From Joanna Nikas’ article for The New York Times:
Ms. Arbus, a New York native, started photographing street style in the 1980s for The Village Voice as a way to meet the cool downtown crowd. “Self-expression through clothing was so strong at that point,” she said. “Making a mark by showing who you are was the way to get noticed.” After taking a break from street style to focus on personal projects and commercial work, she recently returned to it. “I thought for a long time that people weren’t as interested in style as they used to be,” she said, adding that “something about the resistance has brought back what we wear as a statement now.”