“我們是服裝界的《瘋狂汽車秀》”：PAQ節(jié)目背后的年輕人

朱麗安娜·皮斯科日

The founders of the trend-setting streetwear channel are using fashion to give young men a voice. 引領街頭服飾潮流頻道的創(chuàng)始人正借助時裝為年輕男士發(fā)聲。

It is 1am and a queue of 300 teenagers， clad in near identical tracksuits， snakes down a street in Soho， London. The occasional scuffle breaks out， but otherwise the air is quiet and heavy with anticipation. These kids have travelled from far and wide to camp outside the London Supreme store to get their hands on the brands weekly “drop”. For those who dont know， Supreme is the skateboarding brand which originated in 1990s New York and has amassed an almost deferential cult following.

“Its crazy， people are queuing up， camping in tents，” says Elias Riadi， co-founder of PAQ， the YouTube fashion channel for young men. “In New York the NYPD is shutting up roads because Supreme has a new collaboration; kids will blow a grand on a new Supreme T-shirt.”

Streetwear brands have monopolised male fashion for the past two years， but what originated as a subculture rooted in hip-hop music and skating circles is now the uniform de-rigueur for young men the world over. With demand for streetwear growing exponentially， Riadi was inspired to launch PAQ with three friends， Danny Lomas， Shaquille Keith and Dexter Black. Today theyve notched up more than 1m views and have more than 170，000 subscribers.

“PAQ is basically Top Gear， but with clothes instead of cars，” explains Elias， a model from Watford who came up with the concept after noticing a demand for an inclusive platform for young men to talk about clothes without judgement. “High fashion has always been very serious. People， especially young men， have always been intimidated by it. We want to ‘un-boujify2 fashion.” Elias doesnt look like he has ever been intimidated by fashion in his life. When we meet he is dressed like a Formula One driver in a scarlet Ferrari jacket with a matching bucket hat and a pair of Burberry tracksuit bottoms fresh from Christopher Baileys most recent catwalk.

Wallflower-dom3 is not something any of these four could be accused of—each has a distinctive take on streetwear style， peppered with musical and artistic references. Danny， a skater， could be a 60s mod with his vintage Harrington jacket nipped in at the waist and halo of blond curls. Shaq， an illustration student and aspiring poet， has a more whimsical take on streetwear. Wearing a signature black beret and thick gold hoops， he looks like the aesthetic love-child of rapper Tupac Shakur and artist Basquiat. Dex is perhaps the least overtly flamboyant， dressed in a black tracksuit and matching hat. “I have tried to wear colours， colours is not my thing，” he offers by way of explanation for his dark ensemble.

The four friends—all aged between 20 and 22—are representative of a larger movement that has seen young men becoming more experimental with fashion. Only a few years ago the tracksuit was the uniform of the disenfranchised， a hoodie the ultimate signifier of anti-social behaviour. But in the last two years youth culture has reclaimed and redefined sportswear as a fashion commodity. The rise in the popularity of skate brands such as Supreme， Stussy and Palace， not to mention the big conglomerates Adidas， Nike and Reebok， has given men more variety to choose from and subsequently ample room for experimentation.

“Internet culture has changed fashion，” explains Danny. “Instagram accounts like Poundland Bandit shine a light on stereotypes and no one wants to fit into those categories. Someone will tweet an outfit and youll be like ‘Oh God， Im literally wearing that outfit. No kid wants to look basic.”

Music， as in most youth movements， is one of the driving forces behind this latest fashion for sportswear. Grime and hip-hop artists have been pivotal in changing the culture around streetwear， not only by giving it a platform through their own growing popularity， but also redefining what is acceptable to wear as a young man. Skepta， in particular， has been vocal about wearing womenswear and eschewing branded clothes， while A$AP Rocky has been pictured wearing dresses at events and fashion shows. This blurring of boundaries between menswear and womenswear is something that the PAQ boys are particularly eloquent about， dedicating one of their episodes to finding and wearing an outfit consisting only of womens clothing.

