THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH-END BRANDS OF STREETWEAR FASHION STYLES AMONG MILLENIALS IN SEMARANG CITY OF INDONESIA (Qualitative Descriptive Study on Communication about Identity from The Fashion Style)

ABSTRACT:In this study, streetwear fashion that someone has in their appearance style is a form of nonverbal communication. This study aims to find out how the development of streetwear fashion labelled withhigh-end brands among millennials in Semarang City is growing rapidly and the experiences they feel whenthey have this style with a famous brand label. The method used in this research is descriptive method with aqualitative approach and uses the communication theory about identity put forward by Michael Hecht. In thetheory put forward by Hecht, it consists of four layers of streetwear fashion that form a person’s identity, namelythe personal layer, the enactment layer, the relational layer and the communal layer. Based on this theory, datacollection techniques are carried out through in-depth interviews with 6 (six) informants who are fans of thesefamous fashion and brands. The results of this study indicate that streetwear fashion gives certain feelings toSemarang City millennials so that it is in great demand by them because it is a form of self-appreciation and alsothrough this fashion it can form a person’s identity.

Keywords: communication, identity, streetwear