Hypebeasts flocked to Complexcon, a festival celebrating innovation in fashion, art, music over the weekend to purchase the hottest items, all for the love of hype.
A hypebeast, someone who loves to stay on trend, especially as it pertains to sneakers and clothes.
These are the people typically seen sporting brands like Adidas, Supreme, and Nike.
At Complexcon, the average price of a sneaker was about $150-$300. With some of the sneakers for sale being limited or exclusive, they’ll go on to resale for double, sometimes even triple the price.
The value of these items relies heavily on their perceived hype or how trendy they become.
“I think the concept of hype has evolved so much,” said Rello, an artist who had a booth at Complexcon. “Especially with the element of resale, now. Now, hype is directly tied to profit and the ability to resale something. It’s like a formula of popularity combined with good design.”
The competitive nature of hype is undeniable given the way trends move so quickly.
For some retailers, sticking to authenticity is how they hope to prevail amongst larger names.
One such vendor is Jose Fabia of Tried and True Co., a vintage reseller based out of Los Angeles.
“We’re rooted in community,” Fabia said. “We embrace 80’s and 90’s nostalgia which is really hot right now.”
Smaller brands like Fabia’s have to contend with brands such as rapper Kid Cudi’s Members of the Rage.
Cudi’s brand sells T-shirts starting at $50 and bomber jackets for $895.
One fan who was shopping his collection at Complexcon admitted that they were only buying it because of his name being attached to it.
Rapper and producer IDK spoke about the idea of perceived value to former Nike marketer Bimma Williams at a panel over the weekend.
“People will buy things just because it’s popular or looks nice,” IDK said. “So when I create (fashion designs), it’s on me to give it meaning so while people are consuming, they’re also learning. That’s what IDK stands for, Ignorantly Delivering Knowledge.”
In line with the message of keeping hype educational, Bimma gave away a pair of exclusive sneakers from the brand Saucony, which paid homage to the brands first black designer.
The overall theme of the panel with Williams and IDK was to promote the idea of supporting the next generation of creatives.
One vendor who shares a similar interest in that message is Aneesha Dubois of Well (Un)Known who also teaches at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM).
Dubois says that her brand looks to promote longevity in upcoming luxury brands by focusing on the elements that will give them staying power over some other brands whose success is a by-product of popularity and not much else.
“There are some designers who know all about fit, fabric (and) cut and who are also trendy,” Dubois said. “Our booth is set up as a classroom because that’s what we want to do, teach the fashion inquisitive about emerging brands.”
In an effort to stay relevant, some brands opt for shock value.
One such brand is Holiday, whose booth was decorated with a pile of trash bags strewn about a graffiti riddled steel box that resembled a dirty alley.
Shoppers who purchased their shoes, averaged at about $150, received their items in trash bags, true to the theme.
The stoic, masked employees dressed in hunting gear working the booth declined to comment on the relevance or significance of the garbage.
While hype comes and goes, it seems as though the general consensus is that authenticity is forever.