“Hello Romain,
We receive a lot of emails on this subject: could you write an article for us to define what hype is?
Of course, I accept. Even though it's going to be super easy: we all have a little idea of what hype is after all! But is a "little idea" enough? Certainly not. That's the conclusion I came to when I started writing this article, which is much more complex than it seemed.
Hype is one of those words that we see a lot, but that we struggle to define with the clarity of a Larousse dictionary, by stringing together a few eloquent adjectives. So here I am, off on a solo "brainstorm" to put in order everything that is related to it, near or far.
Little by little, it becomes clear to me that the "hype" is familiar to us. As children, have you ever worn shoes that light up when you walk? I had the honor of being one of them and of walking around the playground, ready to pull out the red BN box at the first sign of a general snack, with this thing on my feet that was still unknown at the time.
The BN/light-up shoes combo, enough to reign supreme in primary school.
Thanks to this, I was – in all humility – hyped for a few days, which was the time it took for the batteries to dramatically run out and, above all, for others to fall in love with the same sesame.
Of course, I had no merit: these magnificent 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 attend the same school as me. In short, enough to pass for a precursor in the same way as an imposter, although this last element was known only to me at the time, and fortunately.
Do you know what shoes I'm talking about?
The goal of this digression: to highlight - haha - the connivance between hype and avant-gardism. Without further ado, I suggest we start with a first attempt at defining the term, which will allow us to see a little how 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". To put it very simply, we could say that the latter is closer to the meaning of "having style". Hype is something less palpable, more vague.
Still, with his Vuitton monogram and his rings visible from the moon, Swagg Man is ridiculous, you know?
In fact, calling something hype is like calling it "trendy" , "in the know" or even "in the wind". Do these terms seem completely has-been to you? Normal, that's the case 😉 . They show that the notion of hype has basically 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 was the case in the early 2000s.
How does hype arise?
In the literal sense, the word "hype", of Anglo-Saxon origin, refers to solicitation, to "hype". By extension, this brings us directly to the primary definition of the word "hype" in terms of fashion: media hype.
A hype brand or style is above all something that has been the subject of particular attention from certain media, at one time or another. Articles, illustrated editorials, red carpet photos: hype comes from massive diffusion on all types of media.
It should be noted, however, that media hype does not mean consensus. In fact, it would be quite the opposite: rejection - or at least a certain marginality - is almost inherent in the birth of the hype phenomenon, which leads us to compare it to the notion of the avant-garde. We can take the example of Margiela, who was heavily criticized at the beginning for his deconstructed and iconoclastic fashion, and then 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 - far from it.
Let's see how the buzz is created.
How does 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 brought to a fashion show or presentation, the role of the media and social networks is essential. Even if the boundary between the two is becoming thinner.
Raid in the editorials, everyone wants Hood By Air.
A photo on Instagram, a fashion show video on Snapchat, posted by “influencers” is one of the ideal vectors to create this buzz, this hysteria.
A shot in Hood By Air - a very hype and crazy brand - a typical Instagram disgusting 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 the most hyped stuff at a given moment. This does not necessarily make you want to buy, but it attracts attention and even goes so far as to generate quite violent expressions of rejection or support.
Perfect symbol of a fashion without thought or conscience.
Diffusion and democratization: when hype becomes trend
Since hype is an acute form of fashion but which does not support consensus well, it will die out from the moment it begins to become popular . Marginality, difference, incomprehension give way to adhesion, it is then the end of originality.
A simple example of this phase: the hipster movement. At the beginning, there were very few of them wearing snowflake knits and bushy moustaches. Mocked, admired, and in any case identifiable, hipsters and their passion for ostentatious vintage ended up exciting the textile industry, which frantically dove into its archives.
From the benches of Brooklyn to the pages of GQ.