“We want to show people that you dont have to go under the prescriptive stereotype of ‘This is how you have to dress as a guy; this is what the world wants you to look like as a man，” explains Danny. When I ask if they would feel confident wearing womens clothes on a normal day they all nod without hesitation. “Id definitely wear a kimono as long as it was black，” says Dex. “Although Id probably wear a skirt over a pair of jeans， and obviously my beret，” concedes Shaq.

Beneath the flamboyant outfits， the ambition is palpable in all of them. Some of their episodes have had more than 1m views， and they see fashion as a vehicle to shine a light on bigger issues. Dex is particularly passionate about demystifying mental health for young men. “As a kid I was quite introverted with my feelings and I didnt really know how to express myself，” he says. “There are so many young people who go through the same thing and， even though society is more open about these things， a lot of people still dont have a solution or know how to deal with these feelings. I just want to show people my age， younger or older， that if you believe in yourself you will start to find clarity.” This is also where his penchant for black takes on a more poignant significance. “Ive always loved the colour black， but as Ive gotten older and my life has been up and down， Ive noticed in uncomfortable situations it helps me feel like I can breathe.”

PAQ is a refreshing example of what “millennial snowflakes4” are capable of. At the age of 20， these guys are conscious of their position of influence and they want to use it to enact positive change. “Were the four musketeers，” says Elias. “The Avengers，” chimes in Shaq. “I would say were Jedis5，” says Dex. “But I wear black so I can be a Sith6.”

現(xiàn)在是凌晨一點，300名幾乎身著清一色運動服的青少年在倫敦索霍區(qū)的一條街道上排起了長龍。他們偶爾會打鬧，但是大多數(shù)時間都靜靜等待著，眼中充滿期待。這些年輕人從各地趕到倫敦蘇博瑞賣場前，露宿街頭，只為參加該品牌的每周“發(fā)售”活動。也許有人不知，蘇博瑞是起源于20世紀90年代紐約的滑板品牌，已經(jīng)積累了一眾狂熱的粉絲。

“這太瘋狂了，人們正在排隊，在帳篷里露營?！眱?yōu)兔青年男性時尚穿搭頻道PAQ的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人伊萊亞斯·里亞迪說。“在紐約，警察正因蘇博瑞發(fā)布新的聯(lián)名產(chǎn)品而封閉道路，年輕人將為買一件新的蘇博瑞T恤一擲千金?！?/p>

街頭服飾品牌在過去兩年開始壟斷男性時尚，而這一起源于嘻哈音樂和滑板界的亞文化如今已成為全球年輕男性的必備服飾。隨著人們對街頭服飾需求的激增，里亞迪受此啟發(fā)，與丹尼·洛瑪斯、沙奎爾·基思和德克斯特·布萊克三位好友一起推出了PAQ節(jié)目。如今，該節(jié)目觀看次數(shù)已超過100萬，訂閱用戶超過17萬。

“PAQ實際上就是服裝界的《瘋狂汽車秀》?！币寥R亞斯解釋道。他是來自沃特福德的一名模特，發(fā)現(xiàn)年輕男性需要一個可以暢聊服飾而不被指指點點的包容性平臺，隨后提出了這個想法?！案邫n品牌總是很嚴肅，所以人們，尤其是年輕男性，總是對其望而生畏。我們想讓時尚‘大眾化?！蔽覀兏究床怀鲆寥R亞斯曾對時尚心生畏懼。會面時，他看起來像一名一級方程式賽車手，身著猩紅色法拉利夾克，搭配一頂漁夫帽和一條博柏利的運動褲，這條運動褲來自克里斯托弗·貝利最新的時裝秀。

