Street style "the new runway"

Street style has always existed. It is, however, only since the mid-1950s that its significance has been recognized, valued, and emulated. Why this change? Arguably the most profound and distinctive development of the twentieth century was this era's shift from high culture to popular culture-the slow but steady recognition that innovation in matters of art, music, and dress can derive from all social strata rather than, as previously, only from the upper classes. As much as, for example, the twentieth century's accreditation of jazz, blues, folk, and tango as respected musical forms, the reevaluation of street style as a key source of innovation in dress and appearance-in the early 2000s, a principle engine of the clothing industry-demonstrates this democratization of aesthetics and culture.