Why All the Hype?
Even if you don’t follow street style closely, anyone aware of the millennial generation of music will know the names Travis Scott and Kanye West. Both have turned heads and revolutionized the fashion world of street culture. Like Travis Scott’s song Impossible, he has indeed accomplished the impossible by making people wear his merch no matter how much it costs. Similarly, Kanye West is notorious for his expensive merch, especially his self made brand “Yeezy”. Unfortunately, I, like many other kids, have been sucked into these artists’ brands, resulting in a never ending hole in my wallet. So what do Travis Scott and Kanye West wear that causes wack kids like me to spend all their hard earned internship money?
La flame: Travi$ Scott
The clothing brand based in New York.
est. 1994
Let’s start with Travis Scott because he is notorious for wearing the most coveted street brand of all time, Supreme. This brand is the sole reason why my financial aid refund has already been spent. Supreme is the most “hyped” brand in street culture. Yes, some may argue that OFF-White or even Bape is more clean, but if we wanna be real with ourselves, Supreme will always take the cake. Supreme’s logo has transcended the idea of logoism and minimalism. For those of you that know what Supreme is then there is no need to explain why it is so coveted, like if you know you know. For those of you that don’t, you are slept! An example of this brand’s power is when you see a hoodie that has the Supreme Box Logo or “Bogo”. You should definitely try and beat up that person because they are wearing someone’s 20% cancel for NON-payment for the semester. Okay. Now that you know Supreme and the wondrous hypebeast magic it performs on kids like me, then you can start to understand why Travis Scott chooses to buy and wear Supreme religiously. The most attainable way to be like Travis is to dress like him. It is with this simple logic that I go months starving on ramen noodles, awaiting the next Supreme drop.
The life of pablo: Kanye West
As we move on to the man himself, Kanye West, we know that no matter what this man wears or puts out, people will buy it. The reason for this - I have no idea, he’s just Kanye and everyone is on their “I wish I was Kanye” philosophy. I’m no exception. He basically skyrocketed the shoe resale market as well as single handedly boosted Adidas sales, no pun intended. Kanye is so influential because he embodies the philosophy and relationship between fashion and Hip-Hop. Whatever he wears, he sets a trend. He made one my favorite brands popular just by wearing it out in one of his New York escapades. The brand is called Fear of God, pioneered by street stylist Jerry Lorenzo. If you’ve seen Kanye with that grunge rock Kurt Cobain vibe, then you know he is wearing Fear of God. When you see not only fans, but also other prominent music artists wearing Kanye’s brands, you know his “I wish I was Kanye” cult has affected a generation.
Words by Jeremy Pagtalunan