Part 2 - Fashion of the Scene

By Dan Sturt

Fashion has been an important factor towards this scene, as the look and style of a community gives a brief insight on what they represent. At hiding minds I have wanted to target the most essential clothing brands that carry the looks and fashion you see from people in this community. Phuggers are a brand who have collaborated with people such as Beabadoobee. She has involved her boyfriend, Soren Harrison, creator of Phuggers, into the mix. “As a brand, they've continuously satisfied the sense of style for their global community of followers and, for this drop, the capsule expected a positive influence.” (Ahonsi, 2020) With hiding minds this is exactly what I want to achieve, where it is a community of people supporting each other in their own artistic way. Their clothing has become a huge support towards sharing the underground music scene in London as they photograph the musicians playing shows whilst wearing phugger’s clothing. The Nine8 Collective also sell clothes which are very popular among the community. Here are some examples of the clothes from The Nine8 Collective:

With Nine8 having their clothing brand, they are able to support and share through their music videos. They wear the clothes on the videos and then wear them at live shows and sell them constantly. It is different from merchandise because rather than having a brand logo on clothing they have played with size by having the items baggier than a usual fitting to suit the style. They experiment with colours and a variation of looks to give buyers a choice of style, colour and look. I want to share with people trying to get into the scene how much it is appreciated when people buy clothes from small independent brands.

Fashion is important for supporting the jazz and hip hop scene in London because it is a way to invest and support the artist trying to expand the scene. At hiding minds I want to encourage people to use the money to organise and create more gigs and festivals. Nine8 do this a great deal which is another reason I have a huge respect for them. They are focused on sharing and supporting rather than making it for themselves. Which is why people are quick to follow and have interest in what they are trying to do.

When a scene is surrounded by a certain type of fashion and style, it gives the scene a look and attracts people into learning more. When people walk around wearing clothes from The Nine8 Collective or brands such as phuggers they are promoting those brands and spreading awareness, helping to grow the community. It also gives people confidence to dress in styles which they feel confident in, rather than limiting themselves to the fashion of the majority of the public. People will feel more confident to express themselves with their fashion, when the support of a community of people wearing outgoing and creative styles is behind them.