Wearing what you’re feeling in statement graphics, characterizations, and designs on T-shirts, hoodies, caps, sneakers, and even denim have become important representations among youth culture for expressing individual style and attitude. As streetwear design trends continue to take cues from events in the world at large and how people feel about them, you can be assured that graphic motifs such as skulls, weaponry, graffiti, and a strong mix of environmental, bling, money, and politics will continue to be among the forefront of fresh streetwear style.
In our latest look at what’s happening on the streets, including which brands are being worn among specific demographics the most and why, we deliver a quick peak at the top trends in graphics with images that make a statement.
Key Trends in Current Streetwear Graphics:
- Graffiti-inspired lettering from bubbles to angles usually indicating a preference for location, characters, or a statement
- Skulls, guns, weaponry in general but often used in an ironic combination such as with a sun, stars, or trees
- Metallic foils in gold and silver to make a silkscreen design pop
- Brand logos printed in smaller fonts as the actual all-over print graphic, i.e., Stüssy, Circa
- Political messages and statements in graphics
- Scary clowns like life is no laughing matter, ha ha, as seen with edgy depictions of clown mouths and teeth elongated like prison bars
- Asian-inspired characters, women, leaves, but juxtaposed with a punk aesthetic of metal studs
- Freshjive-esque old-school bringing back the retro beauties of classic pageantry
- LRG delivering ironic mixes of sunbursts and upside-down crowns with plants sprouting from the inverted bling representation
- Car culture in motifs such as Famous Stars and Straps
- The whole 9-thing and then 9’s in the graphics of a 9
- Diamonds, dollar bills, and crowns
- Cartoons, characters in cartoons, cartoon expressions such as Argh! Bam! Powee!
- Graphics on plaids mixing up straight-edge with style
- Punk flyer type graphics such as a mix of type fonts like “defiance” and graphics like gas masks, people, and guitars
