TRAVELLING BACK TO 2016 FROM 2026

It’s now ten years since 2016.

Back then, I was living in Blacktown, moving around the Blacktown local government area (LGA). Postcode pride has always been a thing, no matter what part of Australia you’re from, and in the Greater Western Sydney region, for many people, it meant everything.

2016 is pure nostalgia now. Snapchat was the place. You’d jump on Snap Maps and just scroll through hotspots, tapping into random stories. You were guaranteed to find something wild somewhere in the Blacktown LGA. For those who are not familiar with the Blacktown LGA, this included suburbs like Mount Druitt, Quakers Hill, Riverstone, Seven Hills and its smaller encompassing suburbs that were not fully established yet.

City Beach Blacktown was right beside the shopping mall entry. Culture Kings and Insport were some of the go-to spots for adlays and eshays. And honestly, brands like Le Coq Sporti, Lonsdale, Ellesse and Henleys carried Insport as a retailer, as these were all brands emblematic to the adlay and eshay community.

Hype had briefly started blending into adlay fashion – you know, the pulled up cargo pants that sat just under your knees, accompanied by high socks that intended to flex whatever the brand of the sock were. You’d see some adlays and eshays rocking Adidas NMDs, which were the shoe at the time.

Other fan favourites you’d instantly recognise if you were still in high school were the ASICS GEL-KAYANO Trainer EVO, Adidas ZX Flux and the Nike Roshe. I went back and forth on whether to include the ASICS GEL-LYTE III’s, but they were definitely hovering in the background. Trillest long sleeves were also huge at the time. If you were at a high school that attempted to enforce its uniform policy, you know every adlay and eshay in school wore them under their polo uniform and copped detention for it.

Everyone was also practically wearing Stüssy. And Nike Air Max Plus (TNs) were always on sale.

Good times. I know I’ve missed a lot, but I’m just brain-dumping here, triggered by the collection of nostalgia from all these other mainstream social pages.

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NIKE TNS INFLUENCE ON SYDNEY

There are a few fashion pieces that capture an entire scene and community holistically. One of those just happens to be the Nike TN. That shoe alone is synonymous with Sydney street culture and eventually recognised as adlay fashion. TNs were very different to every other offering on the market back in the day. Loud in colour, heavy in contrast and just felt rebellious. From its release in 1998, it carried the highest price tag in Foot Locker stores, making it the most obvious target for searchers. And aside from being the most expensive shoe in the store, it just looked good. It was marketed as a running shoe too – now, we all know nobody's doing Usain numbers in TNs, but hey, it is what it is. But that price tag came with status. Random fact: TNs were the most racked shoes from Foot Locker Australia. There were really only a few reasons people were wearing TNs across Sydney: you were rich enough to afford a pair, ballsy enough to roll someone else's or rack them straight fro...

INSPORT'S INFLUENCE ON WESTERN SYDNEY FASHION

INSPORT doesn’t get enough of the flowers it deserves. Between the early 2000s and the late 2010s, INSPORT practically dictated Western Sydney fashion. Brands like Henley, Canterbury, Lonsdale, Le Coq Sportif, Ellesse, Champion, Russell Athletic, Nike, Adidas and Puma, and then eventually FILA and Kappa. Logos on nearly every piece of clothing, all for a fairly affordable price. Growing up, if you were shopping for a backpack for back to school, there was only one place to go – INSPORT. They had a huge bag section and you’d always beeline for the Lonsdale bags, particularly the small one that could barely fit more than two books. Which, honestly, was a great excuse to not do anything in class, right? I remember Henley, Le Coq Sportif, Canterbury, Lonsdale, Puma and Adidas all being so common in the Western Sydney streetwear scene. Henley had that big fancy cursive logo across their shirts. Le Coq Sportif had the triangle with the rooster sitting on the chest. The exercise short-shorts ...

CONVO WITH TYLER, PREVIOUSLY FROM SE7EN

CONVO WITH TYLER FROM SE7EN TOXIN - a brand to keep an eye on from Melbourne, Australia. “I started experimenting with my first-ever SE7EN designs when I was 15. The first official product launch happened when I was 17,” says Tyler. Is age and experience a valid excuse? Tyler’s been creating and designing since high school and was part of the reason for the existence of the Melbourne-based fashion brand, SE7EN. The new age of young entrepreneurs is driven by obsession - the obsession to not work for someone but to work for yourself. From my convo with Tyler, it felt like an early, almost restless need to translate personal taste into something tangible. "SE7EN's SE7EN’S first official product launch was just hand screen-printed tees I made in my shed. At this point, I was still figuring things out, mainly just making stuff I thought was cool for fun. By the time I was 20, we released our first-ever fully custom manufactured product. That was our first batch of caps.” This era...

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