< PreviousSPRING 2024 esquir eme.com 30 S T YLESPRING 2024 esquir eme.com 31 S T YLE Is Sneaker Culture Dead? Too many drops. Boring colourways. No imagination. Sneaker culture might just have hyped itself out the game W ORD S B Y ANDREW NA G YSPRING 2024 esquir eme.com 32 S T YLE In the beginning, sneaker culture was about community and camaraderie. It was about buying (‘copping’) a shoe at the retail price and, if there was any reselling to be done it was often direct to other collectors or even local stores, increasing the special bonds and like minds of a location. Slowly but surely that model changed. In 2012, your average sneaker collector thought that the nascent hype culture was just a fad. Those who had been in the game since MJ dropped his OG Nike shoe in 1985 were furious, but they were content to wait it out. At the time, a thread on the sneaker forum niketalk.com entitled “Sneaker Collecting is a Fad… and Dead” got some serious heat. While the majority tentatively disagreed with the statement, almost all were aligned on the fact that things weren’t changing for the better. “As a 13-year collector I have to say, yes,” said one user. “The sneaker culture sucks now. You can’t even buy the kicks you want without going above and beyond and out of your way. I think it’s officially time to throw in the towel.” Others, however, were a little more committed to the long game. “I’ll just slow down for now,” said another. “I’ll stack my money and be back in full effect when everybody leaves this fad.” While many pointed the finger at big brands such as Nike for reducing numbers and therefore creating the illusion of demand, the majority had one target for their ire. “It’s the hypebeasts and resellers that kill me,” fired off another comment on niketown. “They don’t care about the history ere’s a scenario that sneaker fans in 2024 might find familiar. You’ve trawled the week’s wildly packed drop schedule and found something worthy. You log onto the app to purchase a little early, maybe ten minutes or more, and as you watch the clock gradually count down, your adrenaline levels slowly rise. The timer hits zero and the shoe is almost yours. Two minutes later the sold out signs go up with you still queuing like a damn fool. You log off sorrowfully, cursing your bad luck. Later that day, you spot the usual resellers surrounded by 10 or 15 pairs of the shoe in question on social media, playing with them joyfully like they were a soppy gang of puppies. If you want the shoe now you’ll likely have to pay double, maybe even triple the price. When it comes to sneakers, the drop-and-cop schedule has been developed and refined over almost three decades. In combination with brands often deliberately cutting production runs it has become a well-oiled machine powered by A.I., bots and cold hard capitalism. But fractures have begun to appear, with the industry beginning to look just a little jaded. While OG sneaker fans were already used to feeding off scraps when it came to staying in the game, now resellers are now decrying an industry that has seemingly lost its imagination. The question is, has sneaker culture finally hyped itself out of the game? Of course in an era of fake news we should be a little careful in what we believe. Then there’s history to tend with. As a people we often have a tendency to decry our current crisis as the worst of times. Socially, culturally, financially… the nadir is almost always here and now. The: “It was so much better in my day” effect. When it comes to sneakers, just a cursory online search reveals that its own cultural demise has been grossly exaggerated on more than one occasion. HSPRING 2024 esquir eme.com 33 S T YLE “SNEAKER CULTURE SUCKS NOW. YOU CAN’T BUY THE KICKS YOU WANT WITHOUT GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND AND OUT OF YOUR WAY. I THINK IT’S OFFICIALLY TIME TO THROW IN THE TOWEL.” of the shoe, they only want to make a profit off it or be seen in what’s hot.” You can argue that it was the bot that killed original sneaker culture. Used in a variety of ways, the key is that a reseller can programme a bot to mimic human behaviour in a fraction of the time. So, after being set to alert the user of a restock or new drop the second it becomes public, the bot can then clear the digital shelves before a real life human user even has time to enter their email address. When the majority of those kicks wound up on reselling sites at hugely inflated prices, the majority of early sneaker collectors just got priced out of the game. When brands such as StockX took things out of the spare room and into a big business model, well you knew that sneaker culture was never really going to be the same again. While bots were to blame for killing the OG sneaker game, the industry’s current malaise could be put down to oversaturation. Sneaker drops and fresh collabs have become so omnipresent that