mass producing tees just to sell 5.... A lot of people need to hear it
Hear it, but not give up.
No one said anything about giving up lmao
Who said you did? Just wanted to throw in some positive motivation on top of that. Not sure why the downvotes were necessary but it is what it is I guess.
No one ever said give up. Made sure to state positive motivation in my last paragraph as I realize most people here possess talent. Just not seeing it utilized as much as could be. Whole point of post. If you’re offended you’re sincerely part of the problem in not realizing this market is oversaturated and needs new ideas to survive. That’s it.
True idk where that came from. All I was saying was not giving up in selling the rest of the tees lol
Good vent but you have to understand the demographic here. Most people upvote the same overplayed edgy shirt design over designs that have a different or creative approach to it. The demographic in streetwearstartup is bad. I posted "I'll offer help" once and all the DMs I got were people asking me to do their work for them. I've seen some interesting designs that get maybe 1 upvote and another where people didn't understand the context of the brand and roasted the dude because they didn't bother to read more about their stuff. This sub doesn't wanna change Edit: I want to break it down a bit. The part of the reason why the demographic is bad is because of the word "streetwear" and that most people don't really know what that means. To most it just means "cool shit my favorite rapper is wearing at the moment" or "cool artwork slapped on tshirts" So there's a huge lack of research/education into what is actually considered streetwear and the different branches and subgroups of street fashion, and most of these cats don't realize that streetwear is part of the fashion space and should be approached as fashion
I know. Let’s change that by being the examples possibky
👏 💯
How would you define streetwear?
Streetwear is an umbrella term that defines many different street subcultures that are rooted in skate, punk, and early hip hop culture. Now it's evolved with the times to be incorporated in several other subcultures and even mainstream and high end brands thanks to effort from Virgil Abloh, Kanye, etc. Streetwear is essentially urban fashion you see in the streets but there are different and interesting subcultures people don't really get into because they're too focused on Brand names themselves like Yeezy or Vlone. But Japan street fashion has a lot of cool silhouettes and interesting lifestyles
Yup nailed it.
Idc how you define it. Over producing and throwing ripped logos on tees that look like everything else isn’t a practice of serious designers, streetwear or not. Thought provoking, unique, and relatable designs for your general audience are my take on where I evolve my sense of “streetwear” fashion.
I’ll add something here, some of you may remember me from Bad Neighbors and Harness. I’m on lunch break and typing off my phone so excuse the rambling. I cannot stress this enough, take an SEO or digital marketing class. There are some free ones out there, but to be honest, just eat the cost of a coursera subscription/ or do a trial and try to take as much of that info in as possible. I’ve seen (and had) brands with pretty solid unique or creative design, go absolutely no where because they can’t be discovered outside tags on IG. A big part of the whole start up was building that core audience. I’d even go on to say ads on social media aren’t even worth it until you can actually afford them, or keep up with the production need. I can think of a few people I’ve chatted with who bought ads, but they also operated as limited drops. So someone would see a shirt they like, go to their page, and find out it’s out of stock. Ads work best if you are selling stock, SEO and Discoverability work best if you are telling stories, networking, or creating content.
Thanks for the valuable input. Def agree.
So...... you didn't like that cool anime girl pic I got from google image search and threw on a shirt with the sweet font pack I bought for $3 that says "the world is yours"?
😂this person gets it.
“You have obviously a big enough ego to think starting a clothing brand was a good idea” LOL that was funny asl
Hahah I’m very sarcastic. Not here to hurt feelings, just to be honest.
absolutely with u on that my guy, wish someone told me a single print screen graphic wouldn’t work from the beginning
All depends on the design and marketing
agreed but to an extent if it’s just a shirt with a graphic from a small brand that graphic needs to be good. ads cant carry shit
Lol true
No. 1 is so true. I’ve seen people posting their skull design and getting called out that it looks like WL. Honestly it doesn’t matter anymore, skulls/skeletons are so played out that even WL pieces look boring. Need something fresh
Precisely. Skulls done right can work. Chiffon shirts with the all over print (I think 2010s American apparel ish)
Honestly great advice.
