If I was doing Sociology 101 over again, I would like to think that these days there would be a module on the sociology of style. This module would study style tribes, which are groups of people whose membership is dependent on their distinctive clothing style.

On a very simplistic level, it all began in the '60s when people started to align themselves and their value system into tribes according to their clothing and music choices.

Mods and Rockers were the first to emerge and then, in the '70s, there were the Hippies, the Glam Rockers and the start of the Punk movement.

The '80s brought us the Goths and the Ravers out of the UK, which then became subdivided in the '90s into under-tribes according to nuances in the parameters of the music and clothing.

While this was happening in Europe, the exact same thing was happening among the hip-hop movement, out of Detroit in the US, and suddenly, with the birth of the internet, you had a cross pollination of all these tribes around the world as we entered the new century.

This tribal alignment has as much to do with issues around identity as it is about style choices. The two are symbiotic in their development and take their first references from the immediate context of the tribal group. And so we find in South Africa a very similar alignment of these groups of people, but with a few of our own to add to the mix.

As a direct result of the socio-political environment that we find ourselves in here, there are some style tribes that are indigenous to South Africa. I explore five of them here.

Smarteez

Brown on the inside and brightly clashing colours on the outside, Smarteez have emerged from the townships, specifically Soweto, to spearhead the most exciting style revolution around today.

With clothing and accessories always brightly coloured, Smarteez take enormous pride in composing their outfits, borrowing intelligently from preppy, trendy and street fashion to fuse a look that is totally unique.

I call it unique; others have called it individual, they themselves, call it random. Both as a reflection of youth slang, as well as a specific sociological awareness of how random their life is in the modern world, as these young men and women break away from tradition and carve out a new world order for themselves.

Brightly coloured glasses frames, primary coloured skinny jeans, gingham check shirts, and old school bow-ties are standard fare, but everything is customised and locally acquired. Always mixing it up and making every single outfit unique, Smarteez move as a tribe, a pack if you will, in order to derive the power to impact on their environment to the max.

Long Street trendies

A style tribe that has been around for many years, the Cape-based Long Street Trendy, can in now fact be found in many cities around the country.

Drawing strongly on the Hoxton trendy in London, the Long Street Trendy is as much at home in the vintage shop as he or she is at the poshest restaurant in town.

This is because the tribe is largely made up of arts, media, music or fashion students that have moved into the city to their life of student debt, from their salubrious suburban lives of private school and an array of socially appropriate extra-mural activities.

This is also a young tribe of people, mostly in their '20s, who have broken free from the bounds of mummy and daddy and are looking for creative and innovative ways to express their own identity.

With not much money of their own, this is the most cutting-edge of the local style tribes and their resourcefulness and creativeness that translates what they see in Vogue or GQ into cool urban outfits, should be applauded — and photographed frequently.

Vintage shopping is the default starting point — mostly to acquire beautiful pieces at affordable prices, but also to build this unique look for themselves. This is then complemented by the cheap thrills of high fashion acquired at Topshop and Primark in London on their family-funded trips abroad.

As with many tribes, the desire for individual expression is subsumed eventually into the broader demands of the group, and what began as individual is eventually reflective of the tribe itself.

Hipsters

Ah, the hipster. Well in the South African context this is essentially a tribe of grown up Long Street trendies.

These people are over 30 and are still in touch with the youth culture, still keeping up with what is cool and what is not, and now in possession of a salary that enables them to buy what they desire to fill out the trendy requirement — whether it is clothing or gadgetry.

South African Street Style recently posted an article on this tribe around the world, and a series of questions that can help you see whether you are one or not. This is necessary as, in South Africa specifically; this is one tribe that actually doesn't necessarily move as a tribe. They can recognise each other from fifty paces, and place a great deal of value on seeing like-minded folks around them, but they don't in fact identify with the tribe construct itself.

Designer jeans, trainers, handbags and sunglasses are the building blocks of the look — none of which shout their designer status through a label, but rather are recognised by those that belong to the tribe.

They are prepared to pay for the subtle style that says that they are still hip, plugged into arts, culture, media and music better than most — and really quite confident with it and the wisdom that comes from age and experience.

They are also the retailers dream demographic and are often targeted appropriately in their tribal church, Vida e Cafes around the country.

Label lovers

Throughout the '80s and much of the '90s, consumerism in South Africa was driven largely by what was available in this country as a result of the restrictions of sanctions.

Many of us grew up thinking that everything from the US or Europe was better than what we have here, and never so much as when we had it, and could show it off to our friends.

And so the tribe of label lovers was born. With designer label goods being prized for their well-defined label that can be seen by others, this tribe favours Prada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Burberry.

This tribe has cousins all over the world, but here in South Africa it is a specific product of the inequalities in our society for over 40 years. As such, it should not be seen as a tribe of ridicule, but rather one of triumph and pride and the emergence of our future before our eyes.

The tribe's members are people who have moved, in the past 10 years, from the 'Have Not' pile firmly, and smartly, into the 'Have' pile.

Even if what they have is only one item, it demonstrates a level of social and economic success unexpected in their lifetime. Label lovers act as a point of inspiration for us all in South Africa and should be celebrated as our whole society is dependent on these individuals for the success of our economic future.

Bushwhacker

And finally, here in South Africa, we have an indigenous tribe called the bushwhacker. It has its origins in Australia, but has come to stand — and grow — on its own here in SA. This is the ordinary man or woman, living in the medium to large urban areas, who has decided that embracing their life in Africa through their clothing may be as close as they get to living their dream.

And so they wear hiking boots on the city streets, fleeces and fleece gilets to keep warm as they sit around the braai in their back garden, and the ubiquitous cargo pants and shorts for their everyday activity.

They look like safari guides, but can only escape to the bush once or twice a year. They have a collection of walking sticks carved out of branches they have found on these holidays, and they regularly page through their photo albums from these trips into the 'real' Africa.

This is not a creative or innovative tribe; it is rather a tribe of yearning. This is a tribe that seeks each other out, out of context, to create an environment where this desire for the bush is legitimised in the urban context. We can but love them and forgive them, for they know not what they do.

For more information on Robyn and her personal styling services, go to: www.robyncooke- styleguide.co.za