The Most Iconic Street Style Campaigns of Recent Times

While we can contribute a fair share of streetwear's success to both word of mouth and subcultural links such as skateboarding, surfing and music, one simply cannot ignore the power of the classic marketing campaign. Over the years, streetwear companies across the globe have created some of the most unique, or in some cases, most blatant but effective marketing campaigns that many of us will remember for years to come.

From Bieber for Balenciaga to Kanye's fake Yeezy paparazzi pictures, we've decided to recount some of our favourite street style campaigns from across the years and break down just exactly what makes them unique. With that said, let's take a trip down memory lane to discover some of our choice picks.

Anyone familiar with Palace will know the brand loves to tug on our cultural heartstrings from time to time, and oddly enough, few things represent shared British culture more than the Belgium beer, Stella Artois. In both February and August of 2021, Palace x Stella Artois linked up to produce an extensive range of clothing, accessories, homeware pieces and even branded beer cans, with each sporting an array of co-signed signatures.

Palace even doubled down on its marketing efforts the second time around by transforming a handful of London pubs into "Palace Artois" locations. At each establishment, patrons were able to enjoy a fresh pint of Stella with the option to buy one of the limited "Palace Artois" branded glasses. This, in turn, sent social media into a frenzy with many online users both clamouring to buy the collaborations as well as visit the physical locations for a cheeky couple.

The product itself sold out in seconds, leaving many fans of the brand destined to pay astronomically high resale prices, and while £25 for a can of Stella doesn't sound too appealing, you can't fault people for trying.

It's hard to deny, that nothing quite gets the fashion world's attention like using an ageing thespian for an editorial campaign, and that seems to be something New York streetwear imprint KITH is very familiar with. Earlier in 2022, KITH tapped Steve Buscemi of Reservoir Dogs, Boardwalk Empire and Armageddon fame to showcase pieces from its upcoming Spring 2022 collection.

In the images, we see Steve sporting an array of preppy and stylish outfits posing in front of an extensive floral display. Naturally, the campaign garnered some serious attention online due to its somewhat unique execution combined with heaps of style. As it stands, the initial post has garnered a whopping 63.7k likes on Instagram, making it one of KITH's most successful to date.

To read more about the fashion industry's obsession with the older man, check out "Again Like Fine Wine".

What happens when you combine one of the planet's most famous faces with the "World's Hottest Brand"? Well, apparently, you get Justin Bieber as the new face of Balenciaga. Despite all the memes and mischief, Balenciaga is still at the top of its game in the fashion world with Demna at the helm, and this campaign just seemed to echo that sentiment.

In July of 2021, Balenciaga announced Canadian pop megastar Justin Bieber as its latest face, sending fans of both the singer and the brand into meltdown. With Balenciaga usually steering away from the celebrity endorsement angle, this campaign certainly came as a welcome surprise to many.

Decked out in a Soundcloud-rapper-Esque ensemble, Justin posed in front of an urban environment, complete with a pair of KITH x Balenciaga Runners on the feet. This simple but effective pairing managed to garner serious levels of attention, with the singer's initial Instagram post gaining a whopping 3M+ likes.

Rewind back to 2016/17, and Yeezy is at the absolute height of its popularity. Streetwear and sneaker fans everywhere are going stir-crazy in an attempt to cop the latest Yeezy products, and that can partially be attributed to the brand's unique and blatant advertising.

For season 6 of the brand's signature line, Kanye decided to utilise his then-wife Kim Kardashian's extensive following to display the latest Yeezy pieces. In a fake paparazzi styled fashion, Kim Kardashian was photographed doing her daily errands such as eating Mcdonalds, filling the car up, leaving restaurants and more, all immaculately dressed in complete Yeezy products.

With social media's obsession with celebrity content, it was a given that this campaign was destined to be a success. Photos flooded Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, with many users asking just exactly how they could emulate the same looks seen in the fake paparazzi photos.

With the re-emergence of Gorpcore gripping the fashion world, it was only going to be a short time before high fashion adopted it into its own sphere. In late 2020, Gucci unexpectedly teased its collaboration with outerwear legends The North Face, leaving fans of both brands champing at the bit to see more.

Two months later, we were treated to our first look at the collection in what can only be described as a collision course of a campaign. In the images, we saw a variety of '70s retro-styled outerwear pieces, all of which displayed a distinctive high-fashion twist. Given The North Face's outerwear heritage, the campaign paid homage to the outdoors with a woodland-styled backdrop, further scratching everyone's post-pandemic itch for open-air pursuits.

Part two of the collection sought to embrace the vibrancy of the 90s through a range of in your face silhouettes. Contrasting a drab and hilly backdrop, we saw an array of outfits with Gucci's signature Diamante pattern print in its full glory. Given the magnitude of this collaboration, this won't be a campaign we'll be forgetting anytime soon.

While we're just a few weeks removed from this one, we can certainly say none of us saw it coming. Palace x Calvin Klein arrived in quick succession following a range of heavy teasing on Instagram, and with it came one of the most stylish and expansive campaigns to date.

Featuring Willem Dafoe and Dame Joan Collins amongst a regular selection of Palace faces such as Lucien Clarke, this collection channelled an inherently '90s and '00s vibe, simply accentuated by CK's signature black and white portrait style of photography.

Throughout the collection, we saw a range of signature denim pieces, sweats, hats, hoodies and even a unique CK1 Palace Fragrance, each of which showcased a unique collaborative logo. Given the magnitude of this collaboration, it's safe to say many of us are looking forward to what Palace does next.