8 Designers
That Invented Streetwear
We know Dapper Dans and Virgil Ablohs of streetwear, but who were the ladies that forever set women’s streetwear apart?
Women’s streetwear is an industry built on the many instances where being 100% true to every part of ourselves made us feel cool and connected to our local culture.
But cool didn’t translate to online trends like today, mostly because the internet quite literally didn’t exist. Cool was a mixture of cultural staples and innovation, very often experiments, that straight up felt right.
And that is the essence of these eight women. They never waited on the world to assign them a role or tell them how to present themselves. They created their own narratives and kicked open the door for generations of women to take up space in the world.
Without these powerful creatives, there would be no representation of women in streetwear culture –
April Walker
Designer, Founder of Walker Wear, Hip-Hop’s First Lady of Fashion
After seeing a show at the Apollo with her girls, Walker stopped at Dapper Dan’s luxurious, Harlem-based store.
To see someone who looked like her and came from the same community she did was a pure example of how far representation can launch the next generation. April Walker, very soon after, opened her store called Fashion and Effect on 212 Green Ave at the age of 21 — with a homemade sign at that. Still in school at SUNY New Paltz, she would sell and style her self-designed looks on local, future and current icons, like Biggie Smalls, Milk D, Audio Two and MC Lyte.
Walker’s rise to fame began with styling primarily male hip-hop icons, but what furthered her distinction as a streetwear legend is the impact she had by drawing a connection to womenswear. To see pieces that transcended gender roles, so much so that they were worn by top performing artists with frequent tv appearances, like the late singer Aaliyah, speaks to Walker’s talent as a product placement expert. “Rough and rugged” style suits are still sported in today’s streetwear scene.
Camella Elke
Designer and Entrepreneur
555 Soul (Triple Five Soul), created and launched by Camella Elke in her storefront apartment on Ludlow Street in New York, translated the voice of the city’s diverse youth culture. Elke, only 19 at the time, had just shifted gears from deciding not to continue her degree at Parsons School of Design, and moved on to jumpstart her own entrepreneurial journey.
During the day, she would design in her store, throwing impromptu parties with artist friends. In the evening, and on weekends, she’d promote her clothing line and store at clubs, parties, and local flea markets. She even sold the clothing of other local designers, and friends, in her store. Ehlke was a hustler, to say the very least.
Opening her feminine-focused counterpart store to 555 Soul in 1992, Ehlke partnered with Stella Laura Barker to sell a host of local brands as well as pieces she would make from stock fabrics. The duality of her design career led her to collaborate with male and female legends alike, including Lauryn Hill, Aaliyah, and TLC. The widespread popularity of Triple 5 was grounded in Ehlke’s pure creative talent, but what sustained it and shaped it to resonate with her generation was her ability to embed vibrant narratives into her everyday work. Since its inception, 555 Soul has operated stores in Los Angeles, London, and Japan,
Misa Hylton
Stylist, Fashion Designer, and Founder of Misa Hylton Fashion Academy
Misa Hylton is most recognized for her styled look on Lil’ Kim at the 1999 MTV Music Awards, but that moment represents just one layer of the colossal impact she had on women’s street style as a cultural catalyst and storyteller.
From a very young age, Hylton styled everyone in her radius, from her friends to her family, teens and adults alike. She would even change her outfits during the day to match her vibe in the moment.
Creativity was what came naturally to her, and with a rich cultural foundation, it’s no wonder she so gracefully established herself as a griot. She even did custom-designed pieces in high school, making clothing like bathing suits and prom dresses. It is safe to say she was already a neighborhood it-girl.
But her career rose to another level, at the age of 17, after convincing Andre Harrell to move away from styling his newest group, Jodeci, in the era’s classic, perfectly cut suit. Instead, Hylton crafted a look rooted in Blackness to connect with youth culture.
In the 90s, television was how young people consumed the culture. To see Hylton’s look in Jodeci’s, “Gotta Love”, music video, was exactly like a reel going viral on Instagram. From there, she began styling Mary J. Blige, and not long after, Missy Elliot, and Lil Kim
Nija Battle
Costume Designer and Stylist
Nija Battle, who passed away in 2000, left a luxurious legacy on women’s streetwear.
Her fur designs shaped a new representation of luxury among Black communities. Growing up in Brooklyn with a North Carolinian grandmother who raised minks, and a hunting father, Battle’s dad would bring home hides for her and her sister to customize.
Her love for furs led her to work for various Manhattan fur dealers, but quickly spiked after designing for many of the 90s top icons, from Naomi Campbell to Lil Kim and Whitney Houston, during their top media moments like album shoots and live performances.
The unique aspect of Battle’s work that makes her essential to streetwear’s legacy is the deeply rooted meaning fur coats had in the Black community. Not only were they a keepsake for families to pass down, they dismantled modern glamor to illustrate the presence of luxury fashion already embedded in Black culture.
Laura Whitcomb
Designer and Entrepreneur
What made Laura Whitcomb’s designs so relevant in the 90s was her ability to demonstrate a strong social statement in straightforward items like tshirts and dresses.
