Semiotic Analysis of Five Famous Streetwear Trademarks

Trademark is an identity of any company. Each trademark contains meaning which can be revealed semiotically from its signs. This research were aimed to find out the semiotic signification process on five famous streetwear trademarks consist of Supreme, Gucci, Bape, Off-White, and Champion, to investigate the meaning of the icon and symbol in those streetwear trademarks, and to observe the aspect that one of the other trademarks more dominant. This research used qualitative research design. The data of this research were five famous streetwear trademark consist of Supreme, Gucci, Bape, Off-White, and Champion, also some comments of respondents that have been gathered by the writer by using open-ended questionnaire. The participant were Instagram users. The time duration of gathering respondents’ comments was one week. From the questionnaire, the writer found 127 respondents with their comments in one week through the open-ended questionnaire. In the research findings, the writer found that each of trademarks have signifier and signified with denotative and connotative meaning. The writer also found 5 icons and 5 symbols in 5 famous streetwear trademark consist of Supreme, Gucci, Bape, Off-White, and Champion which deliver some messages to their consumers. The result from open-ended questionnaire, the writer found that Off-White was dominantly chosen by the respondents. The writer also found that most of respondents chose their favorite brand based on the brand design. In conclusion, there is a significant effect between the design of the trademark/brand and the consumer interest. Keywords—semiotic; trademark; meaning