Here is a little snippet of the app that is coded as a base thus far:
Community Sign Up Site
After receiving feedback from my day at Google, and Natalie from ALL EYES – they both recommended I begin a sign up site as of right now to collect emails from those within the community who will download the app in the future for launch. I am designing the website and testing my UX skills, but keeping it basically simple as a teaser. I looked into form websites, WIX, and I did an initial test through WIX. Although, my friend Will codes and designs websites and is looking to build his portfolio so I am reaching out to him to help in making my page so I do not have to pay a fee for $17 a month to run a WIX page with the URL: youniformglobal.com
Streetwear Essentials – Day 1
Starting the first unit of my parsons online streetwear course, I was amazed. I had never seen academic works so recent describing the variations between streetwear so accurately and something that reflects my initial 2019/2020 ethnographic research. Here are some of my notes I took:
- Streetwear is a broad and imperfect label–its meaning malleable, contested, and endlessly reimagined.
- Some see it as a rebellious expression of the lifestyles of marginalized populations, a subset of fashion imbued with racial and socio-economic undertones.
- Others would argue that it only represents a market segment, big business devoid of its original, authentic origins in subculture. Yet no matter how one defines it, streetwear is part of our global lexicon.
- what you are creating is born from the streets as culture
- Then you have these, the most recent iteration of this kind of category that we carry is streetwear that’s highly inspired by high fashion. (Examples include Fear of God; Off White; Rhude; John Elliott) Where it’s streetwear but it’s not made the same way street wear’s technically been made. It’s made through the lens of high fashion.
- “Union was the birthplace of streetwear in a more simplified way in that it was tees, sneakers, sweatshirts, hats, that kind of thing. So if anything it might have been born that way, but it had to grow up and evolve. So it evolved and evolved and started to do more like cut and sew, more like pants, jackets, so on and so forth.
- At some point that was kind of latched onto very seriously by the Japanese market. And Japan started making their version of this thing that started in New York, what I believe to be started at Union in Soho.
- And their version was much higher end. They kind of mixed, like took the sensibilities of streetwear but ran it through almost like a high fashion kind of program.
- And then there’s another category, which we don’t really carry in the store, but now that begets the opposite of that, which is high fashion’s now taking notes from streetwear. And we don’t have that, but I think everybody understands when they look at Balenciaga and what they’re doing. They’re part of a bigger machine.
- Streetwear is hot right now, so that’s what they’re going to do. But in two years it could be something very much different and those brands have like 80 plus or whatever years where they’re going to switch and it won’t necessarily fit within Union. So I don’t think it’s honest, it’s nothing against the brands.”
Updates to the App
I know it has been awhile, so I wanted to have a catch up. I have been on a break with my app coder, and we have come to an agreement to create a final walkthrough of my mobile application. In addition to this, I have been taking my parsons online course to learn about streetwear in an academic connection. One update within the app that has taken place thus far is – WE HAVE A moving bar!
Thats all for now!
Parsons x Streetwear
During this time of uncertainty, I decided to utilize my time well and apply for a program I had my eye on for a few months now. When it comes to resources for streetwear, I felt quite limited as I chose a very niche category or subculture to evaluate. I had read every single book provided across UAL Libraries physically, and I was looking for the next form of learning and information. I had ads pop up across my Instagram and Youtube for this online course provided by Parsons in collaboration with COMPLEX about streetwear and the business.
I decided I had so much free time on my hands, I would apply. No harm. I got in! Although with a very high price of $999, I wasn’t ready to give all my money away. I applied for a scholarship and received it! So I am very happy and I am going to begin my journey this week.
Direct – to – Consumer Brands
During my marketing research, I wanted to figure out our best tactic to appeal to Gen-Z. I looked at case studies on brands that utilized direct-to-consumer marketing. Bobby Hundreds – an individual I reference a lot from the streetwear community defined this marketing as: Direct-to-consumer doesn’t just stop with sales. It encompasses marketing, cultivating trust, and most importantly, community building. I reference him as he is one of the first transparent individuals to discuss what goes on behind the smoke and mirrors of drops and parties within elevated streetwear. He was also the first to do this before it recently became a thing desired by Gen-Z. He had a voice online through his blog, and took the feedback his audience gave him to heart and changed how The Hundreds could accommodate them.
A more recent brand created by students in New York is Parade – a sustainable and inclusive underwear company. They aim to make a cultural impact on Gen-Z, through their usage of Influencers to their tone of voice. For Parade, they believe social media ads don’t cut it and that means their shift to focus is in community, text and digital experiences.
Brands like Glossier, Parade, Warby Parker, etc. all utilize this community driven contact, just as YOUNIFORM will based on its relationship the elevated streetwear community. Streetwear was born in community and rebellion and it will continue to rise due to the open mindset of Generation Z, or what Bobby Hundreds calls them – the new wave generation. The ones who were raised on his blog, and will continue the legacy for those who interpreted the subculture when it first was born.
YOUNIFORM Breakdown
I wanted to go back and break down YOUNIFORM utilizing the chart provided, as well as make a SWOT analysis moving forward to aid in how I write about my project in the 1,000 word essay. Here is it below:
QUARANTINE FITS
During a time that is so uncertain, what we put on everyday gives us a sense of routine. I decided that Youniform wanted to work on a project where we collect the community’s best ‘fit pics’ or outfit pictures inside during quarantine. We had participants from Instagram as well as High Fashion Talk submit their ‘WDYWT’ or what did you wear today looks. They were sent via DM to show what they are wearing during this time to stay safe and inspired. Here are some of our recent posts below:
YOUNIFORM Breakdown of App: A social Networking App
I’ve always been asked to continue to refine YOUNIFORM and question why it would fulfill the gap in the market and the best way to do so as a product: with every meeting I’ve had. After heavy discussion with my co-founder, we realized the shopping and marketplace aspect of YOUNIFORM doesn’t make sense with its values and message. It also technically would be extremely complicated due to our In-house coding. We decided to step away from the marketplace aspect, removing a large group of competitors such as Depop and second hand sites. Grailed is still a major competitor due to its educational and community aspect of ‘Dry Clean Only’. I recently had to send a breakdown of the application to Ammolite – a production and creative company I am going to intern for. The founder was so excited to see what this application can do! Here is a newly refined breakdown below:
As I have to pitch write a blurb of what YOUNIFORM is: I challenge myself to do it every few weeks (due to my workload) and here is the most recent one that I have been sending out to people.
For those who are fashion conscious within the elevated streetwear subculture, they have hit a wall creatively with Instagram. For those who are fashion curious and want to get involved, they don’t know how to, or where to begin. There is a gap within this Gen-Z subculture to create a safe space for the online community.
@youniform.global is an extremely personalized mobile social networking application, as a one-stop-shop for everything related to elevated streetwear. It connects and educates the online community. Youniform provides features such as: outfit inspiration, news and videos, discussions, and more. The user’s profile creates a timeline to archive and document the user’s journey with their personal style.
Inspo Detail Page
As a team, we decided after coding and laying the groundwork down – we should work through each section and work through extreme detail. We decided to work through the inspiration page. Jason designed the UX for the detail pages that we were missing, and Luca decided to code and work through to make sure it matched in the backend. Here is a preview: