<P> Streetwear is a style of street fashion rooted in Californian surf and skate culture . It has grown to encompass elements of hip hop fashion, Japanese street fashion, and modern haute couture fashion . In 2011 Complex Magazine named Stüssy, Supreme and A Bathing Ape as the top streetwear brands . </P> <P> The movement is generally accepted to have been born out of the Los Angeles surf culture of the late 1970s and early 1980s . Brands included BlauGrun, Ocean Pacific, Hobie, Off Shore, Gotcha and Life's a Beach . Local surfboard designer Shawn Stussy began selling printed T - shirts featuring the same trademark signature he placed on his custom surfboards . Initially selling the items from his own car, Stussy expanded sales to boutiques once popularity increased . </P> <P> Stüssy's move into exclusive sales firmed up the baseline definition of streetwear: taking "a multi-faceted, subculturally diverse, Southern California lifestyle - based T - shirt brand and (mimicking) the limited feel of a high - end luxury brand...those are the two most integral components of what makes a brand streetwear: T - shirts and exclusivity ." </P>

When did streetwear start as a fashion trend