About a year into his tenure at Gucci, Alessandro Michele—the brand’s beloved, forward-thinking creative director—actually turned back the clock, and resurfaced one of the brand’s old logos: the crossed G’s. Soon enough, they were splashed across his ready-to-wear, shoes, and accessories… which meant that, given the luxury house’s newfound “cool kid” status, it didn’t take long for the archival graphic to crop up in street style. At the same time, we also happened to be in the midst of the Great Athleisure Come-Up and the rise of streetwear-infused labels like Vetements, Gosha Rubchinskiy, and Off-White, and the sudden ubiquity of the logo went hand-in-hand with the sportswear trends we were seeing on runways. Fast-forward two seasons, and there’s not a Fashion Week that goes by without at least three notable branded merch moments.
“Logos still touch and talk to customers,” Marco Bizzarri, the president and CEO of Gucci, said at the New York Times International Luxury Conference back in 2016, as reported in The Telegraph. “But fashion is an industry of the new, and if you rely on a logo because of your heritage, you’ll get left behind.” What we’ve seen brands with archives do, then, is go back and reissue long-discontinued graphics, modernized on sweatshirts, T-shirts, and other street-wear inspired silhouettes. This resurgence has also paved the way for some nostalgia-heavy comebacks—from Fiorucci, which relaunched earlier this year, to Kappa, which found itself thrust back into the zeitgeist thanks to a collaboration with Gosha Rubchinskiy.
Meanwhile, sportswear companies (i.e. those that never stopped selling self-referential merch) are reaping the benefits of the logo’s newfound trendiness by calling attention to their signature branding with dedicated shops, re-releasing archival styles, and getting a signal-boost from collaborations with of-the-moment labels like Vetements, which has already paired up with Reebok, Champion, and Tommy Hilfiger to much street-style acclaim. Even if you’re not shopping at the $600 cropped hoodie level, retailers like Urban Outfitters have released their own capsules with the likes of Adidas, FILA, Puma, and more. No matter where you turn, there’s a logo within your field of vision.
So, where to begin on this logo-filled fashion journey? We’ve rounded up our 20 favorite products on the market right now, to help guide your branded shopping. Street style-level #OOTDs, right this way…
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