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Punk is not dead. And it really is not. This and other underground movements live on our closets without us knowing. Because the wardrobe classics of today were the pieces of rebellion from yesterday. But when it is no longer possible to swim against the tide, it is better to go with it.

 “What do you regret most in life?” Every time this question comes up, you look for meaningful and strong answers, the kind of answers that make us think about something bigger than ourselves. However, when that question is asked to me, it is almost impossible not to have a flashback throughout all of those garments and accessories that unfortunately found its place on my wardrobe. And I say, with no shame, that my biggest regrets are pieces of fabric. There is a pair of shoes in particular that fulfils perfectly this category of harsh regret. Before we start judging, let us highlight that such choice was made during the core times of my youth, and, as such, bad choices justify themselves. But I’m talking about a pair of sneakers in neon pink leopard print. There is not even one single word in this sentence that I could be proud about, let alone when all of these words combine. So we must ask the bigger question: why? Deep down, the reason is because no one else had those sneakers. In reality, no one wanted to have them. And if this is not a cultural representation of what is underground, may this be the proof that such design should had never seen the light of day. 

The truth is that Fashion today is more democratised than ever. Excluding the extremely valuable role of Joan Rivers as fashion police, there are no rules regarding what or what not to wear, whether it may be by gender, social class, or status. We live in an increasingly globalised - the same as saying, standardised - culture, where even national references that used to be conveyed by Fashion stopped being identity symbols to become trends accessible to the entire global population. However, it has not always been this way. The history of Fashion is filled with meaningful garments. Before camouflage cargo pants existed in regular closets, these were a part of military uniforms and, for that reason, could only be worn by specific professional groups. And kimonos were not always a garment that could be found on any fast fashion chain. These reflected a strong sense of identity and culture related to Japan, where even its colours could represent the family or political connection of the wearer. Just like us, each garment possesses its unique history. An history that deserves to be told. Because if today everyone has one of these classics in their wardrobe, we might say that it does not have always been like this. 

Besides the already mentioned cargo pants, there are several Fashion classics that have seen their entrance in the industry as a part of military uniforms. One of them is the famous leather jacket. It was during the First World War that this garment made its debut, while being worn by German pilots. But quickly the advantages of this design, in particular its endurance before extreme weather conditions and accidents, reached Beck Industries, a distributor of Harley-Davidson that, in 1928, asked Irving Schott to design his own version of the garment. Named perfecto after his favourite cigarette brand, Schott’s jacket was not very different from what had been worn in World War I. The only change was in the length - it was shorter - and in the buttons, that had been replaced by a zipper. However, we must return to war times to understand how the leather jacket became a must-have of present times. The perfecto jacket made by Irving Schott became an important symbol of motard culture, but those who influenced its popularity were the armies from World War II. In the battlefield, the leather jacket was seen as a symbol of power. The North-American army had its own version of this clothing piece, the A-2 jacket, but it was the Germans who dominated the use of this material. In reality, the several Schutzstaffel (SS) divisions, including Hitler himself and other nazi high commanders, had a version of this jacket in their uniform. But this is one of those informations that History chooses to burry - and Hollywood, perhaps unaware, brings back up. In 1957, in the movie Night Passage, James Stewart wears one of the leather jackets that allegedly were a part of the North-American uniform during the Second World War. After him followed several movie references, from the brown version worn by Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones to the unforgettable look of John Travolta in Grease. From Hollywood to our closets, it was just a matter of time. 

Perhaps the First World War period was fruitful in histories, but in reality there is also another essential of the modern times that was born during that same time, in 1916. The Conserve Rubber Company had a factory where “everything made out of rubber was produced”, like his founder Marquis Mills Converse used to say. But every single summer there was a short-break in production, so in order to fulfil that gap, he created a pair of sneakers for practising sports. Its name will not surprise anyone, but the way it arrived to our closets might. Due to its malleable shape, Converse All Stars were firstly the shoes worn by basketball players, where they stayed until the end of the 50s, when new leather options arrived to the market. But not even such event stopped this brand from reaching success. In part, thanks to Chuck Taylor. Known today for having his name of the sneaker’s logo, Taylor began as the coach of the basketball team that was associated with Converse. Actually because in the beginning of basketball, it was common for brands to advertise their sports products through the creation of their own team. However, Chuck Taylor and his loving personality were always the star of the game - which turned out to be a sales driver for the brand he represented. That is why his name was integrated in the sneakers, even when these jumped out of the court to the benches, when the short version of Converse All Star was created. In reality, the brand introduced a wide spectrum of colours so that spectators could support their favourite team by matching their sneaker’s tones with their favourite team’s uniform. So no matter how Converse All Star became mainstream, it is impossible to take them away from the sports background, the niche where they rose almost exclusively during so many years. And it does not matter the context in what they are worn, Elizabeth Semmelhack, senior curator of the Bata Shoe Museum, declares that Converse All Star are not to be worn on the most “clean and white” state, because they are a pair of sneakers to “wear what you have and wear it until the end”. 

