The World Atlas of Street Fashion

by Caroline Cox

An extensively researched and generously illustrated volume offering a striking and diverse portrait of street style in cities and cultures around the world

Since the early 20th century, city sidewalks have become runways where idiosyncratic modes of dressing are presented, consumed, and exported. Their messages include resistance, solidarity, subversion, social transformation, or musical affiliation, and a group of like-minded individuals can create a powerful sartorial force. Organized by continent and with 600 color images, The World Atlas of Street Fashion examines street style in all its global diversity. The book shows how Punk’s generic language of anarchy is redeployed in London, Berlin, Tokyo, or Jakarta and takes on the unique flavor of each. It also reveals how street style can be overtly the Sapeurs of Kinshasa use elegance to reframe themselves as gentlemen, and the cholo gangs of East Los Angeles took strength from the Chicano movement of the 1960s. Street style can also be obsessive, as seen here through the K-Pop enthusiasts of Seoul, who inhabit the lives of their music idols by re-creating publicity stills through elaborate cosplay. The author discusses how such scenes can develop cachet by being underground, fostering a look’s distinctiveness and integrity. Through its extensive research, striking photography, and handsome design, World Atlas of Street Fashion is the essential resource on world street style.

Genres: Nonfiction, Fashion, Design, Art

400 pages, Hardcover

First published September 26, 2017

About the author

Caroline Cox, professor of cultural history at the University of the Arts London, is a leading fashion authority whose work explores the relationship between fashion, beauty, and culture. A lecturer and broadcaster, she is also a cultural trends advisor at Vidal Sassoon.

Reviews

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have any interest in fashion (high or low) or subcultures, this coffee-table book with 600+ photos is well worth dipping into. It covers 100 different modern styles (mostly active ones, but some more or less defunct ones as well) from around the world. Each style gets 2-4 pages and 4-6 photos (ranging from vintage, to street photography, to runway), with pretty decent explanatory text referencing specific people, brands, etc. In addition, a number of cities get 2-page spreads to provide further historical context for the styles discussed in the book.

With such broad coverage, anyone with more in-depth knowledge of a particular style is likely to question some of the visual and textual choices, but in the aggregate, the book is a good entry point for getting a sense of things. There is one editorial choice that really didn't work for me though -- in an attempt to keep the selections from being too American and Eurocentric, some styles are situated far from their roots. For example, while it is certainly interesting to see how, for example, punk style manifests in Indonesia today, it's weird to not place it in New York or London. (Other examples include skinhead style being represented by Malaysia, skater style being represented by Cuba, and mod style being placed in Canada.) The book's use of "Atlas" in the title is a nod toward being a reference-style work, and it's a potentially confusing disservice to the reader to globe-trot like this (interesting as the regional variants are).

It also doesn't help that the term "decade of origin" accompanies the location and style in a way that blurs distinctions between music, subculture, and style. For example, the listing for my own hometown of Washington, DC is for "straight edge" -- a particular subgenre of hardcore punk which I was deeply into during my teen years. However, while the subgenre originated in DC, it really took off in other parts of the country (notably New York and Southern California), and the four photos that show the style have nothing to do with Washington, DC. So when I see that kind of fast-and-loose association with the one style I know quite well, it does make me question the reliability of the book on the other 99. Those quibbles aside, it is a thoughtfully designed book that should appeal to anyone who is interested in what people wear.

[Stven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a fascinating array of photographs of people sporting an amazing range of styles. To me it seems odd that this book would be organized along geographical lines, but I'll grant that an attempt to organize it stylistically or chronologically would likely have made for a much less interesting page-turner. Factual text accompanies the photographs to describe how each style originated. Very often a clothing style goes along with a musical style. Often a political assertion is inherent in the look. Often, all over the world, American movies prompt styles. Often a style splinters into sub-styles or related styles. Here are a few I'd never heard of: New Rave. Seapunk. Normcore. Guarachero. Raggare. Chap. Zazou. Sapeur. Sukeban.

Worth a good browse or three.

[Arvilla]

A very wide and loose definition of "street fashion" that includes Bronies and Cosplayers, both of which you'll generally only see on the streets if there's a convention. I'll keep it around for inspiration but not for information.

[Jada · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice reference book and for sparking interest to learn more.

[Shahara LeFay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great genre fashion around the world, with amazing photos and historical context. I want to own this!

[Ryan Chynces · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yassssssssssss. So interesting. A few very minor quibbles, but not even worth mentioning.

[Marion · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