“Hi Romain,
We receive a lot of emails on this subject: could you write us an article to define what hype is? »
Obviously, I accept. Even though it will be super easy: we all have a little idea of what the hype is ultimately! But is a “little idea” enough? Certainly not. This is the conclusion I came to when starting to write this article, much more complex than it seemed.
Hype is one of those words that we see a lot, but which we struggle to define with the clarity of a Larousse, by aligning a few eloquent adjectives. So I'm off for a solo "brain storm" to put in order everything that is directly or indirectly related to it.
Little by little, it becomes clear to me that the “hype” is familiar to us. As a child, have you ever worn shoes that light up when you walk? I had the honor of being there and walking around the playground, ready to pull out the red BN box at the first sign of a general snack, with this thing still unknown at the time on my feet.
The BN/luminous shoes combo, enough to reign supreme in primary school.
Thanks to this, I was - in all humility - hyped for a few days, the time it took for the batteries to dramatically fall flat and, above all, for others to fall in love with the same sesame.
Of course, I had no merit: these wonderful shoes were worn by a “comrade” from my ping-pong club – the last place in the world where one expects to find anything hype – who did not frequent not the same school as me. In short, enough to pass for a precursor in the same way as a usurper, although this last element was only known to me at the time, and fortunately.
Do you see what shoes I'm talking about?
The objective of this digression: to highlight - haha - the connivance between hype and avant-gardism. Without further ado, I therefore suggest that we begin with a first attempt at defining the term, which will allow us to see how the hype “is born” and spreads. Then, a concrete case with the example of the VETEMENTS brand.
What is hype?
An ephemeral concept
First of all, hype should not be confused with “swag”. If we want to keep it very simple, we could say that the latter comes close to the meaning of “having style”. Hype is something less palpable, more vague.
However, with his Vuitton monogram and his patters visible from the moon, Swagg Man is ridiculous, you see?
In fact, to designate something as hype is to describe it as "hip" , "in the trend" or even "in the trend". These terms seem completely has-been to you? Normal, that’s the case 😉 . They allow us to show that the notion of hype has fundamentally always existed, although it may have had different names and especially different forms depending on the era. What is hype today is not born, nor is it conveyed, as could have been the case in the early 2000s.
How is hype born?
In the literal sense, the word "hype", of Anglo-Saxon origin, refers to soliciting, to "hype". By extension, this brings us directly to the primary definition of the word "hype" in fashion: media hype.
A hype brand or style is above all something that has been the subject of particular attention by certain media, at one time or another. Articles, illustrated editorials, red carpet photos: the hype comes from massive distribution on all types of media.
It should be noted, however, that media hype does not mean consensus. It would even be quite the opposite: rejection - at least a certain marginality - is almost inherent to the birth of the hype phenomenon, which leads us to compare it to the notion of avant-garde. We can take the example of Margiela, who was widely criticized in his early days for his deconstructed and iconoclastic fashion, then who began to be worn by icons of this generation, even ending up winning the support of the press.
I insist on the fact that nothing is absolute here, the objective being to take a few examples to best illustrate the point. To summarize, hype is a fashion, a brand, a cool style that everyone talks about, but which does not necessarily please people – far from it.
Let’s see how the buzz is created.
How does the hype spread?
This “buzz” is essential: hype is a phenomenon that appears quite suddenly and therefore has an important relationship to novelty . Beyond the spotlight given during a parade or presentation, the role of the media and social networks is essential. Even if the line between the two is thinning.
Razzia in the editorials, everyone wants Hood By Air.
A photo on Instagram, a fashion show video on Snapchat, posted by “influencers”
A shot in Hood By Air - a very hyped and crazy brand - a typical disgusting Instagram filter, 2/3 hashtags and presto, Rihanna and the HBA brand are creating a buzz.
For example, we can think of Bryanboy , a pseudo trendsetter, who only wears what is most hyped at a given moment. This does not necessarily make you want to buy, but attracts attention and even goes so far as to generate quite violent expressions of rejection or support.
Perfect symbol of fashion without reflection or conscience.
Diffusion and democratization: when hype becomes trend
Since hype is an acute form of fashion but one that does not support consensus, it will die out from the moment it begins to become popular . Marginality, difference, incomprehension give way to adhesion, which is then the end of originality.
A very simple example concerning this phase: the hipster movement. At first, there were quite a few of them wearing snowflake knitwear and full mustaches. Mocked, admired, in any case identifiable, the hipsters and their passion for ostentatious vintage ended up thrilling the textile industry which plunged frantically into its archives.
From the benches of Brooklyn to the pages of GQ.
