What street style is, who made it famous and how it became the show outside the show.
By Shreya S · Last reviewed 1 November 2026
What is street style?
Photography of what real people wear on the street, rather than on the runway. During fashion week, it means the photographers waiting outside shows to capture editors, models, buyers and guests as they arrive.
Who made street style famous?
Bill Cunningham, who photographed New Yorkers on his bicycle rounds for The New York Times for decades. In the mid-2000s, blogs such as Scott Schuman’s The Sartorialist took street style online, and photographers such as Tommy Ton turned fashion-week arrivals into a global spectacle.
Is street style still real?
Less than it was. Many guests are now dressed or paid by brands to be photographed, which critics call “peacocking”. But street style still shows how people actually mix trends, and it remains one of the main ways new looks spread.
Read on Ayerhs: How Street Style Became a Global Fashion Language · How Instagram Changed the Way We Dress · The Birth of Streetwear