Hypebeasts have been moving a considerable part of the fashion sector in the past couple of years, with dozens of shows, conventions and by bringing small, niche brands into the mainstream. Many companies, like Supreme, Gucci and OFF-White must thank Hypebeasts and their Instagram profiles for the success they had in the recent past. With this being said, a natural question follows: are Hypebeasts driving the brands’ production or is the brands’ production driving Hypebeasts? Let’s find out.
The Constant Association With The Trap Movement
Streetwear and, in particular, mens streetwear have always been connected to the hip-hop and rap scene. With the advent of the trap movement, this escalated to a whole new level. Rappers and personalities were contacted by brands like OFF-White (keep in mind that Virgil Abloh was Kanye West’s creative partner) and Gucci to wear or model for their newest collections just because these brands were seeing a big product associated with their products.
The OFF-White Scenario
As mentioned above, Virgil Abloh has been driving the fashion industry massively in the past couple of years. From PYREX vision to Louis Vuitton, Abloh has been criticized a lot for his approach, which was described by many as not creative and “inspired” a bit too much from other big brands like Nike (with which he collaborated) and Champions. With this in mind, and also due to an extremely well-planned branding campaign, it’s still complicated to understand why and how low-quality products coming from (effectively) the same factory which produces pieces for Zara have been so successful.
Supreme
Supreme has developed a lot since its early beginnings the 90s. The (former) skatewear brand has moved from just that to a broader, bigger fashion audience but keeping its skate-related roots. With this in mind, there’s also a dark matter which we should cover: the bandwagon which hopped on literally anything that the New York-based company has ever produced. In fact, it’s very important to understand that Supreme has sold out every single collection in the past couple of years within a couple of hours, proof of the fact that Hypebeasts are willing to buy everything regardless.
To Conclude
Trends and bandwagons are always going to be a constant in the fashion industry, especially when it comes to high-level streetwear or mens graphic t-shirts. Are Hypebeasts ruining the entire fashion sector then? Yours to decide.