any real joy at copping dissipates in hours. But although back in the day it was the individual sneaker fan whose nose was out of joint, now it’s the resellers that are crying foul. “This is definitely an issue,” says hegotkickz, a sneakerhead who started his YouTube channel in 2019 and regularly speaks out to more than 50k followers. “But right now what’s affecting the market is [as simple as] the lack of good colourways. People have been asking for them, but just not getting them.” At the beginning of 2023, a Business of Fashion report revealed that sneaker sales had dropped in 2022. The market was in decline. While the big brands continued to be popular, the constant drop model—combined with uninspiring colourways—was starting to become a turnoff for sneakerheads. That was something that resulted in a spike for more niche brands such as Mizuni and HOKA. While big brand methodology was clearly out of sync with the consumer, the hypebeasts themselves were coming under fire for something far more sinister altogether—echoing the concerns of those niketalk chats almost eight years earlier. According to an article on ESPN in January 2020, Nike had quickly removed all its Kobe Bryant-related products from the shelves to stop people profiting off the NBA legend’s tragic death. It mattered not. Sneakers and memorabilia prices were hiked by 200 to 300 percent on resale sites within 24 hours of his passing. In reality, while sneaker culture is undoubtedly going through some shifts in power right now that’s simply evolution. However, you cannot shift the feeling that, with every passing phase you feel the love dissipate from sneaker culture just a little more. It’s profit margins over passion. What’s needed is a reset. As for hegotkickz, well he’s a purist at heart. “I was into sneakers as a kid, but I just couldn’t afford them. Until I got some Military Blue Jordan 4s. To be honest, I don’t think that the culture will ever really die. But we do need to get back to simply loving the shoe instead of just the money. These shoes are pieces of art. People should enjoy that.” PHO T OGRAPHY B Y EFRAIM EVIDOR. DK PHO T OGRAPHY / UNSPLA SHXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXX XXXXXX XXXX XXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXX XX X A Leg Up Dunhill’s excellent chinos are the upgrade your spring wardrobe needs By Jonathan Evans C hinos exist largely outside of the trend cycle. That means they’re reliable. And timeless. But it can be tough to determine when they’re having a moment. Well, here’s a tip: When you see a pair like this—equally easy and chic, from creative director Simon Holloway’s newly reinvigorated Dunhill—you can rest assured that chinos are, in fact, having a moment. Despite elevated details like side tabs, a coin pocket, and a couple of generous pleats, you shouldn’t think of them as something precious or confine yourself to a certain kind of vibe. Instead, wear them with everything from a sport coat and polished oxfords to chunky loafers and a vintage white tee. Just like your favorite jeans. Which, as it happens, might be spending a little extra time at the back of the closet this spring. S T YLE Chinos (QAR2,450) by DUNHILL; T-shirt (QAR250) by VELVA SHEEN; Loafers (QAR3,285) by GIANVITO ROSSI; Socks (QAR110) by FALKE. PHO T OGRAPH B Y R Y AN SLA CK. S T YLING : ANDREA RIOS SPRING 2024 esquir eme.com 34 A S T APLE ITEM FROM L U X U R Y MAES TRO’S L OUIS VUITT ON the ‘Speedy’ has been reinvented by Creative Director Pharrell Williams. The iconic Speedy P9 Bandoulière Monogram Leather bag is just as stylish as it is classic and functional; a timeless bag fit for the modern and fashionable. The Speedy is crafted from a luxuriously soft and supple calfskin with a natural cowhide-leather trim, and lambskin lining. The bag is available in bold primary colourways: Blue, Rouge, Green, and Brown Monogram. The Monogram print on the Speedy has been deliberately made to mimic the look and feel of a hand-painting on canvas, using a careful and unique silk-screen technique The need for Speedy The return of the famed Speedy bag ushers in the first icon of Pharrell Williams’ Louis Vuitton reign SPEED Y P9 BANDOULIÈRE 40 BA G LOUIS VUITTON, QAR 47,500 PHO T OGRAPHY B Y EFRAIM EVIDOR. S T YLING B Y IMOGENE LE GRAND . W ORDS B Y S ARAH K ULEIB S T YLE SPRING 2024 esquir eme.com 35 XXXXXXS T YLE Our chores are not your chores Is the trend of Errandcore just a shallow hologram of reality? By Sarah Kuleib SPRING 2024 esquir eme.com 36 XXXXXX from the mainstream. Think: ’70s New York punks or the rebellious Gyaru wave of ’90s Japan. Subcultures of old used to reflect a set of ideals and values, and were almost always given their ‘label’ months—if not years—into their existence. The visual presentation associated with a subculture came alongside, sure, but they weren’t what created it. Fashion concerning subcultures