It's never been easier to leave the house in sweatpants. It's now OK to wear a pair of Jordans under a dress. We wondered how the streetwear craze had integrated itself into the last several years' fashion culture.To do so, we turned to the experts in the field.

Ilaria Grande is one of the greatest Italian sneaker-heads as well as social media manager of nss magazine, an editorial platform that since 2012 is a reference point in Europe for communities and fans of street culture, sneakers, and fashion. Ilaria is a member of the younger generation, but she already has strong opinions on the direction the industry in which she works should take and the potential that exists. This conversation with Fashion on the Beat will help you better grasp what streetwear is and what function shoes play in a market that never seems to stop growing.

Let's start from scratch: how did you end up at NSS magazine, and what mission have you and your team established for yourselves?

Sneakers are to thank for this. When I was still in university, I began writing the sneaker related part of the website and gradually discovered my dimension. Every day, the aim that drives me and my coworkers is to push ourselves beyond our perceived limits and strive to be better. It would be impossible to do this task if that were not the case.

The world of information is always changing, and it is influenced by shifting trends. Nowadays, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, without a doubt, play a critical role. As a social media manager, I'm sure you've questioned a lot about how social media affects communication…

It's a question I've been pondering since long before I started working in social media. For as long as I can remember, I've been interested in mass media and communication. On them, I've authored essays, theses, and dissertations. Since the days of Myspace and Netlog, I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out what they can do and what they can't do. We've seen incredible progress over the years, and while we don't know where it will lead us, we can't help but imagine our existence without these instruments. They are the most powerful media today. Each platform clearly has its own personality and is used for a variety of languages and purposes, as it should be. The most important thing, in my opinion, is to understand how to use them and how much weight to give to the information and content we connect with. Common sense is required in all situations.

It seems pointless to ask you how important fashion is in your life; instead, I'd like to know what impact you believe it can have in today's society, which is dealing with the aftermath of a pandemic and the threat of a new conflict.

Fashion is a strong art form for me because, unlike a painting or a sculpture, it is something we wear on our skin, identifying who we are in a way. We've seen how the fashion industry has used its own means and platforms to send more or less powerful statements in recent weeks during fashion weeks. I feel that the fashion industry can and should do more than promote awareness among its enormous audience. It would likewise be incorrect to believe that it should do more. 

Given that we've already discussed a hot topic, it seems only reasonable to explore another hot topic today: sustainability. What are your thoughts on the fast fashion issue in this regard?

It would be more useful to write an essay in a fast fashion than just a comment. In my opinion, the problem is rather complicated. It's easy to criticize it and say "fast fashion stinks," but it's more difficult to entirely eliminate it. I believe that the new generations are considerably more aware of the issue; we are rediscovering the pleasures of the vintage while also being the generation that uploads Shein hauls to TikTok. We need to raise awareness and educate people to buy. Because, while fast fashion is unquestionably bad, the entire fashion system moves too quickly and produces far too many goods at an unsustainable rate. The more items that are given to us as poor victims of the market, the more we are tempted to buy. 

Let's delve a little deeper into what appears to be your passion: streetwear. What exactly is this style that has become the fashion world's protagonist in recent years? It might express everything and nothing.

We might claim that streetwear has always existed since it is what cool youngsters wear on the streets. Officially, streetwear begins when the youth movements of the 1960s/70s - but more massively in the 1980s due to the economic growth - flood the streets and demonstrate that there is a world outside of adult attire. We now associate streetwear with Supreme sweatshirts and Stussy jeans, but these are simply the labels that have placed their stamp on what the youth was wearing in recent years. We then prefer to associate the movement with hip hop because several "streetwear" firms emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s, significantly altering and influencing the way people dress.

Some of them are really bold, while others are perhaps a touch too exaggerated. Colors, shapes, and volumes can go too far from the alternative concept, resulting in a "random outfit." Aren't you convinced?

No, I don't think so. It is the concept of haphazard dressing that is incorrect. The viewer will most likely think it's random, but the wearer will not. I want to see what you wear as a highly creative endeavor that I don't want to belittle. Even if I don't like someone's fashion sense, I like their creativity. It's always better to be dressed haphazardly than to be dull.

Let's speak about sneakers, which are both a key component of this look and a personal favorite of yours. What role have they played in recent years?

Sneakers have become ingrained in our culture. There isn't a high-fashion label that doesn't feature at least one or two top sneakers in its collection. It wasn't always like this, and it's almost surreal to think that they weren't as common until the 1980s and 1990s. This has been brought to its logical conclusion by the hype culture. On the one hand, this makes me delighted because interest is presently very low. In the previous five years, everything has been greatly exaggerated. Now that we're in the midst of the next phase, we need a breath of fresh air in our industry as well.

Ilaria does not confine her concept of creativity to the realm of the new, «It's a little tricky to talk about an innovative brand nowadays because, no matter how innovative an emerging brand is, creating a completely new product is really difficult. If we consider innovation in the context of communication, however, there may be an exception» she affirmed.

We asked her to pick two brands that she feels to be particularly inventive, one emerging and one established, to wrap up our chat about fashion and streetwear

«The most innovative brand of all time for me is hands down Comme des Garçons, Rei Kawakubo has deeply influenced everything, and if I have to think of a relatively young brand with fresh ideas and a unique aesthetic, I will say Ottolinger».