Shopping is no longer fun though when every single product, down to water bottles and toothpaste, has some sort of status points attached to it . Instead of simply spending money on the stuff you like, you start thinking about what every purchase says about you

If all you’re doing is getting dressed in the morning to look cool and it’s not coming from a culture that influenced your style then you’re just a character. If you’re dressed up like a skater, but you don’t skate – what are you? If you can just buy whatever you want, you haven’t really earned much.”

Some people's idea of merch is Trump’s gold high-tops. Merch as a status symbol. Merch as a subgenre. Merch as a style statement. Merch as an identity marker. Merch as something of waning cultural relevance.

Whereas in the past a person wearing a Nirvana t-shirt was probably a fan of the band’s music, today no such guarantee exists (and many more shirts are sold). This often precludes one of the original purposes of merch, a signaling of belonging to a certain (sub)culture.

Still, the meaning-making of merch has not disappeared, but merely shifted. A