Alright… The term “Buy what you like” should be rephrased to “Buy what you like… if it has a good resale value” or maybe “Buy what is hyped”

… I think its time for a Hypesheep Rant video.

I wanted to make a video discussion on how the hypebeast mentality is controlling the minds of the consumer to only follow the herd, which has exposed the sneaker culture to an unrecoverable state.

When was the last time you bought a pair of sneakers that you DIDN’T look up the “Value” on stockX or care how popular they were?

To take a deeper dive, lets discuss: What is Culture?

The integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations.

So in 2018 it is clear sneaker culture has been exposed. We have embraced the side of the culture has serves no purpose but our own. The hype has turned us into beasts permanently and we cannot transform back.

The pattern of sneaker knowledge, belief and behavior has morphed into only hype products with resale. The ability to transmit knowledge to succeeding generations to maintain the culture has been sideswiped by the raging hypebeast train.

Now I do know I am generalizing the entire sneaker culture here, and really its only a subset of the culture.

But how has this happened? Simple, Money. Consumers have limited funds to spend, because of that they want to ensure what they buy has value.

What is value? “The estimate the monetary worth of (something)”

The mentality that this item cost me $200, so it should be worth $200 at least is what starts the hypebeast wheels turning. Then the idea of actually spending $200 on an item and have it be worth $400 is beyond entertaining in a society where stacking paper is the ultimate dream.

If we had unlimited money, the consumers could diversify what they consume to items that are not hyped, and that they actually genuinely like without fear of losing money in the purchase, but unfortunately we have bills to pay and money doesn’t grow on trees so the average sneakerhead getting caught up in the hypebeast mentality makes sense if you are living on a budget, which is virtually everyone. Sneakers can be a commodity to recoop your expense, and allow you to be part of the “cool” crowd at the same time.

What about those rich kids with unlimited money? Why don’t they diversify into things they actually like vs hypebeast closets? My thought is they are searching for the other NOUN type of value with purchasing sneakers, they want them because they know others place $ value on them, not necessarily because they want it. In Short: Buying cool. .

Regardless, we all want the same thing to some capacity: to fit, be cool, or just be normal

Now that we have established a baseline, sometimes we have to take a step back and really think for ourselves and the culture.

The conversations have shifted from “I remember copping x sneakers in line and they were my fav cuz Jordan scored 40 points in those!”

To “I remember those last month, I copped x sneakers with a BOT service, but I sold mine instantly cuz I was afraid the resale was going to crash.

Or how about 2 people saying the same words “these are my grail”

So am I trying to tell you not to like a shoe just because its limited as we all stuck out? NO. Just to challenge yourself about what you actually do like.

Like how many times do we buy shoes with the intent to sell? Like 0 percent to rock?

Or how many times have we felt like we “Got caught up in the hype” and bought something we regret? But the ONLY reason we regret buying something is because they hype died and the resale dropped and we don’t want to take a loss? Reality is resale is $, and we all want more.

We have lost vision of what “we like” completely since that is based strictly on resale value and limited demand, or generally accepted products that get a positive nod such as iconic classic original colorways of a nostalgic product.

So we know money & hype run the sneaker culture. But how can we fix it? Simple answer, we can’t. Guess who sets the bar and is controlling the sneaker thirst for all the hypesheep consumers? The brands.

In Summary, perceived value dominates our sneaker culture and that wont change any time soon, all I ask is as you mature into the sneaker culture and have more expendable income, sometimes look up and open your eyes to evolve your sense of taste beyond the hype. Some of the best sneakers to release are sitting in your local malls, in the corner of a sneaker site, or on the bottom shelf of the consignment shops. Explore, find your own stride, and become your own person, then share THOSE stories with others and soon enough sneaker culture can rebound from the hype.

Leave a comment of the last non hypebeast sneaker you bought, and thank you for watching.