Unique Minds 10: Stüssy

This week I'm going to be talking about the brand Stüssy and also adding what I think about the brand and what I would do to change it. 

Stussy was founded in the early 80s by Shawn Stüssy. It originated as a surf/ skateboard brand (but was adopted by many different subcultures which is probably part of the reason why the brand is so recognizable today). The brand appealed to the street market due to the limited releases and original designs (which relied heavily on branding). Shawn started Stüssy by selling items out of the boot of his car with the now-iconic logo on it. The logo actually originated from when he used to make surfboards and would sign them with a marker pen. 

The brand has serious staying power, its survived over 35 years and arguably laid the foundation for streetwear as its known today. Stussy even predates brands like supreme (James Jebbia, founder of supreme, actually worked as a manager in one of Stüssys stores.)

The stussy tribe helped spread the brand out to the international audience by sending out pieces of clothing to the big creatives at that time. Stussy had and still has a definite style and doesn’t allow new trends to change the type of clothes they produce, which is a big factor of why I think they are still around today.

I really like stussys style, nearly every piece they have produced feels like it belongs, every piece has a simplistic yet arty vibe and every piece is distinctly Stussy, I couldn’t imagine me going into a fast-fashion retailer and finding anything that really touches the style Stussy has created. In particular, I really like the graphic tees they have on offer- they all have a distinctive vintage look- I could imagine myself finding any one of them in a charity shop whilst looking for vintage pieces and instantly falling in love.

Having said there are a few pieces they have on offer currently that I don’t like, some of the two-tone outer pieces I feel don’t have that Stussy vibe along with some of the zip-up hoodies. Apart from that though what Stussy has on offer is very nice. I particularly like what they have to offer in the graphic tee and the trousers section.

Honestly, if I took over stussy I wouldn’t change much, as I’ve said I think they have a very nice style and so nearly every piece feels like it belongs. I would most likely stop selling stussy in so many stores and get some of the exclusivity back- I would try and direct people to the website as much as possible as I feel selling the items on other company’s sites starts to degrade the brand identity. I would probably reduce the number of items that have the logo as the main design as I feel having the logo on nearly every piece can make the logo feel less exclusive- you can get wearied out by it if its on nearly every piece. I also think they should start experiment just a bit more with different fabrics/ designs as many of the designs are quite plain. Maybe produce one or two more out-there pieces per collection to draw a bit of interest from people that don’t like the typical Stussy style.

I have included some of my favorite Stussy pieces down below, take a look!

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Have a good week ;)