Cracking down the hype in “hypebeast”

When senior Ivan Lee was in eighth grade, his wardrobe was in no way the representation of his style. After wearing his brother’s hand-me-downs for years, Lee was left with no choice to determine a style of his own and strove to create his own image. After attempting to assert his own individuality, he realized his brother’s old clothes were the basis for his own style.

Four years later, Lee looks back at his past and notices the effect his brother’s “hype” style played in his life. His sense of fashion grew from hand-me-downs to the classy, laid-back trend he dawns today. Strongly influenced by his brother, Lee can be described as a “hypebeast.”

Hypebeast began as a relatively small online magazine, home to blogs, sales, news about the latest street wear, sneakers and urban fashion. However, the increasing popularity has led the term hypebeast to refer to a person who wears street, urban and hipster fashion styles.

Although the hypebeast style may be popular with students, it is often difficult to find a store that specializes in their mode of clothing. For this reason, many of the fans of this style shop at karmaloop.com, a safe online clothing store that caters all brands and styles. This site typically sells moderately skinny jeans, graphic tees from a majority of brands, and many accessories. (In particular hats are common to complete the hypebeast look.)

“I purchase the majority of my clothes online, because the stores that carry the clothes I like are not in close proximity. I can find better deals online,” said senior Jonathan Koo, who does not consider himself a hypebeast but does frequently purchase from karmaloop.com.

This is the most important selling point to a hypebeast, because the foundation of their style is the ability to mix different articles of clothing. While some females would find the idea of reusing elements of outfits incomprehensible, hypebeasts frequently do this by pairing their basics of a graphic tee, skinny jeans and shoes in order to coordinate different outfits. This technique increases their available ensembles, while decreasing their spending amount.

“I don’t think I am a hypebeast; I would just say ‘hype’ is similar to my style, like that of many students,” junior Derek Chao said. “But it seems like we are hypebeasts, because just like them we wear a collaboration of brands.”

Although “hypebeast” may have a negative connotation around school because of its association with buyers who solely care about the amount their clothes are monetary worth, the “hype” style is highly coveted and students have made an effort to make this distinction clear.

“In the end, I care much less about the brand of clothing and much rather about simple looks,” said Koo. “Although I don’t classify myself as a hypebeast, I dress similarly to them, simply because I like that it looks it’s clean and put together.”

Most of us possess at least one piece of hype clothing, whether it’s last year’s skinny jeans or the latest Hurley fleece.

Through their ample presence in SHS, the rising outbreak of hypebeasts is significant. The style is catching on, now for both girls and boys. As hipster fashion becomes more prevalent for girls, soon hype may be a classier, more modish alternative.