An extensively researched and generously illustrated volume offering a striking and diverse portrait of street style in cities and cultures across the world

For the reason that early 20th century, city sidewalks have transform runways where idiosyncratic modes of dressing are presented, consumed, and exported. Their messages include resistance, solidarity, subversion, social transformation, or musical affiliation, and a group of like-minded individuals can create a powerful sartorial force. Organized by continent and with 600 color images, The World Atlas of Street Fashion examines street style in all its global diversity. The book shows how Punk’s generic language of anarchy is redeployed in London, Berlin, Tokyo, or Jakarta and takes at the unique flavor of each and every. It also reveals how street style may also be overtly political: the Sapeurs of Kinshasa use elegance to reframe themselves as gentlemen, and the cholo gangs of East Los Angeles took strength from the Chicano movement of the 1960s. Street style will also be obsessive, as seen here through the K-Pop enthusiasts of Seoul, who inhabit the lives in their music idols by re-creating publicity stills through elaborate cosplay. The creator discusses how such scenes can develop cachet by being underground, fostering a look’s distinctiveness and integrity. Through its extensive research, striking photography, and handsome design, World Atlas of Street Fashion is the crucial resource on world street style.