When Street Meets Smart Dressing

URBAN APPAREL HAS been, for a long time, the preferred dress for younger consumers labeled part of the “Hip-Hop” or “MTV” generation. Bright, intricate prints, flashy embellishments, and both baggier fits as well as closer, truer fits to the body are trademarks of urban apparel. Certainly, plunging neck lines, shorter midriffs and tighter everything have taken up residence in urban fashion circles.

How does this translate to promotional products? According to Chloe Yoon, CEO of Paramount, California-based Unplugged Label, it translates well. “Urban wear [offers a] mostly comfortable and very relaxed fit, so anyone can wear it,” she said. “It fits the promotional industry because promotional clothing will be distributed to many different types of people.”

Yoon, whose line of apparel runs the gamut from cutesy tees and tanks to racy shorts and “skorts,” pointed out urban apparel is not age specific. “Casual clothing is not only for young[er] generations,” she said. “We can easily see nice casual styles in even up to silver ages. This shows that urban wear can become very adaptable to any [age group].”

Who better to discuss urban apparel’s sweep of the promotional products industry than someone who makes a living promoting the Big Apple’s transit system? Lynn Lambert, president and owner of NYC Subway Line, Chappaqua, N.Y., creates must-have designs of New York City’s Metropolitan Transit Authority’s Subway Line on T-shirts, hoodies, baseball jerseys and hats. “So-called ‘urban fashion’ has become very mainstream with people from kids to teens to adults and even middle-agers wearing or using the items,” she said. “Plus, they’re hip.”

Urban apparel is hip, but, according to Lambert, should not be considered exclusive to the Hip-Hop culture prevalent in most urban communities. “Urban fashion is not just [about] Hip-Hop,” she explained. “In my mind, it encompasses all urban styles and all ethnicities who live in or love the city and city style.”