Challenging Norms: Why Emerging Streetwear Brand STREET GRANDMA Directs its Focus Toward a Different Audience

While streetwear predominately caters towards its male audience, more and more women have been wearing and championing the attire. After realizing there weren’t many streetwear brands that spoke to their unique styles, co-founders Devin Perry and Andrea Cheung decided to launch STREET GRANDMA, a Los Angeles-based fashion brand that centers its ethically and sustainably made designs around women, without sacrificing that classic oversized silhouette and high-quality material. 

 “We found ourselves always shopping in the men’s section and decided we wanted to make a brand catered to women that was so cool that men would want to buy it too.” 

New York and Los Angeles are historically significant streetwear hubs and have been the birthplace of hundreds of successful streetwear brands in the last few decades. When Perry moved to New York, she was inspired by the city’s streetwear culture and immediately fell in love with the fashion she saw on women all across the city. As a result, Perry sought to create a streetwear collection of her own that bridged Los Angeles fashion with the clothes that inspired her in New York.

“In Los Angeles, I noticed that the style was a lot more minimalist, simple, and neutral, but it just wasn’t as exciting,” said Perry. “In New York, I was exposed to a totally different vibe, and that’s when I wanted to bridge my appreciation for neutrals and timeless things with the power and strength I saw in oversized silhouettes. I wanted to focus on super comfortable, but bold, designs.”

“Women are such multifaceted individuals and we just wanted to be able to showcase that in different ways,” said Cheung.

“Devin and I decided that we wanted STREET GRANDMA to be about more than just clothes. We wanted to create a platform where we could showcase women as confident and joyful individuals and showcase the things that interest us.”

STREET GRANDMA emphasizes the multifaceted nature of women even outside of their products, using their site as home to an interview series focused on showcasing women who share their core values. For instance, for Earth Day, the company temporarily shut down its online shop and highlighted a variety of environmental issues and the work of three female environmental activists whose work has inspired them.

While building a streetwear brand for women is at the core of STREET GRANDMA’s brand mission, the company is also dedicated to incorporating sustainable production practices into its business model. 

“I wanted to be a part of the solution, but there’s also a lot of value, culturally and creatively in fashion, so I wanted to find a way to merge that together. A place where I could do that was in making pieces that were really functional, but very special, and things that stood the test of time,” explained Cheung. 

After pursuing a master’s degree in environmental science and management, Cheung was exposed to the detrimental environmental impacts and exploitative labor practices of the fashion industry and was compelled to address these issues. For this reason, STREET GRANDMA uses 100% organic cotton and recycled polyester ribbing to make clothing using more ethical and sustainable production practices. 

Since launching STREET GRANDMA in the Fall of 2020, Perry and Cheung have skillfully navigated the challenges associated with starting a business in a pandemic. After both experiencing a standstill in their careers as a result of the pandemic, Perry and Cheung decided to take the leap into entrepreneurship.

“We had all of our identities taken away from us and didn’t have anything else to do, and there was this opportunity to reinvent and invest in something that excited us and gave us some joy and something to look forward to,” said Perry.

“I’ve always wanted something of my own, and I wanted somebody by my side to help me and to support each other,” explained Cheung. “We realized we were never going to get another chance to do this so we either have to do it or we don’t.”

Perry and Cheung are currently working on STREET GRANDMA’s future collections and taking everything day by day in order to enjoy the process. We feel this company is a testament to what can grow out of a shared love for fashion and a dedication to developing a sustainable future for the fashion industry.  

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