Badly cut jeans, white socks and the famous - unbearable - Stan Smiths are back on the shelves. For girls, it's high-waisted jeans, baggy t-shirts above the navel and - surprise surprise - Stan Smiths. Now, everywhere, the hipster is no longer hype: general panic in the editorial offices, because they have to find something that no one else is wearing yet to write editorials that will show that they are the first to have talked about it.
To illustrate all this, here are some small product and brand case studies!
Hype brand: the VETEMENTS example
The VETEMENTS brand was created in January 2014. It is actually a collective of designers whose goal is to "break the rules", to represent a new generation in which social class no longer has any meaning, who make their own decisions, are not afraid to be themselves and to assert their difference. Blah, blah, blah.
Their collections are presented in seedy sex clubs, super kitsch Chinese restaurants, with loud music. In short, a rather disgusting universe, which is found in their clothes: waxed aprons with flowers, latex boots, carrier logos, Levi's jeans from the 90s.
Add to that the appointment of one of the designers at the head of the Balenciaga brand and the buzz is on. Instagram is going crazy, while no one can get their hands on the brand's website at first: a poorly referenced site called "clothing", it's complicated.
BryanBoy has no arms but that's okay, VETEMENTS customers are having fun showing off that they spent $400 on a delivery man's t-shirt and Rihanna wants to show off that she's into it too. Here we go...
Then the traditional press comes in with its big boots, cries genius and tries to glorify the ugly. Others - including me - believe that making ugly for ugly's sake and selling it super expensive to give yourself a countenance is the height of ridicule and what fashion has at its worst and should not do.
A very important clarification at this stage: I understand and am very respectful of the approach which consists of breaking, deconstructing, rethinking fashion as designers like Margiela, Herlmut Lang, Comme des Garçons etc. have been able to do. The only thing is that I do not believe that VETEMENTS is sincerely part of this approach, and uses it more as a marketing cover.
However, it is clear that the label is the center of attention, worn by celebrities, and truly intriguing... Even if it seems important to me to specify that once the hype around the "product" is removed (the communication, the buzz, etc.) the intrinsic value of their "creations" is almost zero. But everyone will make up their own mind.
That 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. The brand is much debated - even within the team - and my opinion is less clear-cut.
Of course, I can't shout artistic genius. We are far from the true standards of luxury, the sweatshirt above is proof of that. Rarely has a brand that parades reached such a level of hype. So yes, there is a lot of marketing behind it but for me, that's not all.
Whatever you say, there is definitely an idea behind VETEMENTS. For the record, these are stylists who were all already under contract with brands when they created their label. This required them to remain anonymous, hence the very "impersonal" name.
Demna Gvasalia, figurehead of the VETEMENTS collective.
I am no more shocked by a DHL T-shirt at their place than Bambi at Givenchy, Coca at Dolce or McDo at Moschino. Some designers feed their creations with globalization, it is a recurring fact. Some pieces also deliberately contained spelling mistakes: scandal or a nod to the counterfeit goods he wore in the USSR?
Far from being a fan, why not in the end? It's not worth a McQueen embroidered lace or an Alaïa leather - to stay in the catwalk universe - but we don't all fall for the same things. Because their customers know very well what they're buying...
Sweatshirt belted with elastic with hooks, Bambi print, with matching bag (Givenchy). I am not a fan of this aesthetic but VETEMENTS did not invent anything, and yet we tend to remember only that.
Later, they were much criticized for a lack of creativity in the S/S 17 collection, developed in collaboration with 18 brands. This is a point that can be defended, especially when you know that the show was presented in June rather than September. That being said, VETEMENTS thus allows real know-how to be maintained. Among the Eastpack bags, we could find Lucchese boots and Brioni jackets. Nuggets of creation that VETEMENTS' Instagram-boosted target audience is not necessarily familiar with.
I won't buy CLOTHES but I 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 T-shirt vs. Campbell's soup cans .
Benoit's opinion on CLOTHES
Even if I recognize some creative and worked flashes (the work on the €1190 jeans made in France, for example) and the fascination of the collective for the clothes of everyday life from the 90s (the DHL t-shirt, the metalhead sweatshirts), I deplore an overpriced fashion, often totally disconnected from the product, and which no longer has much to do in everyday life.
