#vlone x off-white

[wiiildflowerrr]

Michael's checkered canvas lace-ups are by Off White* X Vlone.

*From Virgil Abloh's era. Available from resellers for $300-$700.

[hype-blr]

[xnvls]

[ethanryanpunal]

Skepta

Shot by Gunner Stahl

[instructionsonback]

[npredatorn]

WALLPAPER

[swankfeets]

Follow swankfeets your daily dose of dope feets!

IG: swankfeets

IG: supadupaaswankin

[lorenzohattorifilm]

IG: th4nd4k4

Young and talented

[solebystyle]

There are some incredible tips in which you can style your printed or solid color t-shirt such as you can wear it with denim, denim helps you achieve a casual look instantly while keeping it subtle. You can also go with a vlone-off x white supreme t-shirt by adding an extra layer of clothing to it.

[wavygram]

wavygram

[kalaango]

Who is Vlone and what happened to him?

Despite the title of this article, we are going to unpack some of the things that have made this brand a part of hip hop culture since its birth, as well as its continuing influence. In order to understand the importance of Vlone, it is imperative that we understand that it is not only a fashion brand, but also a lifestyle brand that has heavily penetrated the culture of youth. The fact that this brand is different from your average street wear brand is why it is so important to point out how and why it has reached where it is today within the current market. Due to this fact, we can also connect fashion and Vlone through A$AP Rocky, whose presence as a member of A$AP MOB makes it unique. Despite the fact that it is the body of an artist at the core, there are many other parts to the architecture, which allows the structure to stand on its own.

Vlone and the ASAP Mob are parallel brands that don't stop there, as Bari a founding member of the A$AP Mob is also the creative director of the lifestyle brand and oversees anything and everything that has to do with that. There were also other important members of the Vlone team during its founding including Edison Chen, who was a multidimensional individual and designer for the brand, and of course A$AP Rocky, who as we mentioned previously, was the first style icon to bring attention to the brand. Vlone's ethos was powerful in that it captured the attention of its demographic in a variety of ways. "Vlone" is a play on the word "Alone" which is a common feeling among many young people who are trying to navigate their way through society. On the sleeves of long sleeve T-Shirts as well as on other garments of the Vlone brand is the slogan 'Every Living Creative Dies Alone'. These were the mantras of the Vlone community during the period of 2014 to 2016, which saw the emergence of creative minds all over the world.

A large part of the Label's success was its profound influence on Hip Hop culture, which was another way through which it reached out to the youth indirectly. It was a huge success thanks to the support of budding artists at the time, who we now know to be megastars, including Gunn, AJ Tracey, Lil Uzi Vet, and Playboy Cart. One of the ways the Vlone lifestyle was front and center on album covers, music videos, jewelry, and even tattoos was that people put their loyalty to the brand right on their bodies, something I think all luxury and street wear brands can only envy, Gucci comes close to it, so all major brands can dream of this level of brand loyalty.

I would like to return to my initial question, 'what is the destiny of Vlone'? It is fair to say that despite the fact that Vlone is still very present in youth culture, its trajectory to the point of the status of brands a similar to Babe and Supreme has definitely slowed down in the past few years, this is because of various factors including public scandals, broken friendships, and the overall direction of the brand in terms of its fashion ethos.

  It was in May of 2016 when any signs of a dent in the seemingly unstoppable rise of the Vlone brand began to appear. Ironically, the first sign of a rift in the brand's unstoppable rise was the infamous dispute between creative director A$AP Bari and client/mentee Ian Connor, which unsurprisingly unraveled during a Vlone x Off White pop-up store that was one of the brand's biggest successes in terms of being a part of the brand's success. Yet, it wasn't just the pop-up shop that pointed to the break-up of Bari and Ian. Fans began talking about the two self-confessed brothers rather than the magnificent collaboration that just got underway. In the beginning of the conversation, fashion was the subject, but soon petty issues began to rise, which was a disappointing outcome for the Vlone brand, as one of its major influencers was at odds with its creative director. Eventually, the company was exposed with the producers suggesting that the line was just a cash grab and not intended to create a superior product for the consumer. In my opinion, this was not a major blow, but a sign of what was to come.

Another scandal that caused the brand's trajectory to go astray was public scandals involving mastermind and creative director A$AP Bari along with a sexual assault case that was recorded on video and was leaked to the public. As a consequence, this resulted in a vast amount of public backlash and since Bari is so closely grouped to the brand Vlone, this caused a big setback in the brand's trajectory in moving into the next stages of its fashion hierarchy. The allegations emerged after Vlone's first runway show at Paris Fashion Week to their high profile collaboration with Nike, which began in 2017, a year in which they have made enormous progress in the fashion industry. In response to the allegations, they terminated their relationship with Nike, and you will not see them at any runway shows or events during fashion week.

By detailing some of the factors that have likely contributed to the brand's seemingly stunted growth, since the scandals, it would be difficult to conclude that Vlone is not still a significant part of youth culture, street fashion and youth fashion today. The reason for this is due to the fact that the appeal of the brand was based on more than just oversized graphics on a t-shirt or a 'V' at the back of a hoodie. As a lifestyle brand it had too many strings attached to it, that allowed it to endure a setback that would have killed many brands. While the Vlone logo and name are still very much alive and well, the fashion aspect of the brand has taken on a new identity in recent years. Originally the brand was started by Bari, who was the creative behind the march for the A$AP MOB tour, and now it seems that the brand is going back to its roots by partnering with young artists/musicians who inspired them throughout their rises, such as Navy and the late rapper Pop Smoke. There is no doubt that Vlone has grown to be more than just a fashion label. It has become a part of the culture in its own right.

[itsvanburen]

[ethanryanpunal]

A$AP ROCKY