Last week, as I strolled through the vibrant streets of Shoreditch, I found myself in a scene that perfectly captured the current urban style mood—a blend of high fashion with the unmistakable edge of relaxed comfort. For a long time, celebrities like Rihanna and A$AP Rocky have been lauded for merging streetwear with luxe design, and now that spirit seems more pervasive than ever. At London Fashion Week, pushing the urban style narrative forward were Balenciaga and Off-White, with both designers infusing athletic silhouettes with contemporary tailoring.
Their looks seemed equally at home on the runway as well as the London city sidewalks. These collections, and my immersion in the scenes around them, have sparked a renewed enthusiasm in me for curating a wardrobe with a style narrative that matches my lifestyle. Fashion today has a single goal: to break down traditional boundaries.
And that is why it is so exciting, all over, to witness established names reinterpreting the very idea of urban edge. At the helm of this shift is Virgil Abloh, a master of reinvention. His obvious influence of late has been in the way we view oversized sweatshirts—in particular, how we now see them styled (i.e., too big, too good) with sharply tailored trousers.
Abloh’s presiding challenge, though, is to our understanding of “proper” menswear. Following his lead, embrace the mix if you dare: work with contrasting silhouettes, and remember that the city itself is your runway. During my recent visit to a new operant pop-up shop in Soho, I was greeted by what felt like a direct response to this cultural shift.
The collection presented was nothing short of extraordinary, with items that made a quite literal interpretation of the phrase “high low.” Impeccably crafted joggers. Structured bomber jackets. Fine essentials designed with urban living in mind.
All of these pieces held up, as far as I could tell, their end of the bargain to be functional, and yet none of them seemed in the least bit pedestrian. They were not just finely crafted; they were also well-designed. And you could wear any one of them to either type of occasion.
In watching these trends unfold, I’ve begun to reassess my own wardrobe. Mixing a pair of precious, designer sneakers—a fresh set of Nikes, for example—with a minimalist tailored blazer? That combination has all the makings of an authentic urban look these days.
My friend recently wore a similarly absurd-yet-awesome outfit: Balenciaga trainers and an impeccably cut monochrome suit. Sneakers with such a getup? Perfectly fine, even “cool,” in today’s street style climate.
Nonetheless, my particular inclination toward urban outfits seems to be slight in comparison to how vertiginous street style has become. While it remains a major fashion moment, the unprecedented masculine edge that sneakers bring could easily look insipid after a few seasons. Also emerging in collections is a palpable shift toward comfort that’s reflected in the materials and textures we see.
Designers are playing more and more with fabrics that feel and perform like the old reliable them, yet are mixed with new-age materials that make for durable, outdoorsy pieces that have the kind of elevated aesthetic you’d want in any ensemble, no matter the occasion. I unfortunately did not get to see the exhibition in question, but I have seen pieces from the collection that were featured, and I’ve also met the designer. And, look: her sustainable vision is 100-percent doable because it’s based on a high-low mix that makes for not just environmentally conscious, but also highly functional and fashionable pieces.
The urban edge has turned into a dialogue between the past and the present, and that’s what’s fascinating about its evolution. There’s no nostalgia like that for the laid-back cool of 1990s street style, which is now reimagined through contemporary tailoring and innovative looks. Not long ago, I remember reading a feature in a major fashion magazine that was all about how designers draw upon and reinterpret for today’s market the kind of street moments that are inherently style icons—from the effortless cool of ’90s hip-hop to the rebellious punk spirit of the same era.
And that’s what’s so appealing about urban style in 2013: Its rich, layered looks honor the past while confidently slipping into future. I frequently revisit nearby vintage stores, not only for their taste of history but also for the hope of unearthing a piece that might possess a story of its own. Who’s to say what flavor of history might trail an elbow-patched blazer, for instance, straight to my closet?
The leather pants, which I once spotted in a local thrift shop, could just as easily have been worn by someone else, forty years ago. Yet there they were: a recent addition to my wardrobe. Vintage finds, when styled to fit with the world of now, create not just a look, but a private aesthetic—one that propels me through the day, morning to night, sun to shade, without fear of fashion’s fickle brush.
Street style is no longer an influence limited to tiny niches or subcultures. It’s now a force reshaping the entire industry—even the most powerful players in it—because of its sheer uncontainable, pop-culture momentum. Instagram, in particular, has turned into a living, breathing gallery of vapid urban chic.
One can hardly scroll through the app without encountering some fashion influencer mixing off-duty tailoring with sportily neon-colored silhouettes and high-low ensembles that reference collaborations between brands like Alexander Wang and Prada. And these images aren’t even just aspirational. They are realistic—and while they might simultaneously depict a not-so-laitance, albeit virtual, for what one might label “the poverty of traditional fashion rules,” they emphasize the importance of looking and feeling like a million bucks while doing what one does.
I have also discovered that urban edge offers personal liberation. There’s something quite empowering about the fact that your wardrobe is an extension of your individuality, an empowering statement that you can make in the busy city streets. Every day, I consider my appearance as an unyielding canvas, waiting for the expression of the art of individualism that I see as the essence of urban living.
When I put on a sartorial masterpiece, I have the appearance of an artful urbanity that makes me feel quite elevated. And every time I put on a piece of art, I consider what an unyielding canvas I am. Naturally, this journey has its hurdles.
The equilibrium between comfort and style is ever so delicate, often requiring painstaking thought to sidestep either pitfall. I’ve had days when a throw-it-together outfit has left me feeling, well, thrown together—too casual inside an unstructured coat, too uptight in an otherwise unremarkable individual piece. But these missteps, however awkward, have been invaluable Top 10 Learnings in finding my real-life working order.
They remind me that fashion is not about perfection but about constant evolution—learning, adapting, and finding the sweet spot where every piece resonates with an increasingly urban visual vernacular. When I reflect on these experiences, I’m deeply impressed by how urban edge lives and breathes the city life that animates us all. It’s a form of style that’s always on the move, as if the very act of dressing can capture the “pulse” of the street and embody the ever-evolving tastes of those who dare to experiment.
You can see and feel it when a groundbreaking collection hits a major fashion runway. You can hear it whispered down the alley when spontaneous street class captures urban edge. For me, urban edge is that elusive moment when comfort and contemporary appeal coalesce as a fashion statement and a lifestyle one can truly live.
It is the kind of moment when a daring individual can find beauty in the contrast of what is at first glance a quotidian alley and what is in fact at second glance an inspiring urban stage set. The city offers a daily chance to test and hone this developing aesthetic, to stretch its limits, and to produce a style that’s wholly mine. In a universe where the dividing line between runway and real life is almost nonexistent, finding the equilibrium between what I call “dress up” and “dress down” is a daily adventure.
And as I continue to surf the urban wave, I take inspiration from and draw upon the many ways in which fashion that’s both comfortable and cutting-edge can live together happily, each outfit a fresh testament to the increasingly blurred line between life and art.
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