Hypebeast Research Paper
Hypebeast
Imagine waking up at 6 in the morning to go wait in line at a store for a day or two just to get a pair of sneakers, this is just one of many qualities in being a Hypebeast. At a first glance I may seem to be a very materialistic person who likes having things others do not have, yes that element is there, but being a Hypebeast is more than just a hobby for me, it is a lifestyle that has allowed me to make friendships, meet influential people, and help me find myself.
The term “Hypebeast” is generally used in a negative way and has a few meanings depending on the usage. It could be used towards someone who tries to copy a celebrity’s style, a stuck-up, self-centered person who only hunts down exclusive and/or limited clothing, footwear, …show more content…
or accessories. This culture has grown a lot over the past 10 years and it’s following is bigger than ever. I would describe myself as someone who likes limited and exclusive stuff and I don’t mind if I am labeled negatively because that’s who I am and it makes me happy.
I was first introduced to this culture by a skateboarding team called the Ice Cream Skate Team in middle school. They wore bright/vibrant camouflage sweatshirts and patent leather sneakers that piqued my interest. I began to research what they were wearing and where I could get them. Upon researching I found out that my new favorite skate team were sponsored by two different companies that are not skateboarding companies, but Japanese street wear brands called Bape and Billionaire Boys Club/Ice Cream. After learning about these brands I didn’t know what to do because these brands were only sold at a handful of stores in the U.S. and carried hefty price tags. This only made me want it even more.
Finally after three years of wanting these clothes I took a trip to San Francisco and once I got there, I immediately put the store’s address into the GPS and began following it. Once I found the store, I was in awe; there were about 30 people in line trying to get into a store that couldn’t be bigger than my living room. It turned out the store was having their once a year sale and everything was half off, I thought it was fate. The outside was not very impressive rather boring, nothing flashy, just a small sign. The inside was nothing like I imagined; it was very minimalistic. Plain white walls, wooden floors, and racks with one type of each shirt, pants, and sweatshirt. I wasn’t allowed to try on the clothes that were on display, I had to ask them and they would grab the item from the back. That trip I bought everything I could afford from that store and couldn’t be happier even though the prices were still high they were perfect.
The term Hypebeast also has the implication of “camp outs”, which is literally camping out at stores for hours or days so you can get whichever limited item in your size.
From personal experience, it is not an easy thing to do especially during winter. My longest campout was 14 hours in Los Angeles for Bape’s grand opening. At that time Bape was one of the biggest names in street wear and the only other Bape store in the country was in New York, so this was a big deal. The whole line of people looked like a painter’s palette. An hour before the store opened there were over a hundred people in line with chairs, umbrellas, and ice chests. The worst part about that trip is that there is no shop or restaurants open before 12pm and it made using the restroom extremely hard. This is an extreme though, there are anywhere between 5 to 50 people sleeping in front of a store in LA depending on the release. Now there is never that many people camping out here at our local spot. The most people I have seen are about 10 people. Camping out during the winter here also isn’t that great. Usually sneakers release on Saturday mornings and everybody camps Friday night, which also happens to be when they power wash River Park where the shop is located. The manager of the store even ordered us a couple pizzas a night we were there. One good thing about campouts are that you get to meet a lot of people who have at least one thing in common and you might build a friendship with the owners and workers of the store or even people you meet in line. I have met a lot of people who I am now friends with because of campouts. You are almost forced to make conversations with people you’ll be with them for hours. So you actually get something out of campouts besides whatever you are there to buy. Some people leave empty handed, but others leave with the best
feeling.
By going to these stores I have even met some of the owners and was able to have conversations with them. I always had the idea to have a career in something fashion related and they encouraged me to do so. After looking back on my experiences, when I got involved in this culture it was just a hobby type of thing, but now it is a huge part of my life and has made me meet interesting people, make friends, and help shape who I am and what I want to do in the future.
Imagine waking up at 6 in the morning to go wait in line at a store for a day or two just to get a pair of sneakers, this is just one of many qualities in being a Hypebeast. At a first glance I may seem to be a very materialistic person who likes having things others do not have, yes that element is there, but being a Hypebeast is more than just a hobby for me, it is a lifestyle that has allowed me to make friendships, meet influential people, and help me find myself.
The term “Hypebeast” is generally used in a negative way and has a few meanings depending on the usage. It could be used towards someone who tries to copy a celebrity’s style, a stuck-up, self-centered person who only hunts down exclusive and/or limited clothing, footwear, …show more content…
or accessories. This culture has grown a lot over the past 10 years and it’s following is bigger than ever. I would describe myself as someone who likes limited and exclusive stuff and I don’t mind if I am labeled negatively because that’s who I am and it makes me happy.
I was first introduced to this culture by a skateboarding team called the Ice Cream Skate Team in middle school. They wore bright/vibrant camouflage sweatshirts and patent leather sneakers that piqued my interest. I began to research what they were wearing and where I could get them. Upon researching I found out that my new favorite skate team were sponsored by two different companies that are not skateboarding companies, but Japanese street wear brands called Bape and Billionaire Boys Club/Ice Cream. After learning about these brands I didn’t know what to do because these brands were only sold at a handful of stores in the U.S. and carried hefty price tags. This only made me want it even more.
Finally after three years of wanting these clothes I took a trip to San Francisco and once I got there, I immediately put the store’s address into the GPS and began following it. Once I found the store, I was in awe; there were about 30 people in line trying to get into a store that couldn’t be bigger than my living room. It turned out the store was having their once a year sale and everything was half off, I thought it was fate. The outside was not very impressive rather boring, nothing flashy, just a small sign. The inside was nothing like I imagined; it was very minimalistic. Plain white walls, wooden floors, and racks with one type of each shirt, pants, and sweatshirt. I wasn’t allowed to try on the clothes that were on display, I had to ask them and they would grab the item from the back. That trip I bought everything I could afford from that store and couldn’t be happier even though the prices were still high they were perfect.
The term Hypebeast also has the implication of “camp outs”, which is literally camping out at stores for hours or days so you can get whichever limited item in your size.
From personal experience, it is not an easy thing to do especially during winter. My longest campout was 14 hours in Los Angeles for Bape’s grand opening. At that time Bape was one of the biggest names in street wear and the only other Bape store in the country was in New York, so this was a big deal. The whole line of people looked like a painter’s palette. An hour before the store opened there were over a hundred people in line with chairs, umbrellas, and ice chests. The worst part about that trip is that there is no shop or restaurants open before 12pm and it made using the restroom extremely hard. This is an extreme though, there are anywhere between 5 to 50 people sleeping in front of a store in LA depending on the release. Now there is never that many people camping out here at our local spot. The most people I have seen are about 10 people. Camping out during the winter here also isn’t that great. Usually sneakers release on Saturday mornings and everybody camps Friday night, which also happens to be when they power wash River Park where the shop is located. The manager of the store even ordered us a couple pizzas a night we were there. One good thing about campouts are that you get to meet a lot of people who have at least one thing in common and you might build a friendship with the owners and workers of the store or even people you meet in line. I have met a lot of people who I am now friends with because of campouts. You are almost forced to make conversations with people you’ll be with them for hours. So you actually get something out of campouts besides whatever you are there to buy. Some people leave empty handed, but others leave with the best
feeling.
By going to these stores I have even met some of the owners and was able to have conversations with them. I always had the idea to have a career in something fashion related and they encouraged me to do so. After looking back on my experiences, when I got involved in this culture it was just a hobby type of thing, but now it is a huge part of my life and has made me meet interesting people, make friends, and help shape who I am and what I want to do in the future.