Kith New York on Lafayette Street features four floors of the streetwear enthusiast’s dreamland. The first three floors are always crawling with hypebeasts of all ages, from the 11 year old who’s begging their mom for a new pair of the hottest sneakers of the season, or the 40 year old who’s desperate to stay cool.
When visiting in August, I was excited to see what they offered for their female customers; their womenswear account @kithwomen always showcases their futuristic hypewear for the modern woman.
However, that is not at all reflected offline. Found on the fourth floor of Kith is their mundane and discouraging women’s section, featuring Alexander Wang heels, tight Kardashian-esque biker gear for the customer who has never touched a bike and sparkly hot pants made exclusively for people with the last name Hadid or Jenner. Menswear gets three whole floors, and this is all we get?
Harrison Nevel has 800,000 Youtube subscribers, his channel featuring extravagant “hypebeast” mystery boxes worth up to $15,000. These contain coveted streetwear such as the Supreme x Louis Vuitton collaboration, Off-White by recently famed designer Virgil Abloh, discontinued sneakers designed by Kanye West for his line Yeezy and Air Jordan’s straight from 1995. Now, try adding the word “female” in front of your Youtube search. It’s not for three videos until Nevel is featured again; and only one of the videos featuring a woman is actually about streetwear.
In a female dominated industry, why is the “hypebae” so hard to come by?
Online publication and popular instagram account Hypebeast launched Hypebae, opening up the doors for female streetwear enthusiasts to keep up with the latest trends, expanding even further into the beauty industry.
Still, @hypebeast boasts a staggering 8.1 million followers, leaving @hypebae with just a modest million. Hypebeast has expanded into seven different accounts, varying from radio to gaming, whereas Hypebae has only expanded into beauty.
In another arena, 17 year-old chart-topping singer Billie Eilish continuously faces overwhelming backlash for her genderless fashion choices. Trolls abuse her style as an opportunity to discuss her body and interpret how she sees herself instead of actually listening to what she has to say.
Eilish spoke to Harper’s Bazaar, saying “I just like dressing out of my comfort zone. I want to dress in a way that if I was in a room full of people wearing regular clothes, I would be like, ‘Oh, I bet everyone’s looking at me.’ I want to feel that way. That’s my casual.”
Although there’s an unproportional amount of male hype coverage and attention, women’s hype and streetwear is growing in a positive, gender-blurring direction that makes it easier for people of all walks of life to grow their streetwear collection.
Ever seen a pair of sneakers on Instagram, Twitter or wherever, and thought to yourself, I hope they make that in my size, or for women? Goat is an online shoe retailer doing just that. Their main goal is to purchase and then sell authentic, highly coveted sneakers. At first, when logging onto their website, I was disappointed due to the lack of a women’s section. Then, I realized Goat is trying to make their website a place for all, not putting labels on who can wear what.
Popular HBO show Euphoria has been all anyone has been talking about all summer, whether it’s the juicy plotline, or the amazing makeup and style that everyone of all genders is dying to recreate.
Stars of Euphoria Alexa Demie, Hunter Schafer and Barbie Ferreria all display individual senses of style both on and off screen, whether it’s Alexa’s character Maddie’s Louis Vuitton two piece, or Barbie’s character Kat’s mesh shirts, tiny sunglasses and dominatrix inspired looks. Euphoria inspires hypebaes everywhere, and normalize making a statement.
Stores such as Urban Outfitters, Princess Polly and even the Instagram marketplace offer a wide selection of street and skatewear for women, making it easy for hype newbies or seasoned street aficionados to find affordable pieces to elevate their wardrobe. Brands for the hypebae featured on Urban Outfitters include Stussy, I.AM.GIA, Champion and many more.
As far as the latest runway trends go from Spring 2020, many designers brought street-inspired pieces to Paris, demonstrating how designer womenswear can take on culture. Whether it may be an oversized windbreaker by Vetements, or Burberry’s take on the hoodie, we’re seeing more and more designers hop on the hype train.
We can find the female hype enthusiasts everywhere now. Kylie Jenner even dresses her daughter, Stormi Webster, in only the flyest of kicks and bike shorts. Everywhere you look on campus, you can probably spy at least 5 pairs of Fila “dinostompers.”
Streetwear is moving in a genderless direction, but when will the largest vendors get the message?
Words by Olivia Hawkins
Graphic and Photo by Grace Daly
Modeled by Alex Jokinen
Styled by Olivia Hawkins and Grace Daly