used to exist as a subtle means of communicating one’s beliefs and identity with the outside world. What beliefs or values are we trying to communicate to the world when we’re in our “Blokecore era” on Monday and giving off “Mob wife” vibes on Friday? The diluting of subcultures into just their outward aesthetic—or even more specifically, their clothing styles —coupled with the rapid in-and-out of TikTok-era trend cycles means that every day, more and more people are claiming to participate in a subculture, while taking in nothing of note and giving back nothing of value. The errandcore trend is a particularly worrying one. For one, it stems from no real stance on anything at all, nor is it a response to any facet of society. The very centerpiece of the “core” is consumerism. If you scrolled through TikTok at all in 2024, you’ve probably heard the term “girl hobbies” and seen the immediate backlash and critique it received —which, if I may is more than warranted, given how dangerous it is to perpetuate the idea that young people (mainly young women) don’t need real, fulfilling hobbies outside of going to the grocery store or buying overpriced lattes and expensive skincare. Hyperconsumption isn’t a hobby, nor is it a “core” or an aesthetic. Canadian researcher Arthur Kroker describes fashion as “a parody of hypermodern culture [...] a visual commentary on the excess of postmodern culture providing aesthetic holograms that introduce the appearance of radical novelty, while maintaining the reality of no substantial change.” Celebrities positioning themselves as our mirror image through the ever so relatable brown paper bag means they’re just like us, right? Except, their Bottega Veneta brown paper bag is actually $1,900 of raw Italian leather and the Erewhon Market is America’s most expensive grocery store. So if anything, celebrity errandcore is less “we’re just like you” and more a cosplay of regular people that they get to try on for a day and take off when they’re back in their gated estates. S T YLE W hen Kim Kardashian pulled up on Windsor Boulevard in L.A. for Balenciaga’s Fall 2024 show with what looked like a brown paper bag in hand, fashion observers were confused. Why had she brought her groceries to the FROW? As it turns out, she was asked to do so by none other than Balenciaga’s creative director, Demna Gvasalia. “This is my purse for today,” shared Kardashian before the show, “this is what Demna wanted me to carry; a little Erewhon Balenciaga bag.” The whole ordeal started to make a bit more sense when the show started and the models began strutting down the runway, phones pressed to their ears, carrying an assortment of rather mundane objects as accessories— to-go coffee cups, gym bags, and the aforementioned brown paper shopping bag. Similarly, Bottega Veneta’s Pre- Spring 2024 campaign, featured Bottega-lover A$AP Rocky (right) posing with a brown paper bag, in a campaign inspired by tabloid-style paparazzi shots of celebrities. The rapper shared the campaign on his Instagram and stated in the caption that the campaign was meant to: “utilize my everyday lifestyle type of photos taken by candid photographers while I do my everyday thing,” and that it, “serves less as a campaign and more as a creative trifecta.” But what is it about running our errands that the fashion industry has latched onto recently? Is because grocery shopping itself is now fashionable or is it deeper than that? Following the Balenciaga show, fashion critic Rian Phin took to X to share some insight on the “errand- core” trend. Phin described the fashion world’s interest in normalcy as: “depending on the semblance of reality.” Despite what Bottega Veneta and A$AP Rocky want us to think, it’s far from reality but rather a hollow projection of reality. The ‘core-ification’ of things showcases the modern era’s current prefix-du jour, as it is adapted to absolutely everything under the sun: Cottagecore, balletcore, blokecore, and now errandcore. What does any of it actually mean, and is it making it harder to find actual meaning in these labels? In the 2000s and 2010s, subcultures were deemed officially dead by many with the ‘Scene’ movement of the early 2000s being labeled the last true subculture. Subcultures, or countercultures, are defined as groups within a larger culture that have beliefs or interests that differ IMA GE : SUPPLIED SPRING 2024 esquir eme.com 37 S T YLE SPRING 2024 esquir eme.com 38 MEMBERS OF THE BOARD ROLL INT O THIS SEA SON’S BES T LAIDB A CK FIT S PHO T OGRAPHY B Y T A Y A CHI BA CHIR • S T Y L ING B Y SEHER KHAN S T YLES T YLE SPRING 2024 esquir eme.com 39 Dark Taupe Silk and Linen Polo Shirt, QAR8,275; Olive Green Oasi Lino Pants, POA; Light Beige Suede Triple Stitch Sneakers, QAR4,450, all by ZEGNA Karim wears Skate Sneakers in Brown and Synthetic Fiber, QAR3,750, by GIVENCHY. Shorts; Skateboard; Socks, both KARIM’S OWNNext >