Goodbye, fashion connoisseur brands: How niche clothing went mainstream

The viral story of Margiela’s Tabi shoes has shown that small brands like Ann Demeulemeester, Rick Owens and Yamamoto, once known only to a few fashion aficionados (and the very few wealthy people who wore them to distinguish themselves from everyone else), have become very popular among all audiences. But how did niche (and ugly) fashion become today’s object of mass appeal?