At the end of the twentieth century, many teens gravitated to logos. The long economic expansion from the 1980s and the 1990s gave them the means to spend lavishly on clothing emblems. A fashion hit like Ralph Lauren was based not only on the quality of the garment, but also on the logo’s talismanic power in high school hallways. At the same time, the most popular TV shows on network and cable often featured beautiful California teenagers with sand-tousled hair, like The O.C. and Laguna Beach. Los Angeles culture beamed across the country and elevated surf-and-skate brands, like Hurley,
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