Poorly tailored jeans, white socks and the famous - unbearable - Stan Smiths reappear on the shelves. For girls, it's high-waisted jeans, loose t-shirts above the navel and - lo and behold - Stan Smiths. Now everywhere, the hipster is no longer hype: general panic in the editorial offices, because they then have to find what no one is wearing yet in order to produce editorials which will show that they are the first to have talked about it.
To illustrate all this, small product and brand case studies!
Hype brand: the VETEMENTS example
The VETEMENTS brand was created in January 2014. It is in fact a collective of creators whose goal is to “break the rules”, to represent a new generation in which social class no longer has meaning, which takes its her own decisions, is not afraid to be herself and to assert her difference. Blah, blah, blah.
His collections are presented in creepy sex clubs, super kitsch Chinese restaurants, with blaring music. In short, a rather repugnant universe, which we find in their clothes: waxed floral aprons, latex boots, transporter logos, Levi's jeans from the 90s.
Add to that the appointment of one of the creators at the head of the Balenciaga brand and we're off to a buzz. Instagram is going crazy, when no one can get their hands on the brand's website at first: a poorly referenced site called "clothing" is complicated.
BryanBoy no longer has any arms but that's okay, VETEMENTS customers are having fun showing that they spent $400 on a delivery guy's t-shirt and Rihanna wants to show that she's in on it too. Let's go...
Then the traditional press arrives with its big clogs, cries genius and tries to glorify the ugly. Others - including myself - believe that making ugly for ugly's sake and selling it at a high price to show off is the height of ridiculousness and the worst of fashion and should not be done.
A very important clarification at this stage: I understand and am very respectful of the approach which consists of breaking, deconstructing, rethinking fashion as creators like Margiela, Herlmut Lang, Comme des Garçons etc. have done. The only thing is that I don't believe that VETEMENTS is sincerely committed to this approach, and uses it more as a marketing coating.
However, it is clear that the label is at the center of attention, worn by celebrities, and truly intriguing... Even if it seems important to me to point out that once the fuss around the "product" has been removed ( the com, the buzz, etc.) the intrinsic value of their “creation” is almost zero. But everyone will have their own opinion.
It will be €900 for the 80% cotton 20% polyester sweatshirt made in Portugal.
Rafik's opinion on CLOTHES
VETEMENTS has literally created a hurricane on the fashion planet. There is a lot of debate about the brand - even within the team - and my opinion is less clear-cut.
Obviously, I can't call it artistic genius. We are far from true luxury standards, the sweatshirt above is proof. Rarely has a brand that parades reached such a level of hype. So yes, there is a lot of marketing there but for me, that's not all.
No matter how much we say, there is definitely an idea behind VETEMENTS. For the record, these are stylists who were all already in contract with brands when their label was created. This required them to remain anonymous, hence the name so “impersonal”.
Demna Gvasalia, leading figure of the VETEMENTS collective.
I'm no more shocked by a DHL t-shirt from them than Bambi from Givenchy, Coca from Dolce or McDonald's from Moschino. Some designers feed their creations through globalization, this is a recurring fact. Some pieces also deliberately presented spelling errors: scandal or a nod to the counterfeit he carried in the USSR?
Far from being a fan, why not in the end? It's not worth McQueen's embroidered lace or Alaïa leather - to stay in the catwalk world - but we don't all fall for the same things. Because their customers know very well what they are buying...
Sweatshirt belted with hooked elastic, Bambi print, with matching bag (Givenchy). I'm not a fan of this aesthetic but VETEMENTS didn't invent anything, but we tend to only remember that.
Later, they were widely criticized for a lack of creativity in the S/S 17 collection, developed in collaboration with 18 brands. This is a point that is defensible, especially when we know that the parade was presented in June rather than September. That being said, VETEMENTS allows real know-how to be maintained. Among the Eastpack bags, you could find Lucchese boots and Brioni jackets. Nuggets of creation that VETEMENTS' Instagram-doped target doesn't necessarily know.
I won't buy CLOTHES but like its subversive side, a clever cocktail of inspiration and marketing. If you ask me, Demna is a bit to fashion what Warhol was to art. DHL vs. T-shirt cans of Campbell's soup .
Benoit's opinion on CLOTHING
Even if I recognize some creative and worked outbursts (the work on the €1,190 jeans made in France, for example) and the collective's fascination with everyday clothing from the 90s (the DHL t-shirt, the sweatshirts from metalhead), I deplore overpriced fashion, often totally disconnected from the product, and which no longer has much use in everyday life.
