THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STREET FASHION AND CREATIVITY AS A FORM OF VISUAL RESISTANCE: A SECTION FROM THE STREETS OF ISTANBUL

Clothes are essentially a way of presenting feelings and thoughts to the world. Street fashion, which has the courage to stand out from the seasonal tendencies of multinational fashion companies that feed the culture industry, is based on the individual's interpretation of branded, custom-made or unbranded ready-made products in a certain subculture's or their own style. Street style is seen as a reflex of the freedom to express oneself through one's body and appearance, in contrast to the multinational brands, advertisements, and social media that have occupied every corner of the street and are based on the consumer culture of youth subcultures. In street style, on the one hand, individuals who are surprisingly stylish or traditionally fashionable and individuals who are anti-fashion or under the influence of a certain subculture come together on the street and tell new things about fashion, even though their dressing motives are different. This enthusiastic song, composed of different rhythms on the street, changes its notes with the periodic fluctuations caused by socio-economic and cultural changes. The notes of this rhythm are psychological and sociological foundations that require courage such as subculture, originality (self-identity) and creativity, which are mostly formed by young people. Creativity, on the other hand, is one of the pillars of fashion and the most important source that feeds the individual psychologically and socially. At this point, street fashion opens up a space where creativity is encouraged and freely displayed for the individual who is surrounded by different brands, styles and trends from every angle. While fashion research focuses on design, designers, brands and social channels, there are limited academic studies on the streets where the power of creating multiple styles and original styles is exhibited. This study predicts that street fashion will be adopted more intensively in today's society and among future generations, where individuals question hegemonic structures such as fashion. The study aims to reveal the dynamics that feed street fashion, which emerges as a reflection of youth subcultures in clothing and style. In the findings section of the study, the content and visuals of interviews conducted with young people on street fashion in Istanbul on the YouTube page called Ne giyiyoruz? were analysed and evaluated. Within the scope of this purpose, the examples where street fashion is most commonly experienced in the world today have been examined and in the application part of the study, content analysis of street fashion examples and interviews from different districts of Istanbul has been conducted. The results obtained have been evaluated and discussed. In this context, this study is an original study in that it deals with the identification of street fashion, which has not been extensively researched, with the concept of creativity and exemplifies these two concepts with Istanbul Street fashion, which has not yet been the subject of academic studies.