Designers Travis Gumbs and Joshua Kissi have taken the style world by storm with their blog, Street Etiquette. The page already commands a broad reach, getting up to 20,000 views a day and rivaling giants such as the Sartorialist and Put This On.
Street Etiquette began as a place in which the guys could feature the things they appreciated from everyday life and evolved into an outlet for Kissi and Gumbs' foray into the world of street style. Each article they post is filled with gorgeous photos detailing the outfits, a history of the personal accouterment they build the article around, and a list showing where the clothes come from.
Both of the authors also hope to encourage others in their journey to find their own personal style. This is why as much information as possible is given and not merely photos of street style
. Kissi and Gumbs, who were born in the tiny Caribbean island of St. Kitts, moved to the United States at age 8 and met at Mount Vernon High School in New York. The sartorial journeys of both men began in high school as they attempted to diverge from the style of their peers in the African-American community.
Street Etiquette represents the rise of a new subculture: the "black dandy." Built in close association with the company Brooklyn Circus, which creates a "vintage thrift" environment with its clothes, Street Etiquette has helped start a revolution in which African-American fashion culture is no longer defined by one vein.
A year ago the blog posted an article entitled "The Black Ivy," which set the fashion world afire. It featured Kissi, Gumbs, and their friends dressed to the hilt in classic "Ivy Prep" outfits. The article was a tribute to the African-American colleges that paved the way for the breakthroughs in civil rights in the mid-20th century. As the "Ivy look" is commonly associated with blue-blooded WASPs, the article and photo shoot caused quite a stir, but in the end it was accepted and even welcomed.
If you are looking to learn about, explore, or create personal style, I heartily encourage you to visit Street Etiquette. There they have crafted their art to near perfection, allowing their readers to fully immerse themselves in the world Joshua Kissi and Travis Gumbs have created. Street Etiquette is a stellar example of how the Internet has changed the fashion world and thus should not be disregarded.