Her work juxtaposed the male-dominated streetwear industry to speak for an age of women that was slowly growing away from classic, business casual looks and moving towards more fresh, individualized styles. But to sew meaning into her pieces meant that a specific woman, and her experiences, were also represented in each of those pieces.
Primarily influenced by Los Angeles culture and 90s club culture, Whitcomb’s main focus was using cultural spaces to storytell through her brand, Label NYC.
Growing up in East Los Angeles, Whitcomb was exposed to a host of Chicano and Mexicano culture, which then inspired her collection, featuring one of her most iconic designs: a wife beater with Old English font turned dress. The collection as a whole paid homage to the women that influenced her art, making a statement on their power and femininity, two themes that became a throughline in her career to date.
She went on to be the first designer to EVER partner with Adidas in 1993. In her collaboration, she designed her timeless Adidas maxi dress with stripes on the side, a look worn by Madonna, Tyra Banks, Mariah Carey, Björk, Yo-Yo, Wynona Ryder, and frequently replicated in 20th century fashion.
Kimora Lee Simmons
International Runway Model and Founder of Baby Phat
At 13 years old (this is insanely impressive), Kimora Lee Simmons was scouted by Karl Lagerfeld at a model search in Kansas city, near her hometown of St. Louis, sending her career halfway across the world to Paris. It wasn’t long until she had multiple contracts at once with top luxury brands like Chanel, Valentino, Fendi, and Yves Saint Laurent throughout her teenage years. And after numerous features in Harper’s Bazaar, her work and talent became internationally recognized.
A year after marrying record executive and entrepreneur Russell Simmons, she founded Baby Phat in 1999 as the feminine counterpart to Russell’s Phat Farm. One of the first streetwear brands solely dedicated to women, Baby Phat imagined a host of timeless and essential looks to women’s streetwear from baby tees to velour tracksuits and puffer jackets. They became so essential to the culture that we see the essence of Baby Phat’s vision modeled in the fits of social media influencers in 2024.
Simmon’s brand was a purely innovative product that highlighted the intersection of hip hop, femininity, and luxury. These three elements, that had never been marketed on a national level, commanded a new aspect of streetwear to be seen and fully recognized. And those elements represented a community that had, very similarly, never received their flowers: Black women.
Playing on the culture’s embracing of what we called, ghetto fabulousness, Baby Phat inspired a bold culture of femininity.
Simmons elevated her brand to another level after expanding into selling lifestyle items, such as fragrances, swimwear, accessories, and even bedding. A rare gem of its time, Baby Phat reached its pinnacle in 2002, and was seen on superstars of the time like Lil’ Kim, Eve, Trina, and Aaliyah.
Kianga “Kiki Kitty” Miele
FIT-trained Designer, Creative Director, Consultant, and Entrepreneur
A multi-hyphenate visionary, Kiki Kitty was studying at the Fashion Institute of Technology in the 90s when she connected with the founders of FUBU (For Us, By Us). Known as a primary catalyst for the decade’s top R&B and hip-hop fits, the legendary FUBU logo stands for itself.
Miele widened what representation could look like through FUBU Ladies, shifting the construction of pieces to look young and feminine, while still prioritizing the street style feel.
Her role as creative director was central to the rise, broadening, and integration of FUBU into American homes. After designing collections for the brand she opened K.A. Kitties, a consulting agency providing recommendations to top brands like Rocawear and Sean John on their women’s street collections. Miele’s taste helped build the foundation of the trends we witness today.
Since, she has crafted collections for cultural moguls like Nicki Minaj and Beyonce. Her most recent appearance was in Next In Fashion’s first season.
June Ambrose
Award-winning Creative Director, Costume Designer, and Entrepreneur
If you know June Ambrose’s iconic trash bag look on Missy Elliot, YOU KNOW.
But like many of our women’s streetwear OGs, this moment was merely a confirmation of the passion, dedication, and straight talent within Ambrose. As a costume designer at her performing arts high school in the Bronx, Ambrose had the job of building an outfit for characters that spoke to their personal narrative and development.
That very influence was embedded in her vision from the jump. It’s what allowed her to remain true to the diverse realities she immersed herself in daily, rather than relying on trends and pop culture.
She preserved the values of those she served by styling looks that explored their personalities.
From the inception of June’s career, she thought outside of the box, shaping her own understanding of what streetwear meant for people of color. Creating timeless looks during a time when fashion houses weren’t willing to work with hip-hop artists, Ambrose blurred the lines that categorized who should wear what to create looks that felt innovative and representative of the person being styled.
A music video and album cover legend, Ambrose’s impact reaches into today’s culture through her work with brands like Target, Macy’s, and Puma.
Each of these womens’ canon events set the tone for how beautifully expansive and representative women’s streetwear has become today. And for that reason, we speak their names and give them their flowers. We honor their trailblazing.
SNEAKER OF THE WEEK
Air Jordan 1 High Aleali May (Shadow Satin)
Designer and Stylist Aleali May has bridged the gap between the origins and future of streetwear with her Shadow Satin Jordan 1s. This week’s sneaker is for her.