At each summer X Games, the crowd drawn to the sports represent latest trends in T-shirt graphics and fashion. Similar to last year, there’s a darkness from sunny Southern California, where the beach meets the inland empire in a multi-cultural mash-up of inspiration. However this year, brands such as Famous Stars & Straps are clearly among the leaders in this growing subculture as moto and music-inspired motifs transcend the typical action sports fashion fare. In addition, being core in this sect also means not wearing any known brand, but the most underground, or your own creation, indicating the niche direction of fashion in general as the DIY spirit of this nation continues to proliferate.

In many ways, even though the X Games are about action sports, there really isn’t any more traditional surf-inspired graphics, colors, and styles to be seen among the progressive leaders. Instead, streetwear brands and urban brands have moved in such as 10 Deep and Zoo York, and others are providing a crossover, as did Volcom in previous years, and now Fox, SMP, SRH, Famous Stars & Straps, and Affliction.

Key themes to note from X Games streetwear indicating the direction of things to come, especially in T-shirt graphics and motifs include:

• Revival of kings and queens, especially characters similar to a deck of cars
• Skulls, roses, wings in motifs that represent tragedy + hope
• Gun motifs fanned as flowers or wings—typical of the reaction to our current state of war
• Music notes as small printed graphics; mixed tapes as graphics
• Music as inspiration in general, including band-inspired graphics
• Black + White predominate colors, which corresponds with the life-death themes people are feeling—also it’s very core
• Red as the only splash of color—usually used in graphics
• Diamonds, freedom, Tupac among graphics
• Gangster-inspired and tattoo-inspired