The Design Characteristics of Prep-hop Fashion

프리프합(Prep-hop) 패션의 디자인 특성

This research aims to analyze the prep-hop fashion, which is an original look created through the convergence of the hip-hop and preppy look, and identify the design characteristics of the prep-hop fashion. The style mixes the fashion of what was traditionally a lower-class look with the upper class. The design characteristics are as follows: First, the prep-hop fashion expresses slim, casual and sophisticated look with items and silhouettes. The items are categorized into jackets, shirts and pants. The prep-hop jackets provides a casual look to its wearer unlike the jackets of preppy or conservative looks. Slim suits show different meanings and features depending on the changes in the time and culture despite the continued use of the items. Second, the colors of the prep-hop fashion include overall basic colors used in the preppy look and hip-hop fashion. The aesthetic values of the colors express pleasant color images different from the conservative and resistant images expressed in the preppy and hip-hop style before the convergence, respectively. Third, the materials and patterns are expressed in a unique way to fulfill the emotional needs that are considered vital to contemporary fashion. The materials in the prep-hop fashion extend the ranges of usage by using the materials with unexpectedness broken out of general range of usage. While the use of the patterns is one of the methods to demonstrate that the prep-hop fashion is created by the convergence between hip-hop fashion and preppy look, the meaning concludes pleasantness and casualness different from the past. Fourth, the prep-hop fashion is mainly composed of hip-hop fashion accessories, which express the authenticity of the hip-hop fashion to protect the non-mainstream characteristics. The design characteristics of the prep-hop fashion pursue the individuality of the contemporary fashion, which lacks originality due to commercialization. The development of the prep-hop fashion, as a new form that combined contrasting genres and trends, is expected to develop more publicly.