他們四人都不是街頭時尚的局外人，相反，彼此風格獨特，充滿音樂和藝術元素。丹尼是一名滑板滑手，身穿哈林頓經(jīng)典收腰夾克，一頭金色卷發(fā)，儼然20世紀60年代的摩登青年。沙奎爾，一名插畫專業(yè)學生，同時也是一位有抱負的詩人，對街頭服飾有更加怪誕的想法。戴著標志性的黑色貝雷帽和厚實的金色耳環(huán)，他看起來就像是說唱歌手圖帕克·沙庫爾和藝術家巴斯奎特著裝風格的完美混搭。德克斯特也許是最不張揚的，身穿黑色運動服、戴著運動帽?！拔以?jīng)嘗試穿彩色衣服，但彩色不適合我?！彼鲃訉ζ淙缀谏钆浣忉尩馈?/p>

這四個好朋友年齡在20到22歲之間，他們是一場更大規(guī)模運動的代表，而這一運動見證了年輕男性對時尚的不懈嘗試。僅在幾年前，運動服還只是弱勢小民的標準行頭，而連帽衫則是反社會行為的基本標志。但過去兩年，青年文化重拾運動服飾，將其重新定義為一種時尚商品?；迤放浦T如蘇博瑞、斯圖西和Palace的日益流行，更不必說阿迪達斯、耐克和銳步等大品牌，給男性提供了更多的選擇余地和充足的嘗試空間。

“互聯(lián)網(wǎng)文化改變了時裝業(yè)，”丹尼解釋道，“像Poundland Bandit這樣的照片墻賬號會發(fā)布一些老套的著裝，沒人想被歸入這些類別。哪天你看到別人發(fā)布的一套服飾搭配，就會驚呼‘天哪，我現(xiàn)在穿的正是這套衣服！。沒有哪個年輕人想讓自己看起來毫無個性?！?/p>

與大多數(shù)青年運動一樣，音樂是這一最新運動裝時尚背后的推動力之一。英式說唱和嘻哈音樂藝人對街頭服飾文化的改變發(fā)揮了至關重要的作用，他們不僅通過自己日益增長的人氣為其提供了平臺，而且重新定義了可被年輕男性接受的服飾。尤其是斯庫普塔，他一直倡導穿女裝，避免品牌服裝，而A$AP羅基甚至被拍到身穿連衣裙出席各種活動和時裝秀。PAQ這四位男生尤其提倡模糊男裝和女裝之間的界限，其中一期節(jié)目就是只選用女裝搭配出一套服飾。

“我們想向世人證明，你不必遵循此類刻板印象，如‘作為男生就應該這么穿;這就是世界希望你作為一個男人該有的模樣。”丹尼解釋道。當我問他們平時是否有勇氣穿女裝時，他們都毫不猶豫地點頭。德克斯特說：“我肯定會穿和服，只要是黑色?！薄安贿^我很可能會把裙子穿在牛仔褲外面，當然也會戴著我的貝雷帽。”沙奎爾承認。

在浮夸的外表下，四人的抱負顯而易見。有些劇集的觀看次數(shù)已超過100萬，他們將時尚作為一種媒介以揭示更重大的問題。德克斯特特別熱衷于揭開年輕男性心理健康的神秘面紗。他說：“小時候，我性格非常內向，不知道該如何表達自己。有太多年輕人經(jīng)歷著同樣的事情，盡管社會對此更加開放，但很多人仍然不知道該如何克服或處理這些情緒。我只想讓我的同齡人知道，無論年齡大小，如果你相信自己，就會逐漸理清思緒?！边@也是他鐘愛黑色的深刻意義所在?！拔乙恢焙芟矚g黑色，但是隨著年齡的增長，經(jīng)歷了生活的起起伏伏，我注意到在我感覺不自在的時候，黑色可以令我放松?！?/p>

PAQ別具一格地展示了“雪花一代”的力量。他們在20歲時就意識到自己的影響力，并希望借此促成積極的改變?！拔覀兪撬膫€火槍手，”伊萊亞斯說?！笆菑统鹫呗?lián)盟，”沙奎爾打斷說?！耙艺f，我們是絕地武士，”德克斯特說道，“但是我穿的是黑色衣服，所以我可以做個西斯。”

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者）