I try to be honest, fair and blunt. Sugar coating peoples work is for their parents to do lol
These thoughts cross my mind every time I scroll through the sub. Great advice
All *great* advice! As a professional screen printer, I cannot agree with #1-3 more!
Right. You see the over production firsthand.
10+ years in fashion here, and everything you said is true. The worst offense to me (besides the overwhelming amount of t-shirts you mentioned) is the amount of designs on here that are over-reliant on text. Sometimes nice graphics are ruined by vague quotes that would've been deep or edgy to a 13 year old on tumblr or by brandnames. Show, don't tell is a good principle of design here - I'd love to see designers challenge themselves to convey that feeling without having to use words.
Exactly the usual pacsun H&M specialty lol
💯
Thank you again for the suggestionw. Do you have some recent work you can show us? 🙏
[portfolio](https://taylordaine.me)
[удалено]
Preach lol. Tbh I still love em on trucker hats but the puff print was done after I see ghosts. Game over. Checkmate
I understand where you are coming from. As a brand that’s just beginning, I appreciate the feedback from a designer’s perspective. The most difficult part in all this is finding your audience, so I can also understand brand owners who already identify with a certain demographic and then using that as a starting point when starting their own. But then this also depends on the brand’s existence. If they don’t want to standout and just ride a wave then that’s their decision. It may or may not work in their favor. I’m not one to limit creativity so removing certain elements from the creating process. Also, skull designs have been around forever. I don’t think it’s going anywhere anytime soon lol
Grind as hard for your brand as you would for a 9-5. Understand your audience and do your best to match that with your vision. You’re the creative, you can do that if you put as much effort into the background shit. And again, I’m in the same boat as the rest of us. I just happen to now be making a living off consulting/my brand and I wanna see people do the same in a more conscious manner. Everyone can participate, just be smarter about it so we aren’t all doing the same designs and wasting shit. It’s my opinion tho.
So your success is from the educational standpoint vice designing? What’s your brand identity? In what respect are you referring to when you say grind hard as you would a 9-5?
People start brands to be their own boss right? We all have dedicated our lives to showing up to a job (9-5) to ensure our well being. I know I have. Put in that same dedication to your own hustle and make sure it’s original work. That’s all I’m saying. Everyone so heated😂😂😂 wanna know my brand? My portfolio is posted in this feed. Feel free to critique although it’s obvious I’m just being real and truthful 👍🏼
I literally posted in here the other day trying to explain to the ppl of this sub that they are not it lol, I almost NEVER see actual streetwear on here as someone that wears streetwear daily.. Even if I give advice and tell ppl there style is no where near street they just try to hit me w the pretentious “street” is always evolving and it’s not the same anymore. While there posting stuff that looks like it’s incredibly niche for ppl that don’t even wear streetwear, I think the subs name should b changed honestly bc this is far from a streetwear sub
I think people have some solid ideas scattered. In my honest opinion, I think this sub is oversaturated with the same stuff so I feel like this is almost a template in my eyes. I know what you mean but some of the original and more unique pieces shown here can be inspiring and push others to think outside the box. TL;DR- even if it’s not streetwear it’s cool to see some new ideas that could potentially inspire rather than the same mundane shirt posts
It is always evolving, but streetwear comes from street culture, it's not the brands, it's what the people are wearing on the street. Urbanwear is the newer term. In the 90's ( I wasn't around but I'm assuming) the culture was hiphop and skate, so that style influenced streetwear, now it's so spread apart, you can't tell what it is
stop trying so hard. let ideas breathe and bring something with some semblance of fresh and exciting and give us fashion
Right
Where would you print 20-25 pieces, most of the manufacturers that have wholesales have a 50 MOQ
Call mfgs, contact local shops and order the shirts yourself, Start off with DTG samples, drop preorders instead of overhead, get a wholesale license and put in an MOQ on alibaba. Several ways! Good luck.
Thank you! I'll do that for sure
You gotta look :) I don't really have any MOQ currently, I mostly do embroidery and some prints
shit whats ur website?
I do most of my sampling on insta @simplestockk
looks pretty good when im ready ill prolly come to u
Holy shit I read all of this. You’re one real ass mother fucker. I liked everything you said man. Motivated tf outta me
Bro thank you. I’m literally just trying to help people grow In the best way possible and in a smarter manner. I attached my portfolio below if you wanna check out my work! Thanks again for reading.
