Its that time of year again where we like to share our incredibly valuable opinions on the state of the world, it’s style and it’s preferences. With some new faces at story there are a few new opinions running around in the office so make sure to have a read on our updated 2024 review from January to June.
Sneaker of the year so far
Nina Chanel Abney Air Jordan 3
The revival of the legendary "White Cement" 3s stirred nostalgic sentiments among MJ fans, which has started a real hype train on the Air Jordan 3. Nina Chanel has possibly created one of the best and most creative AJ3 silhouettes in recent memory and we finally have our hands on one. Known for her playful approach, Abney’s 3s have a bright colour palette including, sail, green and orange. Broaching subjects as diverse as race, celebrity, religion, politics, sex, and art history, Nina Abney’s works linear storytelling in with disjointed narratives. The effect is information overload and bold designs, balanced with a kind of spontaneous order. This distinctively bold style is simultaneous with what has come to define life in the 21st century and certainly fits in with designers such as JFG and Salehe Bembury.
Best new brand
Unknown UK
Just like other UK streetwear youth legends like Corteiz and Stitch, Unknown London has nailed the whole cult following thing. They've built a tight-knit community of streetwear fans by staying super active on social media using UK rappers such as Nemzz, Central Cee and Unknown T(very fitting) as ambassadors. Almost seven years in, Unknown is still growing fast. They've got 30 international stockists and a killer direct-to-consumer setup, which makes up about 90% of their sales. Unknown is one of the most exciting brands to come out of the UK and are stocked on our shelves right here at Story Cape Town
Most listened to songs of the year
J Clu - In My Sleep
Concrete Boys - NOT DA 2
Don Toliver FT Kodak Black - BROTHER STONE
Gunna - Whatsapp
Future & Metro Boomin - Out of my hands
Favourite Moment of 2024 so far
Drake and Kendrick rap beef
It feels like quite some time ago now but not so long ago two of the most successful rappers of our generation mr ChampagnePapi and Kendrick Lamar themselves went back to back in a heated diss track exchange. The whole spectable brought us funny memes and some crazy new rap songs to listen to. Hands down the best period of 2024 so far.
Will the Adidas Spezial Line hype continue into 2025
Well our short answer is yes, but also not really. The general consensus in the office is that while the argument can be made that sambas could easily die out just like 550s did in 2022, on the other hand we feel Adidas has done enough to make the Samba an essential in day to day fashion. The Air Force 1 is certianly not a hyped sneaker anymor but has become a household staple, still fetching high calibre collaborations to this day. We think the line could follow a similar suit, in the way that the generic Samba may become a bit of a tired staple but may still be acceptable as a throw on while still getting some really cool collabs far into the future.
Is fashion in the most creative space right now?
Fashion and style has become the most popular it has ever been. The emergence of Tiktok and Pinterest has made trends even more trendier than ever. With this in mind it is very easy to say that fashion is now an industry that is oversaturated, over mentioned and overlysampled. That unfortunately is the massive misconception right now. There is a very very big difference to what style and fashion in society, maybe more than ever before. Being able to dress in the trendiest way has become so accessible that everyone can call themselves “stylish” if they wanted to. Quite contradictory because what happened to style being subjective? This wave of saturation has actually forced fashion to be more creative that its ever been in order to differentiate itself from what is considered “cool” by the everyday society. There has been an emergence and reemergence of many different styles forming themselves as mainstay aesthethetics in fashion. Blokecore, Gorpcore, Stockholm style, Opium just to name a few are all vastly different but accepted styles in todays world that could shape the next waves in the coming decade.
