By Cassell Ferere

Born in 1954, Shawn Stussy began his journey into subculture early on. Growing up in Orange County, Ca., Shawn worked at surf shops shaping surfboards by age 13. In 1979, Shawn manifested the scribbled Stussy name, embracing a punk aesthetic, scribbling it on surfboards. 

Recognizing the 60s as the core of his curvilinear hand-style, and overall artistic vision, Shawn saw the 70s grunge as the essence of Stussy. Already on the surf scene, he made waves in his community while building a tribe of followers.

Shawn described his design aesthetic to AcclaimMag.com. “Up through the 70s, it was still very much of a 60s visual in the surf world as far as the logos went - ovals and diamonds and so on. So it’s 77 and you start hearing the Sex Pistols and after that The Clash, so by late 78, 79, it’s very much a punk aesthetic that I discovered and got into.”

Large enough, the name would become a brand as early as 1980, officially in 1984. Grabbing the skaters, along with the surfers and the punk rock scene, would prove to be the foundation for this niche community.

Building the community led to a globalization of the Stussy brand pre-internet. The rebellious nature of punk rock and street credibility from skaters would widely Stussy as the first streetwear brand to spawn organically from a curious and creative teen.

Stussy would garner shelf space at the London retailer Gimme 5, a place where Kim Jones of Dior would get his first bit of fashion retail experience. Another notable name on staff was James Jebbia of Supreme, who arguably took a page from Stussy to create the iconic streetwear staple line, Supreme.

Jebbia was a Stussy store manager early on, recounting his memory of the famed “S” hat to i-D, stating, “A lot of people collect them -- like these, there’s ten of them, and some people buy every single color.”  

Shawn would visit London to anoint Alex Turnbull AKA Alex Baby, a UK-based DJ, and several other members of a Stussy tribe. Shawn would create varsity jackets for the crew out in London. Each jacket bore the names of each individual, including the logo, and the word “Staff” embroidered on them. 

London was the beginning of the friends and the family that would make up the International Stüssy Tribe founded by Shawn. The tribe would go on to induct streetwear icons like Hiroshi Fujiwara in Tokyo. Fashion’s Millennial and GenZ minds, like Matthew Williams, of Givenchy, have also accredited Stussy as an influence. As the founder of ALYX, Williams has mentioned Stussy as the first brand that he would become aware of outside of sportswear brands.

Today Stussy has become a global brand that is bigger than it ever has been. Shawn Stussy has become a fashion icon, not just streetwear. He has reconnected with Kim Jones for a Dior collaboration in 2019 for the Fall 2020 collections. The tribe still lives, and it has transcended to the generations after and remaining a staple for the younger generations getting into fashion.

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