Janoschka magazine Linked_V4_2019

10 i n s i g h t s
The Power
to Save a Life
It’s the mid-90s. Street fashion – literally – marks the
street scenes: wide, low-slung trousers, 9XL size
T-shirts as well as hooded T-shirts combined with
sneakers or Timberland boots. The origins of this style
lie in Hip Hop – and thus in the ghettos of US cities.
Clothes needed to be casual and loose so you could
move freely in the Breakdance and graffiti sprayer
scene. The colours were loud and motley.
Shortly before the turn of the millennium, this identification
with the ghettos and underdogs culminated in
Gangsta Rap – in musical terms, the most influential
style of the genre. Consequently, the outfits worn by
street gangs influenced clothing styles: trousers slung
low because the inmates of American prisons were
not allowed to wear belts. Nor were shoelaces permitted,
so shoes were left open to complete the cool look.
At the same time, the slums of Los Angeles were ablaze
and the notorious West Coast gangs were becoming
more radical. They too contributed to the Hip Hop
fashion story. Tattoos were obligatory, the membership
of a certain camp was also indicated by wearing
appropriate colours. Red for the Bloods, blue for the
Cribs. Los Angeles gained the reputation of the
“Gang Capital of America”. Rough estimates put
the number of gangs at up to 1,300 with more than
100,000 members.
"Damn it, G, I'll ... tattoo
that on my heart",
one of his homies replied.
It inspired the title of one
of Gregory Boyle's books.
homeboyindustries.org