Status Sweatshirts and Digital Minimalism
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
Viktoriia Vasileva • Have We Reached Peak Brand?
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.”
Brendon Babenzien Talks Noah & Changing the Culture With Supreme
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.
Ana Andjelic • Everything Is Merch
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
... See more