At its peak, this dismal hype around the famous DHL T-shirt : the VETEMENTS one cost $281, the DHL one cost €6. The difference between the two? A simple red stripe in addition on the back, and a (slightly) different cut. That's all. No material knitted in Japan, no Supima cotton, none of that. And it contributes to giving an image of fashion that is incomprehensible and inaccessible to neophytes, instead of promoting know-how. That's the saddest thing.
I also agree with some critics who say that VETEMENTS has invented absolutely nothing, just taking clothes from the 90s and making pastiches of them:
- Your dad's oversized shirt going to work : well, they really make it too... big. At €540,
- The motorcycle jacket that we imagine to be very fitted : under the collective, it becomes too small in an assumed way. At €4750, take some Balmain or Versace while you're at it,
- As for the faded 90s t-shirt with overly wide shoulders , which we've seen in many American series that have aged badly, it's the same: they're going to create a t-shirt with literally overly wide shoulders, thanks to removable padded inserts. Here too, we have a price that's 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 we cannot take away from them, it is that their collections have a lot of humor and self-mockery. We quickly get a taste for seeing how they will make fun of this disastrous period for fashion that was the 90s.
The only problem is that in the end, we're not really sure if they're making fun of the garment or the wearer, especially at such high prices.
Geoffrey's opinion on CLOTHES
Like Benoît, it's a fashion that totally puts me off: not very wearable, overpriced, and without any real notion of quality behind it. I'm also not convinced that there is great mastery of the cuts.
But what really bothers me is the niche it occupies.
In my eyes, VETEMENTS is the latest find from a fashion intelligentsia that has decreed that it is Hype, because they themselves have access to it (often discounted or in pieces recovered from the fashion show).
And since she has the power to decree that something is hype, and to have privileged access to this hype, which is otherwise difficult for others to obtain, she herself remains hype. The loop is closed (and in the meantime other customers have bought).
The sad thing is that we totally forget about 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).
The funny thing is that the designers of VETEMENTS may realize this. And in doing so they are playing a good joke on a certain trendy clique.
What is certain is that the hype always passes. VETEMENTS now occupies the place that Pigalle Paris occupied 2 years ago, and the Givenchy Rottweiler sweatshirt even before.
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 on fast track, and it always ends up (at least a little) passing.
The case of Dior SoReal glasses
Another very interesting case: the Dior SoReal glasses. This time, the hype was created around a particular item, 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 but above all wearable side of these glasses will be a hit, that's for sure.
The design is clearly innovative.
No miss. Critics notice the accessory and, this time, it will be the magazines that will take the lead on social networks. Having the possibility of obtaining the famous glasses before their commercialization for the realization of editorials, here they are invading the photoshoots intended to fill the pages of glossy magazines.
Men or women, magazines, bloggers... let themselves be carried away.
As soon as they arrived in stores, the Dior SoReal were a hit, even though they were sold at a basic price of €320. On Instagram, Rihanna, Jennifer Lawrence & co appeared with their glasses screwed onto their noses, then everyone joined in: it was as if each customer felt the need to post a selfie with their Dior SoReal. Ultimately, the hype was very short-lived because the popularity was such that they quickly became popular. Imitations appeared very quickly with replicas sold at major high street stores for… €20.
Even men are getting into it, and it must be said that these sunglasses suit both men and women! A real gamble 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 this, I hope I was able to give you some ideas to help you form your own definition/perception of what hype is. Obviously, I haven't covered everything there is to say and it is quite obvious that the point is not 100% objective.
If you ever have to give in to the hype, do it for yourself. Because the message conveyed by the brand resonates with you or because you sincerely like the piece itself.
Also avoid overly connoted hype: as soon as the phenomenon has passed, you are certain not to be able to wear it anymore. Not to mention everything concerning manufacturing and its quality-price ratio!