At its peak, this distressing hype around the famous DHL t-shirt : the VETEMENTS one cost $281, the DHL one cost €6. The difference between the two ? A simple extra red stripe on the back, and a (slightly) different cut. That's all. No material knitted in Japan, no Supima cotton, none of that. And this contributes to giving an image of fashion that is incomprehensible and inaccessible to newbies, instead of promoting know-how. That's the saddest thing.
I also agree with some critics saying that VETEMENTS didn't invent anything, just took clothes from the 90s and made pastiches of them:
- Your dad's oversized shirt going to work : well, they really make it too...large. At €540,
- The motorcycle jacket that we imagine to be very fitted : under the collective, it becomes obviously too small. At €4,750, grab some Balmain or Versace while you're at it,
- As for the faded 90s t-shirt with shoulders that are too wide , which we've seen in a number of American series that have aged poorly, it's the same: they're going to create a t-shirt with shoulders that are literally too wide, thanks to removable padded inserts. Here we also have a price totally disconnected from its inspiration: €690.
And there are plenty of examples like that (did I tell you about your grandfather's 100% polyester bathrobe for €1,250?). But there is one thing that cannot be taken away from them, and that is that their collections have a lot of humor and self-deprecation. We quickly get a taste for seeing how they will make fun of this disastrous period for fashion that was the 90's.
The only problem is that in the end, we're not sure if they're making fun of the garment or its wearer, especially at such high prices.
Geoffrey's opinion on CLOTHES
Like Benoît, it's a fashion that totally repels me: not very wearable, overpriced, and without any real notion of quality behind it. Not convinced either that there is great control of the cuts.
But what really bothers me is the niche it occupies.
In my eyes, VETEMENTS is the latest discovery of a fashion intelligentsia, who have decreed that it is Hype, because they themselves have access to it (often at discounted prices or in pieces collected after the show).
And given that she has the power to decree that something is hype, and to have privileged access to this hype, otherwise difficult to obtain for others, she remains hype herself. The circle is closed (and in the meantime other customers have purchased).
What's sad is that we totally forget the consumer, the product, and the fact that fashion should be a bridge between people (and not a red BN box that segments or excludes).
What's funny is that the creators of CLOTHING may realize this. And in this they are playing a good joke on a certain trendy clique.
What is certain is that the hype always passes. VETEMENTS today occupies the place that Pigalle Paris occupied 2 years ago, and the Rottweiler Givenchy sweatshirt even before that.
In the same way as in music, those who listened to Fauve moved on to something else (PNL?). Same kind of rotation in cinema (Xavier Dolan?), food (kale?), or contemporary art ( Romano Chucalescu ?).
In the end, hype is fashion in accelerated fashion, and it always ends up (at least a little) passing.
The case of Dior SoReal glasses
Another very interesting case: Dior SoReal glasses. This time, the hype was created around a particular article, but the starting point is more “laudable” than the previous case. At Safilo, the subcontractor that produces sunglasses for Dior, the sensation is unanimous at the sight of these glasses intended to be presented at the Spring/Summer 2014 women's fashion show. The absence of a bridge, the very techno side but above all portable of these glasses is going to be a hit, that's for sure.
The design is clearly innovative.
Not missed. Critics notice the accessory and, this time, it will be the magazines that get ahead of themselves on social networks. Having the possibility of obtaining the famous glasses before their marketing for the production of editorials, here they are invading the shootings intended to fill the pages of glossy magazines.
Man or woman, magazines, bloggers... are getting caught up in it.
As soon as they arrived in store, a hit for the Dior SoReal, still sold at the base price of €320. On Instagram, Rihanna, Jennifer Lawrence & co appear with their glasses screwed on their noses, then everyone starts doing it: it's as if each customer felt the need to post a selfie with their Dior SoReals. Ultimately, the hype is very short-lived because the support is such that democratization happens quickly. Imitations appear very quickly with replicas sold by large well-established brands at the price of… €20.
Even men are getting into it, and we must admit that these sunglasses suit both men and women! A real poker move for Dior, who brings them out every season. That said, I find it much more interesting that a hype finds its foundations in an innovation, in the creation of something new, rather than in a vague concept where the slightly childish transgression is an end in itself!
Hype or not hype: the conclusion
Through all of this, I hope I was able to give you a few cues to help you form your own definition/perception of what hype is. Obviously, I haven't gone through all of what is said and it is quite obvious that the statement is not 100% objective.
If you ever have to give in to the sirens of hype, do it for yourself. Because the message conveyed by the brand corresponds to you or you sincerely like the piece in itself.
Also avoid overly-connoted hype: as soon as the phenomenon has passed, you are certain that you will no longer be able to wear it. Without forgetting everything concerning manufacturing and its quality-price ratio!