Because it is a form of self expression, it is still possible to find moments in Fashion History where styles defined as “anti-styles” are born. With other words, these are movements focused on critic (social, economic, whatever you would like to insert here) and that do it, in a certain way, through the clothes they wear. Curiously, it is also from these same movement that emerge some of the must-haves in our current closet, like skinny jeans. It was it minimalist and gender-neutral style that made this garment something underground from the start. During the 50s, (extremely) tight jeans were a symbol of rock and bad boy culture, with James Dean, Marlon Brando and Elvis Presley leading its popularisation. However, this story is bigger than just these male icons. The 60s brought the Mod subculture, a modernist movement associated with the London jazz scene, which led skinny jeans to women. Then followed its adoption by the punk movement, in the 80s, and by the emo culture, with the entrance of a new century. From subculture to subculture jumped this clothing piece, until it reached the hands of Hedi Slimane who, as the creative director of Dior Homem, elevated skinny jeans to the status of omnipresence. We do not need to have a long-term memory to remember of a moment in History where these type of jeans covered the majority of our closets (and the closets of the rest of the population). Even if, in the present moment, there seems to be the opposite movement: from being famous to the dark side of the industry. Rest in piece, skinny jeans. Or will the time dictate: “skinny jeans are dead. Long live skinny jeans”?

And speaking about long lives, this next garment was first worn in 2130 b.C.. Under the name shendit, it was a piece of fabric placed around the hips, mainly by the male population of the Egyptian people. We are talking about the short skirt, or, as we know it today, the miniskirt. The question of who created it in the modern age is, however, something that rests between two big names of the Fashion industry: the British Mary Quant and the French André Courrèges. Today, the majority recognises Quant as the creator, even because some say that the name of the miniskirt was taken from the designer’s favourite car, the Mini Cooper. Besides, it is hard to deny how the London scene of the 60s (or swinging sixties, as they are known today) represents the perfect birthplace for such a revolutionary garment. In its beginning, the miniskirt showed to be one of the biggest symbols of female sexual liberation, having converged with other crucial moments in the fight for gender equality, like the invention of the birth control. And just like many other garments that challenged gender norms, the most conservative side of the population started to associate Quant’s miniskirt with prostitution and, of course, witchcraft. Even Coco Chanel described the clothing piece as “horrible”. However, the only magic that the miniskirt showed to have was its ability to persist in time. In the 60s, this controversial garment ended up being popularised by celebrities such as Twiggy, Brigitte Bardot and Jackie Kennedy. It was the end of a time characterised by conservatism and modesty, mainly when it came to female clothing. So a piece that had once been a symbol of rebellion and progression became a staple of daily looks. The miniskirt peaked in popularity during the 90s, when brands like Prada and Dolce & Gabbana created entire collections around this famous design that started as a pure act of female rebellion during the swinging sixties. 

There are clothing pieces defined as underground for its cultural meaning, but there are also other pieces created as undergarments that enter the mainstream after seeing the day light. Having this in mind, know that if you are currently wearing a t-shirt, that would mean in the 19th century the same as wearing only a bra today. Groundbreaking, but not unimaginable. Still, the design of this garment could not have been born on a more popular realm. During the last years of the 19th century, industry workers would cut their jumpers in half so they could wear the top as inner protective layer against the cold. A few years later, this garment starts being manufactured to take part in the North-American military uniform during the First World War, always with same protective purpose. Still, this piece would only be called t-shirt for the first time in 1920, after this designation has been used by F. Scott Fitzgerald in his book This Side of Paradise. And why t-shirt? Because this was a T-shaped shirt. A simples name in its core, but socially heavy in taboos. This was a garment to be hidden, not shown. That is why, when Marlon Brandon appears in A Streetcar Named Desire wearing a look composed by a t-shirt, it could only be a sign that the world was about to be turned upside down. After this historic moment for Fashion, wearing a t-shirt became equally a symbol of rebellion, or this would not have been James Dean brand image in Rebel Without a Cause. However, this piece of fabric was still nothing more than a white canvas, carrying the ability to become an even bigger symbol. It is believed that the first graphic tee was worn in the middle of a political campaign in the United States of America in the 50s, but it was the Vietnamese War that made into a political instrument. Through this garment, messages of social and political critic were passed by text or illustrations, something that worked as a trigger for the creation of the freedom that we now see present in our wardrobe. For Spring/Summer 2017, Maria Grazia Chiuri showed in Dior a white t-shirt carrying the sentence “We Should All Be Feminists” and so we arrive to the end of a political graphic tee as something underground. An ending which is, in a certain way, positive, because if Fashion is a means for personal expression, the popularisation of such freedom through clothing was need for a long time waited to be answered. 

Let’s end with another military reference in the collective history of clothing. During World War II, British soldiers endured moments of intense cold and heat, which required resistant shoes as a part of their uniform. The solution was to bet on crepe soles. And it probably worked because not even after their return to the United Kingdom did these soldiers want to leave these shoes, wearing them during the famous dancing scenes of post-war times. The company George Cox Footwear recognised the potential of these shoes and started manufacturing what we now know as creepers. The origin of this name is still uncertain. It is not known if it is due to the crepe soles or the fact that these footwear was popularised while the 1953 hit The Creep by Ken Mackintosh was playing. However, it is known that were the Teddy Boys the first subculture to wear these shoes. But the true period of seeing creepers as something underground was spent with Vivienne Westwood. The designer, together with Malcom McLaren, opened in 1970 a store that would forever impact the London punk movement. In the decades that followed, these famous shoes with a crepe sole represented one of the biggest symbols of rebellion as a part of alternative subcultures. Today, the ideal of rebellion is still standing, but it is impossible to deny how these shoes have been appropriated by the mainstream culture in the last years. From Prada to Chanel, including the shoe line created by Rihanna for Puma in 2017, all of the big brands have now their own version of this type of footwear that for so many years marked the style of anti-Fashion. As we said, punk is not dead. Punk and so many other references related to a once underground culture, find room in the ordinary closet, but will never loose the strength of who has a story to tell. 

Originally translated from The Underground Issue, published October 2021.Full credits and stories on the print issue.