When I originally came up with the theory behind “Sneakers, Streetwear, and Socialism” I was unsure if it would be a doable project. The origins of this project can be traced back to the Spring Semester in my Junior year when I was considering the Honors Program at the college. Professor McCook, the professor that I chose to do the honors work with, sat down with me and we both began to refine this idea that revolved around socialism and fashion. For a variety of reasons I dropped the honors program, and I decided to save this idea for my capstone project. Over time the theory, and thesis, behind my project became more refined.
My thesis/theory: A brand releases a product and members from the working class wear that product. Individuals from the working class wear that product in a way that is very unique. By doing so they define the product for everyone to see, and give the product appeal. Said members from the working class become successful in pop-culture. Their fame takes them to a place of relevance, and the brands that they were wearing from before hand come along with them; ultimately making the brand more relevant. The corporations benefit from this and cash in. Prices go up, the brand becomes a status symbol for the upper classes, and those who made it relevant in the first place get little to no credit for their contribution.
Originally I wanted my capstone project to focus on Italian Americans and the question behind their “white” status. To do this I would have had to interview many from the older generation(elderly Italian Immigrants and first generation Italian Americans), and due to the coronavirus outbreak this project became impossible. Eventually I came to the conclusion that “Sneakers, Streetwear, and Socialism” would be the more convenient project, and one that I am glad I chose to do.
The convenience behind this project is the fact that I am a 5 percenter and my educator, Sunez Allah, so happens to be a member of the Lo Life crew. Because of this I have been able to interact with other members of the Lo Life crew, mainly Rakim Supreme Shabazz Allah, who is otherwise known as Rudy Lo. When I started to figure out ways in which to do my research, I immediately thought of the Lo Lives. From what I’ve been told, the Lo Lives made Polo a relevant streetwear piece. In other words they expanded the demographic of people who would wear, and purchase, Polo. Originally Polo was a brand sported by upper class people; a preppy yacht/country club brand. Many coming from poorer lifestyles would see the brand as corny. The Lo Lives took this brand and reinvented it. They brought a new level of relevance to this brand ultimately influencing others to buy it. The story of the Lo Lives went with my theory, which is why I chose to focus on Polo for my project.
Besides focusing on the theory, I also decided to focus on the struggles that I go through as a streetwear/sneakerhead who adheres to far left ideology. Throughout the film we are introduced with contradictions, one of them being the fact that streetwear has become a thing of status worn by the upper classes. Ironically the word “street” is in streetwear, signifying its impoverished origins. The other contradictions focus on my own lifestyle, and the perceptions of my lifestyle. What I struggle with is the arbitrary nature surrounding brands, and the manipulation that corporations use as a means to influence people to buy their brands. “Sneakers, Streetwear, and Socialism” is in fact a piece that analyzes streetwear/sneaker culture through the lens of a leftist individual.
To place emphasis on these contradictions I created a score to go along with my narration. Originally I was unsure of what to do for the score, but after talking to a few professors I began to have some ideas. I am a sample based beat maker, and I decided to create my own score through sampling. For this project I sampled music from old seaburg background music, anti-capitalist, and anti-communist, propaganda films; I also sampled music from “The Fountain Head,” a pro capitalism movie based on a book by Ayn Rand, and “Animal Farm.” The scores in these pieces are used to show these contradictions. When watching the film during editing I saw the irony, and humor, that the music brought to my film. When listening to some of the music, especially the music in the pro capitalism pieces, I saw that this upbeat speedy music was used as a way to hide the true nature of capitalism.
Scores from the film “Animal Farm” went perfect with my theme especially considering the fact that “Animal Farm” is an allegorical piece that is neither pro-capitalism, or communism. George Orwell the Author of “Animal Farm” was a Democratic Socialist who was very much against Stalinism. In the allegory we see how Socialism, or Communism, can become just as corrupt, and hierarchal, as Capitalism; a perfect piece to parallel my theory. Later in my creation of this documentary this piece became something I heavily reflected on.
When conducting the interviews, the most impacting was the one with Rudy Lo. In a sense Rudy, a Lo Life Cofounder, proved my theory wrong in the case of Ralph Lauren. Ralph Lauren did acknowledge the contribution on the part of the Lo Lives, and he did give back to them. While I cant say the same for other brands, and corporations, this brand in fact did give back. When questioning whether Ralph Lauren should give back more to the Lo Lives, Rudy simply said “No.” After this we began to discuss Ralph’s humble background. Like the Lo Lives, Ralph came from poverty. Coming from an ethnic white Jewish background, it was clear that he did struggle economically, and socially, to get to where he is at today. As an Italian American, a fellow ethnic white person, I related to Ralph’s story. As we continued to talk it seemed that Ralph Lauren saw some parallels between himself and the Lo Lives.
The more I spoke to Rudy, the more I started to realize that things aren’t as “cut and dry” as I perceived. Although I oppose Capitalism, I see that participating in it isn’t necessarily all evil. In order for Capitalism to end, many of us are going to have to participate in the system to take the system down, and to create change within the system. Looking back at Karl Marx’s theory, Marx argued that all governmental systems evolved from one another. Marx himself argued that from Capitalism would evolve Socialism, and then actual Communism. Rather looking at each system as being either evil or righteous, I now see the grey areas; and through those grey areas comes growth and development. There are ways for us to oppose the current system, while working in it to create change. This is the nature of evolution.
Ironically if a revolution were to ever occur, many of us will be wearing streetwear pieces. Many of the things that are provided through capitalism will be used against the elite to create a more egalitarian society, and rightfully so. These things we produce are rightfully ours. Not only do we create wealth by working for the corporations, but our consumption of these products also creates wealth directly, and indirectly. Directly through purchase, indirectly through influence. Basically it’s all ours.
