Interview: Ben Guinn Writer, editor, connector, blogger, tradeshow coordinator, special projects manager... Steven Vogel has worn a lot of hats during his time in the streetwear... um... industry? With the release of his first book, appropriately entitled "Street Wear", he's managed to add author to that list of hats. The book is being released May 2007 by Thames & Hudson and the synposis looks something like this... "With over 750 streetwear designs and product photographs, and a global directory of the key streetwear boutiques, websites, brands and designers, here is the definitive guide to cool clothes created or inspired by urban living around the globe. All fashion designers, stylists and buyers, retail, branding and advertising professionals will adore this book, as will the millions who love buying and wearing streetwear."

It seems like you’ve been attracted to things that stray from social normality for a long time. Why do you think you’re drawn to subculture?
No idea. I think as an 11 year old and I thought rebellion was pretty cool, and despite the fact that I can dress that basic principle up in nice words now and spend an entire evening talking about, it pretty much comes down to the old saying “rebel without a cause”. I am not big on pseudo psychological reasoning why I like to rebel - it just feels good.

But did you ever hit a point where you realized that you were the weird one that was into stuff that most people weren’t into?
Yeah that came pretty early. I grew up in a small village of 300 people, and being the only kid with long hair, black tees & jeans and a skateboard freaked the living hell out of most them inbreeds. I think I was 11 around that time. The only other time it really became apparent was my first day at an American Private School - I was 14, and was a convinced left-wing skate nut with a green Mohawk in a school of 700 kids straight out of a Tommy Hilfiger commercial.

So it’s probably safe to say that skateboarding and punk music was what sparked the interest at first. Fair enough?
That just about covers it - even though I have to be a little pricky here and say that it was more hardcore/metal - I never liked punk when I was young, I was more into the complexity of metal and the political aspect of hardcore, punk grew on me much later.

Tell us a bit about your new book published through Thames Hudson called “Street Wear”. What inspired you to try and document this subculture?
Several things really... one was and still is the growing disappointment and resentment I feel towards what is being perceived as street wear by the masses. Another reason was that I felt like I could contribute something positive to this group of people from whom I have gotten so much from. I think that’s one basic principle that people from the outside forget when trying to be a part of something they are not. It’s always a give and take. You can’t come as a company, claim a whole bunch of shit, make money and then piss off onto the next trend. Well, actually you can and we’re all being stupid enough to let that happen again, as it happened in skateboarding over and over again, but you get my point.

Was your time living in London influential then?
Absolutely, whereas before, I was just another kid skating partying and having fun, I got to meet a lot of the people behind the scenes in London, who made me realize that there are a few more things to it. And, obviously, London was a great place to live & work in the mid 90s, there was so much crazy shit happening that it was just great to be a part of it.

Where do you think street wear is headed then? Is it going to stay pure and last or will it get gobbled up into fashion and sportswear?
It really depends on your definition of streetwear, even though I think streetwear as such can’t be defined, it’s a state of mind which is in turn reflected in your decisions about what you wear, rather than a code of clothing. The people that believe that shit, are the same idiots that came up with phrase “URBAN” and what not. I think there will always be designers and brands that will make clothes that I like wearing. Does that make them street? I don’t think so, but other people do. So whatever - if you are referring to the product that you get gobbled daily on all the supposed blogs, that stuff will fizzle out quickly. It doesn’t have any content, nor true sense of itself for it to last. But, shit you guys know, we have seen all that in the early 90's in skating, so I don’t have to tell you.

“URBAN” definitely is a questionable word. Pretty soon the word “STREET” will overtake it just like how “RAP” turned into “HIP HOP” in the music stores years ago. How about music as an influence, obviously it’s going to effect what’s going on… Fuck, don’t get me started on the current state of music and it’s impact on fashion. Well, actually, I think if you look at the decline of quality in music (be it rock/punk/metal/rap whatever) you can draw some pretty clear analogies to the decline in product/graphic design. But I don’t want this to turn into a 100 page rant. Blogs seem to be popping up everywhere these days. As a person who has a popular blog you seem to be focusing on the history, broad ideas & concepts that loosley relate to street wear. Has it been a conscious decision for you to stray away from your blog posts being solely product driven, as is quite common? I don’t think it was a conscious decision at first, I think that kind of came later. The product hype doesn’t interest me mainly because the majority of products hyped are shit and then there are other people doing that already. I think I like writing about the things that I do because I genuinely enjoy them, and also, because I think it is important to share what I think is important and has content. Philosophically speaking, the current state that the subculture we call our own is in is partly our own fault. I think people horde information too much and don’t share it, teach the kids what’s good and what is not. A lot of people have chosen to become to cool for school and see what happened? Did you get to travel a lot with the making of this book? Not at all. Writing is a very solitary and unglamorous occupation.

Why do you think so many people in street wear have skate roots?
Do they? Or most just claim they do? I have skated with very few people from the streetwear world, and honestly, the majority of skaters that design clothes or are graphic designers have and want nothing to do with streetwear. The people that want to be associated with skateboarding buy that product because they think they can buy into the history and integrity. That only lasts as long as they stay behind their computer though, once you meet them in real life and wanna go for a skate, you know. You can smell a raver a mile off.

Haaaa, that’s funny. I know it’s really “high school” but I still kinda love that. It’s not even about how good you can skate, you can just tell a lot from how a person cruises around. Years logged on the board are obvious. If you could rewind to any point in skate-history to experience it yourself, what would be your ideal moment to experience first-hand?
Oh fuck, too many to name. I would have loved to see Jamie Thomas land the “Leap of Faith”, been there when they filmed “Video Days”, shit I mean there’s so much, that is from the time I grew up skating that I’d like to have seen, without evening mentioning the things that happened before my time.

What about any moment in history?
Again, too many to name, maybe I would have liked to have seen what the Knights Templar found beneath Solomon’s Temple when they first stormed Jerusalem, that would be pretty interesting. I would love to be able to check out ancient Egypt, Babylon, things that we don’t have a straight historical record for. But then also, less “magnificent” events such as the Led Zeppelin `72 at Madison Square Garden and so on.

Now you’ve started a new job working with Burton to organize their special projects, right? How does it feel to be on the other side of creating product as opposed to the time that you’ve spent as an editor, connector, blogger, and tradeshow coordinator?
Well, essentially, I still do the same thing, which I am super grateful for, except that the outcome isn’t a magazine, an art show or a trade show, but product. It feels pretty damn good though to finally be in a position where I can have an influence on product that I would actually like to wear, and at the same time working for a rider owned company that has stayed true to it’s roots without fail.

What was the biggest thing that you personally learned from the experience of creating Street Wear?
That we’re all a bunch of old, depressed, sarcastic men that refuse to grow up. Ha, seriously, though, it is a feeling I got (and to a certain extent share) that there is a feeling of alienation among the people interviewed with their own so called sub culture.

Is this book something that you see releasing again in the future with a new crop of people and brands?
Possibly, however, I have a few other books planned, so once I find someone crazy enough to publish we’ll see.

So what’s next for you then? Anything exciting coming up?
Right now? A trip to the dentist, which I am not looking forward to. Apart that, sure, I am going for a skate and meeting some friends later to make some music. That’s good for me.


RELATED LINKS:
Hypebeast.com/StevenVogel
ThamesAndHudson.com/Spring2007.pdf