The fashion industry is experiencing a widening gap between runway fashion and everyday dress. Trends increasingly emerge from urban environments shaped by cultural diversity, generational perspectives, and individual style. For this reason, in 2026, leading fashion publications, including Vogue, Glamour, and Marie Claire, continue to highlight street style as a source of directional trends.
To explore how street fashion shapes the future of the industry and why everyday style serves as an important signal in the fashion world, we spoke with Jani Grigoryan, a multidisciplinary visual artist with nearly a decade of experience in cultural and street photography and videography. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum recognized his work in its World Photography Day 2025 feature, and Photographize Magazine selected it for its “100 Best of 2025.” Jani’s photographs have also been featured in Street Shooters Magazine, a respected niche publication dedicated to contemporary street photography. He is a member of the Association of Photographers Eurasia and the Armenian Photographers National Association, which are FIAP-certified, as well as the Photographic Society of America. He has served as a juror at the Follow Your Heart Miami Film Festival and has been invited to serve as a mentor at the upcoming program at TUMO Center for Creative Technologies, a flagship Armenian educational initiative that plays a key role in the country’s innovation-driven development.
You’ve spent nearly a decade documenting street style in post-Soviet cities, where fashion has evolved very differently from that in Western fashion capitals. The Guggenheim’s recognition of your work last August highlighted that perspective. What shifts in self-expression are you seeing now that weren’t visible five years ago?
Five years ago, many people still relied on trends for cues. Now I see more personal decision-making. Outfits often mix cultural memory, practicality, and mood. Someone might wear a coat from a relative, modern sneakers for comfort, and a small detail that signals their community or background.
In cities like Saint Petersburg and Yerevan, weather and daily routines have always influenced clothing, but that influence is now more visible. Style grows from real life rather than from imitation. Street photography lets you notice how identity slowly becomes more individual and less uniform. Over time, these small choices reveal bigger cultural shifts.
Major brands are increasingly hiring street photographers like yourself to document emerging trends before they hit runways. You’ve worked in Yerevan with Munich footwear and documented collaborations for Van Ardi, positioning you at the intersection of authentic documentation and commercial insight. Where do you see the boundary between pure observation and internal expectations?
The boundary depends on intention. My process stays observational in any context. I pay attention to how people actually live in their clothes, how they walk, wait, meet friends, and deal with the weather. Brands often want to understand how style exists outside controlled settings. A jacket in a studio and a jacket on a windy street tell different stories. Real environments test clothing in honest ways, and the moment when style stops being staged and becomes part of everyday life interests me the most.
There is also a quiet humor in it. Sometimes, the most interesting trend signal comes from someone who dressed for comfort and never thought about fashion at all.
Your unique approach centers on observing authentic human moments in urban spaces. How do culture and personal background appear in people’s style and shape new visual codes in fashion?
My multicultural background helps me recognize cultural signals in clothing. I come from an Armenian diaspora and Eastern European background, so I notice details that carry cultural meaning. Traditional symbols, local color palettes, and layering techniques often reflect heritage. These elements gradually enter contemporary fashion language and become new visual codes.
Your work is known for its emotional documentary quality, and in 2025, you were included in Photographize Magazine’s 100 Best of 2025. When photographing people in the streets, which types of looks best illustrate the direction of fashion?
Looks that combine personality and context stand out most. I pay attention to how a person interacts with their environment. A simple outfit becomes powerful when gesture, light, and setting align. This idea connects to the tradition of classic street photography, where photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson focused on the “decisive moment.” The direction of fashion often appears in these honest, unplanned combinations rather than in dramatic styling. Real-life signals are stronger than staged imagery.
You serve on the jury at Follow Your Heart Miami Film Festival, where you’re evaluating not just photography but video storytelling. Film brings movement, sound, and narrative structure, elements absent in still photography. How does reviewing film work change how you think about capturing fashion in a single frame?
Film teaches you to think in sequences. Every frame relates to what comes before and after. When reviewing films, you notice rhythm, pacing, and transitions.
That awareness carries into photography. I look for a frame that suggests a larger story. A movement, a glance, or an interaction can imply narrative. A single image starts to feel like a scene from a longer film. This approach adds depth to fashion imagery by making clothing part of a story rather than the sole focus.
TUMO Center for Creative Technologies has invited you to lead their Learning Labs workshop, a program that brings in established professionals to mentor advanced students. What misconceptions about street fashion photography do you notice in the work of emerging photographers?
Young photographers show a strong interest in storytelling. They consider meaning and context, not just aesthetics. In some ways, their curiosity reminds me of how early street photographers treated the city as a cultural document. Photographers such as Vivian Maier and Garry Winogrand captured ordinary people, and years later, their images became historical records of how society lived and dressed. The new generation understands that today’s street images can become tomorrow’s cultural archive.
You’re now based in the United States, developing a photo book and exhibition series. This shifts you from documenting the evolution of post-Soviet fashion to capturing American urban style, a market already saturated with street photographers. Major publications such as Vogue and Hypebeast have large teams covering New York and LA. What’s your strategy for finding unexplored territory in an already heavily documented landscape?
I focus on cultural intersections. American cities bring together generations, migration histories, and different visual traditions in one space. Clothing often reflects those layers. My long-term project follows how style evolves within communities over time. I pay attention to neighborhoods, family influences, and subtle changes across years. This slower observation reveals patterns that quick coverage can miss. Alongside shooting, I continue to teach and share storytelling approaches with younger photographers. Education and documentation support each other. The broader aim is to create a thoughtful visual record of contemporary urban life in the United States, where fashion becomes a window into identity and everyday experience.
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