WHY IS EVERYONE MERCHING IT UP?
DENIZ AKKAYA
Similar to celebrity beauty and skincare brands, the new t-shirt and sweatpants ventures by some of our favorite celebs and brands have literally taken over Instagram last year.
With the pandemic, we replaced our office clothes with comfortable loungewear. Thus, sweatshirts and tracksuits became the most desirable pieces.
Young consumers want to buy the products of the figures they watch and idolize, from A-list stars to YouTubers. The products that these figures release often sells out in days, if not hours. Once a cringe way of supporting your favorite creator, merchs have now become a small but exponentially growing industry in the athleisure and loungewear market. Young people prefer TikTok branded sweatshirts to well-known brands’ sweaters. In the eyes of Gen Z, the merch of celebrities, in addition to declaring your love for them, is also a status symbol.
Actually the popularity of merchs started in 2016. Artists like Beyoncé and Kanye West have gone beyond slapping their names on T-shirts to releasing pieces as if they were fashion brands.
It’s almost impossible to deny Kanye West’s impact on current trends. The Yeezy founder has blurred the line between luxury fashion and fandoms. West shaped today’s streetwear culture with its brand; Oversized sweatshirts, slippers and more made of comfortable fabrics defined the essence of “lazy chic”. West’s success with Yeezy was further enhanced by the artist’s album merch. Kanye’s ‘Kids See Ghosts’ festival merch has become the favorite sweatshirt of Kendall Jenner and her friends. Thanks to Kardashians wearing all of West’s designs at every possible opportunity, these pieces became the favorite of the it-girls.
Well, it would be a shame if we didn’t mention Travis Scott’s Astroworld hoodie here. The Houston-born rapper’s commercial efforts are, in fact, quite varied. Scott’s collaboration with fast food chain McDonald’s brought fans together with some chicken nugget-themed hoodies and happy meal bags.
Tyler, The Creator is also one of those who blurs the line between fashion brand and merch. The Golf Wang brand, which consists of t-shirts, knit cardigans and trousers in line with the album theme, has become the center of the artist’s focus. Similarly, Justin Bieber’s Drew House clothing line bridges the gap between clothing brand and merch, offering Beliebers the opportunity to support their favorite artist while maintaining their style.
We’ve listed the most interesting merch collaborations for you:
BALENCIAGA X RAMMSTEIN
Rammstein takes their merch to the next level with a new capsule collection. Rammstein X Balenciaga collection contains 9 original pieces. The new collection is also accompanied by a special Apple Music playlist curated by the band.
Obviously, Balenciaga creative director Demna Gvasalia is a big Rammstein fan. Before leaving Vetements, the luxury streetwear brand he founded in 2014, Gvasalia had also released several pieces inspired by his love for Rammstein. So, it was really only a matter of time before Gvasalia’s love for the band eventually spread to the Balenciaga designs as well.
LIL NAS X MSCHF
The art collective MSCHF designed, in collaboration with the rapper Lil Nas X, the “Satan Shoes”. Culture and streetwear publication SAINT tweeted pictures and details about the shoes on March 26, saying each of the individually numbered 666 pairs of modified Nike Air Max ’97s sold will “contain 60cc ink and 1 drop of human blood.” Each pair will sell for $1,018 as a nod to the Bible verse printed on the side of the shoes, Luke 10:18: “So He told them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”
DUNKIN DONUTS X CHARLI D’AMELIO
D’Amelio, who has 111.7 million followers on TikTok, had sung Dunkin’s praises as the provider of her go-to daily drink (a cold brew with whole milk and caramel). In September last year, the brand decided to turn Charli’s popularity into profit and put Charli’s favorite drink on its menu. Charli X Dunkin merch was the next step of this partnership.
The products are quite diverse; It is possible to find many different products, from $16 key rings to $100 cold brew tap handles. Other products include scrunchies, tumblers, a onesie, shoelaces and a phone case. This partnership from Dunkin shows very clearly what brands can do to capitalize on TikTok’s popularity.
