Why Hypebeasts are looked down on in Streetwear Culture

Why Hypebeasts are looked down on in Streetwear Culture

Hypebeasts are well known amongst streetwear fanatics. They are infamous in the world of streetwear for a number of reasons.

Essentially, Hypebeasts are people that wear what many would call ‘hyped’ brands and clothes that are trending. Their outfits also often consist of a lot of monograms and logos worn at once so that the average walker by can clearly see which brands they are wearing. Some of the hyped brands include Supreme, Gucci, Off-White and A Bathing Ape.

A Bathing Ape T-shirt / Via StockX

Gucci Slides / Via StockX

Off-White Industrial Belt/ Via StockX

Supreme Box Logo T-shirt/ Via StockX

Streetwear enthusiasts tend to have 3 main problems with Hypebeasts: 

1) Lack of unique style 

2) Brand image 

3) The representation of streetwear

Lack of uniqueness

By definition, Hypebeasts wear clothes that are either very trendy, or clothes covered in the logos and monograms of very expensive brands. A lot of Hypebeasts tend to layer some trends with others regardless of whether or not they clash. In the fashion world, wearing clothes on the basis of popularity would be considered inauthentic. Many streetwear enthusiasts feel that Hypebeasts do not have a unique sense of style because they only wear the “latest thing” as opposed to what they genuinely want to wear. In their defence, some genuinely like the clothes that they wear and regardless of what others think of their fashion choices they should be allowed to wear their clothes without fuss. Fashion after all is an expressive art, so it is unfair for others to decide that someone wears hyped clothing for the sake of popularity as opposed to them liking the clothes.

Brand images

In short, due to many Hypebeasts often choosing to sport the same apparel as each other, many brands begin to receive a ‘hype image’ or become known as ‘Hypebeast brands’. The brands are soon associated with Hypebeasts.  For example, the brand Supreme (American skate brand founded by James Jebbia) has become synonymous with the term “Hypebeast” because of the oversaturation of the “Box logo” or “Bogo” hoodies and t-shirts that dominate mainstream streetwear. Many avoid buying trendy pieces from hyped brands because of the connotations that come with wearing them.

Representation of streetwear

Finally, Hypebeasts make up a large part of streetwear and many hyped brands often use certain clothing items to cater toward this wide audience. Unfortunately, to the untrained eyes, Hypebeasts may come across as the entire streetwear community which is unfortunate. To those uninterested by the subject, more casual streetwear is overlooked and Hypebeasts are used to represent the state of streetwear culture today.

Personally, I dislike the oversaturation of specific pieces in any genre of fashion, however, the world contains a lot of people and it is very possible that many people would have the same sense of style. Regardless of whether or not Hypebeasts actually wear their clothes because they like them, they can still be judged in terms of fashion, in the same way as everyone else. On the other hand, everyone has a right to wear whatever pleases them. The beauty of fashion is that we have the ability to express ourselves through what we wear. If a Hypebeast wants to pay minimum £200 for a t-shirt and ‘flex’ on everyone, they have every right to do so. I can sympathise with fashion enthusiasts who have to avoid hyped brands prevent themselves being labelled, but I also believe that if someone truly likes a piece of clothing, they should do so without being influenced by the beliefs of others.

K. Iruwa