{"id":6411,"date":"2019-04-01T08:57:43","date_gmt":"2019-04-01T06:57:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/52.30.207.235\/from-surfboards-to-supreme-the-success-of-stussy\/"},"modified":"2019-04-01T08:57:43","modified_gmt":"2019-04-01T06:57:43","slug":"from-surfboards-to-supreme-the-success-of-stussy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/from-surfboards-to-supreme-the-success-of-stussy\/","title":{"rendered":"From Surfboards to Supreme: The Success of St\u00fcssy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Streetwear today is a multi-billion-dollar industry. It wasn\u2019t always so lucrative, however. In fact, it is only within the last four decades that streetwear even truly entered existence, aided in large part by one creative brand with a passion for authenticity: St\u00fcssy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Shawn<\/p>\n

Discover St\u00fcssy’s success story below<\/h2>\n

The story of St\u00fcssy begins in 1980, when a young Shawn St\u00fcssy<\/strong> began crafting surfboards on America\u2019s west coast. Shawn certainly wasn\u2019t the only Californian pumping out boards at the time, but he made damn sure his work stood out from the masses by decorating his work with wild designs inspired by an amalgamation of elements drawn from the punk, reggae and new-wave music genres. For the finishing touch, Shawn would sign his name on each board in black sharpie \u2013 a graf-inspired John Hancock that we now know as St\u00fcssy\u2019s legendary logo.<\/p>\n

As the years rolled by and the popularity of Shawn\u2019s work grew, he decided to launch a line of apparel, in 1984, for his dedicated fans to rep out of the water. Sure, we could simply say \u2018and the rest is history\u2019, but, really, this was only the beginning. Together with Shawn in this new venture was an accountant by the name of Frank Sinatra Jr. (no relation to Ol\u2019 Blue Eyes) who saw potential in St\u00fcssy, largely due to its founder\u2019s creativity and genuine passion for the surf scene.<\/p>\n

With the talents of this seemingly odd partnership combined, St\u00fcssy\u00a0would begin to rapidly climb from strength to strength. Transcending beyond its origins, the brand – available in our store<\/strong><\/a> – began to be adopted as a uniform on the streets, especially within the hip-hop scene. It was more than just surfwear, it was a celebration of music and culture, and a way to express these passions to the world. By 1990, the brand was pulling in an annual turnover of $17 million, but even this was only the beginning.<\/p>\n

\"James<\/p>\n

Before creating Supreme, James Jebbia was in charge of the St\u00fcssy shop<\/h3>\n

In 1991, a man by the name of James Jebbia (yes, the James Jebbia!)<\/strong> would help St\u00fcssy secure its footing on America\u2019s east coast with the launch of the brand\u2019s first flagship store in the heart of New York\u2019s Soho district – long before the area would be renowned as a melting pot of coveted urban fashion.<\/p>\n

St\u00fcssy\u2019s greatest impact on street culture arguably had nothing to do with sales whatsoever, but rather the establishment of a community within the brand. St\u00fcssy brought together a hodgepodge of creatives, skaters and urban icons \u2013 including the likes of Hiroshi Fujiwara \u2013 under the moniker \u2018International St\u00fcssy Tribe\u2019 to rep the brand in all the right places. These were, if you will, the forefathers of the modern-day Instagram influencers.<\/p>\n

Like any fashion trend, however, St\u00fcssy\u2019s popularity eventually began to wane, as it experienced in the mid 90s, overthrown by an influx of fresh streetwear brands that better catered to a cultural shift in music preferences. Shawn St\u00fcssy stepped away from the brand that bore his name in 1995, leaving Sinatra Jr. to go it alone as St\u00fcssy \u2013 the brand sans St\u00fcssy himself \u2013 attempted to regain its balance.<\/p>\n

\"Paul<\/p>\n

The arrival of Paul Mittleman<\/h3>\n

Paul Mittleman<\/strong> joined St\u00fcssy as creative director in 1997, filling the hole the brand\u2019s founder had left behind in his departure. With a fresh mind in charge of the creatives, Sinatra Jr. dissected the brand\u2019s finances to work out exactly why the streetwear juggernaut was falling apart. With facts and figures before him, the former accountant realised that the brand was still extremely popular overseas, especially in Japan and the UK. In response, Sinatra Jr. restructured the brand\u2019s focus and stepped up its overseas distribution. This decision proved to be what was needed to save St\u00fcssy from an early demise.<\/p>\n

It hasn\u2019t all been smooth sailing for St\u00fcssy in the years that followed, but, two decades on. The brand still continues to grow, reaching new heights in the process. St\u00fcssy has also chalked up one of the most impressive lineages of collaborations over the years, linking up with everyone from Nike<\/a><\/strong> to Undefeated and more than a few curveballs for good measure.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

St\u00fcssy didn\u2019t just help to establish the idea of streetwear, it also lay footsteps to success for others to folllow. Whether you\u2019re a diehard member of the International St\u00fcssy Tribe or avoid the brand like the plague. There\u2019s no question that you have enjoyed its impact on the streetwear scene in one form another. From the imaginative designs it inspired to the careers of streetwear greats it directly impacted \u2013 including the likes of Supreme<\/em> founder James Jebbia, Undefeated<\/em> founder Eddie Cruz and HUF<\/em> founder Keith Hufnagel \u2013 St\u00fcssy\u2019s success is one for us all to enjoy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Streetwear today is a multi-billion-dollar industry. It wasn\u2019t always so lucrative, however. In fact, it is only within the last four decades that streetwear even truly entered existence, aided in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22219,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,63],"tags":[],"powerkit_post_featured":[4,7,5,6,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-6411","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-noticias"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6411"},{"taxonomy":"powerkit_post_featured","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/powerkit_post_featured?post=6411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}