Cindy * – *

If we need to name one clothes item that is durable, comfortable, and fashionable, jeans would definitely come into sight first. As the most common item in peoples’ wardrobes, jeans, however, are not easily described by one single word due to its multiple meanings. James Sullivan expressed his feelings that jeans are “timeless-flawlessly designed, yet infinitely versatile. They are mass-produced on an epic scale, yet each pair tells its own story” (2006: 4). This depiction encapsulates jeans’ richness over its long emerging process.

Jeans first appeared in the mid 19^th century in western America. Levi’s was known of the first supplier of blue denim. In distinct contrast with today’s jeans, jeans at that time were the work suits for physical labourers, showing their high functionality. No one could really relate this cheap garment to fashion. During 1920s and 1930s, a group of artists adopted jeans as their tool for their group identity; and Levi’s began to target their consumers from people other than labourers. During the World War II, jeans were labelled as “essential commodities” (Gordon, 1991: 32) performing its duties for thousands of workers. In this period, jeans were on the way to fashion community. After the World War II and through 1950s, anti-fashion (being deviant from mainstream fashion) began to be associated with jeans with their youthful, free, and rebellious connotations. In the 1960s and 1970s, jeans became wide spread with the significantly increasing sale, and jeans were designed with various decorations and embellishments. They became fashionable. Both anti-fashion (austere and personalized style) and fashion (extravagant and delicate style) trends in jeans gained great success (Gordon, 1991: 31-37). Over time, Jeans existed as a noteworthy power in fashion industry and has entrenched themselves in the center of public attention.

In his Understanding Popular Culture, John Fiske made his comment that the “semiotic richness of jeans means that they cannot have a single defined meaning, but they are a resource bank of potential meanings” (1989: 5). Over time, jeans have embodied many different meanings; they are defined as “symbols of rebellion; outlets for personal creativity; emblems of up-to-date, fashionable awareness; and as evidence of generational longing and insecurity” (Gordon, 1991: 31). They represent physical strength, ruggedness, durability, and activity. Their naturalness and sexuality are extended through their physicality. Jeans are appreciated for their informal, classless, and unisex nature; they are able to be applied to either city look or country look. To wear them is to be free from social constraints and class differentiation. They are also the symbols of personalization, leaving much room for self-expression and appreciation (Fiske, 1989: 2-3). For youth, jeans are the incarnation of creativity and rebellion. Every youth movement finds its full expression in jeans, whether it is hippie, punk, or hip-hop (Crane, 2000; Sullivan, 2006).

Jeans and hip-hop bear a lot of similarities in their inherent features. They are both once the marginalized identities, trying to deviate from the mainstream; they both exemplify creativity, personality, and self-expression; they both uphold rebellious images and not afraid to challenge the authority; they both have the potential to gain public interest and they did it, not only within a community or even a nation, but in the range of whole world. With these similarities, it is worthwhile to examine hip-hop’s influence on jeans and jeans’ reflection toward hip-hop.

Jeans, as one of most fashionable and common item in the world, bear multiple meanings and convey multiple attitudes to the society. Meanings in jeans resemble the way hip-hop defines itself; and it would be interesting and meaningful to examine both in terms of their interrelationship. Yet, no effort has been put into this field. Therefore the objective of this paper is to scrutinize the interrelationship between hip-hop and jeans, emphasizing on how hip-hop culture is reflected in jeans, and if jeans from selected hip hop fashion lines will effectively deliver hip-hop images and, in turn, promote them.