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NAUTICA: EAST TO WEST

From the late 90s to the late 2010s, Nautica could be seen on almost every youth and delinquent. 

In all honesty, it had the same impact on Western Sydney streetwear/lad fashion as Nike did as a brand.

I remember growing up, one thing every lad had was the Nautica sailboat logo hat, but everyone just called it a ‘leaf’. And those super light beach short-shorts with the Nautica text running down the side of the thigh. Such simple clothes with one block of colour and then the logo. But nothing beat their polos, and arguably nothing really got close. Big logos slapped on. Aggressive colours. It just catches eyes, man.

Back in the day, you could only get Nautica from Myer and David Jones. To the lads, those stores were perceived as rich people stores. Those retailers were very accessible, being in almost every shopping centre. Lads would go in and rack size runs of them. Nautica clothes were retailing for a hundred dollars minimum and being sold by lads for half the price. I genuinely believe this helped Nautica build its popularity across the Western Sydney scene, and ultimately the broader Australian lad scene.

I remember growing up seeing people popping their polo tee collars up, but none of them gave that same flair that Nautica did. Every brand underneath a popped collar either had a different block of colour or the same colour as the polo. But Nautica had its branding in large block letters right there. Whenever I think about this as a fashion statement, my mind always drifts to the Kerser vs 360 rap battle, but there’s no camera angle where it clearly shows Kerser rocking it.

The reason I say Nautica had the same impact on the culture as Nike is that, regardless of subculture or interest, whether it be tagging or whatnot, every single youth and delinquent had Nautica in their closet. It wasn’t just popular within a specific council or demographic either. Penrith to Woolloomooloo, all the way down to Campbelltown. It was practically a universal fashion piece. And it heavily impacted how people across the Greater Western Sydney region – how they dressed, walked and little flairs they could make to differentiate themselves from the mass.

Fashion trends are constantly evolving and, unfortunately, Nautica was never able to maintain its authority in the community. In my opinion, they tried to go simple and appeal to the majority, following the mass trend of the late 2010s and early 2020s of that dying Hypebeast era. You remember that trend, right? I mean, basic tees isn’t technically dead. Uniqlo is still super successful and trend-chasing retailers like Cotton On and Factorie followed suit. Anyway, Nautica ended up neglecting the roots of what made them big. It fell heavy off the scene after sitting at the top of it.

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