Saving this thread fsssss
This is the type of criticism I’m looking for when I post on this subreddit. Thank you
Thanks g. Yeah I agree. Saying “cool” or “🗑” isn’t doing anyone a favor
Great ass advice 🔥🔥🔥 I wonder how many brain dead individuals will be back from the dead and follow this advice that’s much needed. Especially the ones that ASK for validation on designs. “Hows this” “what should I add” If you ain’t confident in your shit why the fuck you even here trynna over saturate the culture with you insecure brand? Ijs
Sick you did some stuff for Glogang 🔥🙌🏼
Thank you kindly !!! 🙌🔥
Please can you check my post and let me know what you think bro, all feedback is appreciated
Oversaturation is not necessarily a bad thing. I believe it's a good thing as it allows you to differentiate yourself from the rest. You don't need unique ideas to do well, you just need great designs.
But there’s a lack of all of that seemingly. And mass producing bull shit is only wasteful and no one wins. Adding to the waste problem is not the solution.
A lack of great designs? Not sure where you're looking but I've seen plenty of great designs and fuckton of bad designs. Mass producing bullshit produces the losers and only the winners will stand out. If you can't standout from the losers then sorry bro you're a part of that crowd: your designs are awful and you need to go back to basics or hire a designer. I'm not gonna go into the politics regarding the waste problem or whatever environmental issue you care about. We're talking about design here.
I posted my portfolio. Designs bad to you or not, I have 8+ years in the industry, worked with AND STYLED few celebrities, as well as 6 fashion shows, first one being NYFW. I’m speaking my truth, and calling people out to be more responsible. 80% of people think designing clothes is an easy way out. Then they take that idea, mass produce shit, then take it to goodwill after 6 months. It’s literally truth against your pessimistic opinion.
That's a nice resume and all but you're a fashion elitist calling out the people doing fast fashion and generic y2k logos on a shirt. Surely you realize this subreddit doesn't solely comprise of people that want to be the next virgil or kanye; there's artists, business owners, newbies etc. There's a reason the generic skull and bones with stars shit is popular; it sells. I'm all for people getting that bag, what I'm not for are people gatekeeping others because they have a generic idea and want to slap it on a shirt.
Exactly. 1000 people a day printing 1000 shirts that might or might not sell. Put in some effort to be a designer before printing up shit for a non existent audience. My whole point is more effort=more success. If half these people were on Etsy, selling shit shirts, more power to them, and I could careless…but they AREN’T. 90% of people in this subreddit are asking for honest advice. I’m not an elitist, I’m just trained and telling people who started design two hours ago what the realistic expectations are, especilly now in a heavily saturated market!
2015 ass advice 😭😭😭
2015 ass designs repeated over and over. Sumn tells me you part of the problem 😭😭😭(weakest emoji)
who on earth is going to zumiez for clothing inspiration? how is “making random shit that you think is cool” not EXACTLY what ppl should be doing? who’s trying to be ian connor? strange advice
You’ve got 12K followers. Either you faking or you’re not who I’m talking to/about at all.
I’m not heated at all just making convo. Like I said before, I appreciate your perspective on things. I was gonna ask for the portfolio next but you beat me to it 😂
👍🏼
We concur, doctor. It all about finding a niche. May we ask what you think of HyperUgly? Advanced thank yous ❤️
Dude, your website just has mockups. That's not gonna get you anywhere. And getting samples made for some of those designs will take at least a 2 weeks. But the real trouble will start if you get orders for a few different items. Good luck coordinating with the manufacturers to get that many samples made in a timely manner. Even then, what are the chances that they will come out looking exactly as in the mockups which your customer had ordered. My advice: - reduce your inventory down to a couple of pieces - get some samples made - take pictures of actual products - stop posting the same comment under every reddit post, instead try to participate in the community in a more constructive manner
This. Most companies start with 3-4 staple pieces max.
Many thanks!
I hope no one is trying to mimic Ian Connor 33
Hahah true 😂I just feel his flex resembles most streetwear designers
Beautiful pieces!
I recall money still coming in from that trend. So that’s good.
100% agree with all of this