Reading Response 6 – OSB

There is to me a significant difference between underground and mainstream today. In certain contexts it may be the same however the differences to me are much clearer. Underground to me is someone or something having or creating a movement that is either not highlighted/acknowledged or rejected from society. These people and things that are considered underground are still cultural and subcultural movements whether it’s music, fashion, art etc that is accepted by a small or specific demographic group of people. Mainstream on the other hand is more popular to the public eye. Minatream is more accepted, consumed and more universal than underground. In other terms, the vast majority could relate to.

In the essay Underground Mainstream; Design Observer another movement aside from psychedelia that emerged was the punk and grunge movement. The punk and grunge movement resembled rebellion, goth style and unhinged mannerism. That movement had also grown and had been absorbed into mass culture. Ultimately, it created the theory of mainstream embracing anything ‘edgy’ until big companies start participating. Then, it becomes culture jamming.

An example of culture jamming to me is Supreme’s last collaboration they have done with True Religion. The reason for saying that is because True Religion was an underground brand that only urban kids were wearing growing up. And now since the collaboration it brought people such as gentrifiers consuming it more than the urban community and thus depleted the value of True Religion and the overall nostalgia of it. With brands like True Religion, there was a community behind it growing up. When you try to include a broader audience in a niche community incorrectly, that is when it becomes culture jamming. What I mean by that is you bring what I call gentrified streetwear people wearing True Religion when people that look like me were profiled back in the day wearing it. And that is not okay for me. Brands like Supreme take from the culture today and do not pay homage nor give it its respect.