The Thirst To Be First – 5 Types Of Hypebeasts
Whenever a pair of ‘limited edition’ kicks drop, sneaker shops all over the globe transform into camping lots for teens and adults, longing to be the first owners of the shoes which apparently must be life changing because that is the only reasonable explanation why someone would trade a warm bed for a camping chair. For most people, sleeping outside for a long period of time for shoes, or clothing, seems to be one of the dumbest possible things there is to do, but for others, it’s a duty: The duty of the hypebeasts.
What’s a Hypebeast, you ask?
The Hypebeast is the kind of person that will buy anything that’s got a little hype soul to flex, and tell everyone that they’re the first to get their hands on it. Most of the time – if not all of the time – they know nothing of the brand, or the item in particular, nor do they really care about it, because all that matters is being the first to get it; to enjoy the envy or admiration of others, to stunt.
So now you’re probably asking yourself how many Hypebeasts you’ve encountered, and how to know if the guy that just passed you in the Balmain sneakers and an off White (Virgil Abloh) Shirt, is a hypebeast. To help you out, I’m going to show you a few obvious signs, that you my friend, are dealing with a Hypebeast.
How to spot a Hypebeast 101:
The plan should really be how to avoid them, because as soon as you step out you are bound to run into a minimun of 25 wannabe Travis Scotts, in less than 15 minutes, but incase you’re still not quite sure what the classic trademarks of our sneaker loving pals are, let’s break it down.
Your basic hypebeast is usually equipped with a pair of Yeezy sneakers, the Bape shark hoodie, anything from the latest Supreme drop and ready to drop a couple of stacks on something that they saw Kanye West wear in a TMZ video, funded by a parental credit card. You’ll find them around your nearest urban clothing store, chilling with their equally as trend obsessed friends, humming Hotline Bling and discussing their plans for their upcoming camp outs. All for the looks and the ‘wowzzz!’
So now that we’ve established the definition and creature comforts of a Hypebeast, let’s get to the diffrent types of them. What – you thought all Hypebeasts are the same? Well, technically you’re not wrong, but you’re not completely right, either. To put it in the words of Macklemore, there are layers to this shit and I’m gonna break a few of them down for you. So here you go, 5 types of Hypebeasts.
5. The ‘IAN CONNOR’ hypebeast
Fashion Influence: Ian Connor
Essential item: Yeezy Boost 350 **
These particular people are the die hard Ian Connor fans, who follow every single one of his steps and – in typical Hypebeast manner – collect their allowance, to buy that $3000 sweater that Ian wore in his latest instagram post. Their hair is probably shoulder, or a little above shoulder, length to emulate their icon’s blonde dreads look. They tend to listen exclusively to trap, pose with fake guns in their twitter avi, have golden grills and sole wear YEEZY. Basically, they’re living ads for Kanye West’s clothing and completely overuse the word “rare.” Still confused as to what I mean? Go to instagram right now, search for @ianconnorsrevenge, click on any arbitrary picture, go to the comment section, scroll through through and visit the accounts of the commenters. You are sure to find at least a couple of Hypebeasts who post pictures of overpriced leather pants with the caption “rare” or the flying bundle of cash emoji under them.
Side note:
Ian Connor a.k.a. King of the Youth a.k.a. A$AP ROCK’s and Wiz Khalifa’s stylist, is an iconic fashion role model of today’s youth.
4. The Bape hypebeast
Fashion Influence: Keith Ape
Essential item: Bape Shark hoodie
Is that a Bape Hypebeast you see? Of course not, how could you? They’re invisible because, you know, ALL CAMO EVERYTHING. This particular Hypebeast is like the name suggests: obsessed with the Japanese clothing brand, Bape – A Bathing Ape – and refuses to wear anything that isn’t from that brand, or sans a Camouflage print. They like posing infront of the G-Wagons of strangers, and replacing all A’s with V because of “VESTHETIC $WVG” and trying to emulate rapper Keith Ape’s look, whilst bumping to songs like: ‘It G Ma’.
3. ‘Sad boys’ Hypebeast.
Fashion Influence: Yung Lean
Essential Item: Versace teashades, Bucket Hat
Bucket hat, North Face Jacket, Nike Windbreaker, Arizona Iced tea? Everyone, gather around, I think we’ve got a sad boy on our hands.
We all know that one guy that’s always high ( or at least acts as if he is), is obsessed with Japan, Swedish rapper Yung Lean and his sad boys squad, colourful Arizona ice tea cans, cloud rap and two coloured Nike Windbreakers. For Sad boys, The North Face is essential; no matter what the weather may be, wearing one of their hoodies or jackets is a MUST. Just like the name helpfully suggests, being sad is kind of their ‘thing’; punctuated by speaking broken Japanese and adding ” 
” to their social media bios. Their clothing may not immediately scream “my outfit costs more than 4 months of your monthly salary combined” but don’t be fooled, that’s all part of the: “I may look broke, but I’m actually rich af”, aesthetic.
2. The Supreme Hypebeast
Fashion Influence: Golf Wang
Essential item: Supreme Box Logo tee
Ah, The Supreme Hypebeast, probably one of the worst. They are so blinded by the Supreme hype that they will buy anything that this brand puts out, without giving it a second thought. They have absolutely no idea about the brand, the background of it’s drops, and even though they’ve never touched a skateboard in their life, they’ll still buy that limited edition deck supreme released last year because, to quote the words of a true Hypebeast: “It’s Supreme, man, you just gotta have it. You just gotta.” Even crowbars are being bought by Hypebeasts, only because the word Supreme is on it. What the fuck will they do with a crowbar? Why the fuck would you even spend more than $5 on that? Why the actual fuck would anyone camp out AND pay a $150 – yes, $150 – for a fucking tool? Because it’s Supreme, that’s why. Complex Magazine has a series on their YouTube channel which captures the hilariously ignorant love of these so called Supreme devotees. Check it out for a laugh:
1. The ‘I will fuckin’ buy whatever the fuck is somewhat relevant’
Fashion Influence: Every Rapper ever
Essential Item: something with ‘PYREX’ on it
This remix of types, is definitely the most common kind of Hypebeast which can be found nearly everywhere you go: your local mall, anywhere near a sneaker shop, or a fast food joint. They roam in pacs of at least 3, and are probably wearing at least one HBA item. Most of the time they’re judgemental, pretentious pricks, that label anything that isn’t produced by one of their beloved fashion brands as “lame”, “corny” or, “trash”. They love to go on and on about how resellers are “fucking up the game” but on the other hand, they also kind of depend on them, because they’re the only source they have to get their desired clothes, when mummy wouldn’t allow them to skip school to camp out for the release party. They have absolutely no taste of their own, and will spend money on anything that is deemed to be cool. Yep, that’s your classic Idgaf about anything Hypebeast.
So in conclusion, Hypebeats are just a bunch of allowance collecting, opinion-less, pretentious kids that care way too much about the opinions of the public. Each to their owned, I guess.
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