The Hypebeast along with Afour is set to introduce and propagate the culture at large.
Hypebeast culture is a genera of streetwear culture which has budded out from the Californian skateboard lifestyle culture. The streetwear culture marries casual outfits with sporty statements or that of hip hop. According to an article by ‘Comm’, Hypebeast culture differs from country to country, the Japanese Hypebeast focuses and is more about individuality, whereas, Chinese Hypebeast culture tends to emphasize the trendiest items. “In India, it is definitely more towards trendy and most sought-after items which then graduates towards more of a person’s choice”, said Karan Khatri.
Karan Khatri is one of India’s biggest Hypebeasts, his passion for sneakers and other collectable streetwear items have in a lot of ways introduced the Hypebeast culture in India. He is at the top when it comes to Hypebeasts in India. Karan makes videos on his YouTube channel and is about to cross a subscriber count of 30 thousand soon. His videos on the platform are all about the Hypebeast culture, it’s about tricks, tips, guides, unboxing, reviews and more about sneakers and streetwear in India.
The Hypebeast in India is a work in progress and Karan is managed by Afour, a platform and Label for art under rocks.
With Afour, Karan strives to propagate the Hypebeast culture in India, which is at a nascent stage right now. Teaming up with big content creators of YouTube, the hypebeast talked about and featured street culture, sneaker culture, et.al. on the platform. The Hypebeast along with Afour is set to introduce and propagate the culture at large. Karan expresses his admiration for Gurudeep Sapra, Strategy Head at Afour, as he was one of the major forces that helped him reach out more.
If you wonder how many limited-edition collectables Karan owns, here is the answer, “At any given time I have more than 20 highly limited items in my collection as I am partly a street style influencer and need to rotate my collection and stay updated with latest trends”.
‘Drop culture’ is one of the major catalysts that fuel on the hype behind Hypebeast. This concept was first introduced by ‘Supreme’; it involves the launch and release of limited-edition pieces or capsule collections at limited and select stores without prior notice or advertisement. This adds on to the product value which is directly proportional to the sense of exclusivity that one would feel if they owned one, this is the hype in the Hypebeast culture.
“Having all the latest sneakers is important to me”, says Karan Khatri after accepting that he never repeats an outfit. “For me, as a content creator it’s always been about the latest and most limited items as it helps drawing audience and eventually explains the culture to them”, added Karan.
The content creator looks for and purchases top exclusive items and makes videos about it, so that his viewers can have a second-hand experience about what goes on behind the scenes. This is what brings the culture concept to Indian Youth, Karan’s videos practices and propagates this lifestyle and culture to his viewers. “This (Hypebeast culture) hasn’t even started yet in India and is blowing up by the day”, said Karan Khatri.
Karan goes forward to reveal the items that he has acquired and is very fond of, “My most prized possession is a recent purchase of one of the most hyped sneakers of all time, Nike air Yeezy 2 which is still one of a kind even after 8 years of initial launch date. Apart from this, keeping up with latest trends I also own a pair of Dior Jordan’s which are currently reselling for around 5-8 lakh rupees”, said the influencer.
“Currently I own 5 such highly limited-edition sneakers in my collection and about 15 more slightly less limited”, the Hypebeast went forward to disclose the limiteds that he owns.
One thing that even a layman would understand about the Hypebeast concept is that it has got to do something with Hype, which in the influencer terms, can be called a trend. So, Hypebeast stays up to date and woke about the trends that are currently in the air. “Right now, what’s most trending are Nike air Jordan sneakers because of the legendary collaborations that have been happening with luxury and other streetwear brands to create some really limited-edition pieces”, said Karan while speaking about the current trend.
One thing constant in this world of fashion and streetwear is change. The meaning that fashion as a term carries varies from person to person as it serves varied purposes to varied perspectives. It’s your personality that radiates the vibe of clothing that one is wearing and Hypebeast is all about that. It’s all about radiating your inner self through your outer choice of colours or fabric.
For more information, visit Karan Khatri’s Instagram and youtube
