Hipsterville

Final Thought

The Hipster Counter Culture is a group focused on expressing themselves as youthful individuals in society. The American Apparel company acknowledges the young metropolitans by creating a style that fits the culture’s image. The two become connected because of sexuality’s importance. American Apparel celebrates sexuality and hipsters want to be viewed as young, attractive individuals. Together the company and the hipster counter culture become indistinguishable and one cannot be without the other.

The hipster image has rapidly become a major icon in mainstream, pop, and counter culture. The popularity of the hipster can be a statement of how society has come to control sexual desires through fashion. Sexual feelings are no longer repressed but embraced as a way to identify one’s individuality in a comfortable manner. The hipster counter culture should not be seen as something to be ashamed of. The culture just needs to be looked at in a different perspective.

Promoting Unity

 There are definate qualities to the hipster image that are reform-like. As a more liberal counter cultur,hipsters support the equality between men and women as well as the civil rights for the gay community. The hipsters sexual image causes the counter culture to positively support different elements of sexuality.American Apparel recognizes this about the youth culture and creates clothing that fits with the hipster’s beliefs. The company created a commercial that shows unity between men and women by marketing a unisex clothing line.The commercial is called ‘unisexy’.

American Apparel’s newest element to their fashion line is the ‘Legalize Gay’ t-shirts.

This article the American website puts into perspective the company’s celebration of sexuality. http://www.americanapparel.net/legalizegay/

Helvetica

The typeface helvetica is used by the American Apparel company. The font can be viewed as a tongue-in-cheek to modern conceptions from the past. American Apparel is an unconventional company that does not aspire to be a corporation founded on ideals of order or efficiency. The company is a purely erotic, youth oriented buisness mainly concerned with style. Typically corporations use helvetica type for the logo to create a message that is simple, clean, and powerful. American Apparel consciously strays away from ‘clean’ description.

Urban romanticism

Young urban dwellers are drawn to the romantic notions the city carries. the notions are reminiscent of Breton’s Nadja -a well known story written during the Surrealist art movement. Breton is roaming the streets of Paris when he meets a girl named Nadja. The two instantly fall in love with each other but the relationship quickly fails and Breton is left longing for her. He roams the city looking for objects that have the essence of Nadja. The representations of the woman become the symbol of Breton’s desires.  

A famous photograph surrealists believed symbolized the dreams and desires Breton goes through in his story is Eugene Atget’s photograph titled Boulevard de Strasbourg, corsets.

These notions can be connected to the American Apparel image it sells to the urbanites. The similarity of the mannequins in the American Apparel store speaks to the desires Breton experiences in his story. The image the clothing company sells lures young hipsters in because of the desirable element the image represents. American Apparel continually depicts women in an unjust way but the store claims to be celebrating the sexual desires young adults feel. The Nadja story taps into the psychological emotions that go along with the hipster youth movement today.   

The content from this American Apparel video further supports the company creates romantic notions with its constructed image.   

American Apparel Inspirations

(sorry about the youtube title)

This scene from Rocky 3 is a great example of where American Apparel finds their inspiration. The brightly colored clothing, the short shorts, the tank, and the tube socks are major parts to the American Apparel image. Below shows models wearing outfits like Rocky has on in the scene.

A Renewed Style

Besides the highly arousing ads American Apparel uses to sell the company’s clothing, the styles being sold are fashions from the past. Charney has appropriated a look that comes straight out of the 70s and the 80s and presents the style in a minimalist-like way. The appropriations of past styles partly adds to the controversy over the hipsters “artificial” image. It is believed originality is lost because the hipster style was already once popular. Charney seems to renew the styles and make the look completely.  

The retro style that inspires Charney appears to come from the looks his parents use to wear. The company’s web site features slideshows of Charney’s family to show the style of clothing  his mother and father wore. What is most noticeable is that the style of Charney’s father is quite similar to what American Apparel sells today.

Putting an image of Charney’s father next to an image of himself promoting the American Apparel clothing makes it clear he is drawing from his father’s image.

Haters

The great thing about the hipster counter culture is everyone has something to say about it. The TimeOut magazine from New York asks writers and bloggers their opinion why the hipster must die. “To us, hipsters are more than just people that dress in odd outfits and like to party. Hipsters are interested in the new, and because they are interested in the new, they help to spur innovation. Mainly in art, music and nightlife. It may not be innovation to most people, but that is why they are not hipsters. By the Pythagorean theorem, this means that they in fact do not ruin everything because if hipsters did not exist, a lot of what the masses come to enjoy would not exist either. It’s kind of like if Marty McFly didn’t get his parents to kiss in Back to the Future. If they did ruin everything, then cities around the country wouldn’t be trying to figure out ways to lure them to settling there, and some half-assed scholar wouldn’t have become rich off of it.” -Down by the Hipster “Isn’t hipsterdom dying on its own in New York City? Last time we went to the Lower East Side, it was overrun by smart-casual Coldplay fans wearing jeans and blazers and buying eight dollar Amstel Lights for their anchorwomen-wannabe girlfriends. Or maybe looking like a Hedge-Funder from Connecticut is what passes for hip now in New York. You ask, ‘Should hipster culture be defended?’ My book The Hipster Handbook was an attempt to call bullshit on this fauxhemian movement nearly five years ago. In the satirical book I claimed that ‘hipsters understand that cultural trends become fin the moment they hit the mainstream.’ The hipster thing hit the mainstream years ago, so by my own definition it hasn’t been cool for a while now. And let’s be honest, hipsters are getting harder to defend now that they’re all sporting beards. Williamsburg is beginning to look like a tailgate party at a jam band concert.” —Robert Lanham, founder, FREEwilliamsburg author, The Sinner’s Guide to the Evangelical Right, Food Court Druids, and The Hipster Handbook “Well I would be a liar if I said I just hate hipsters as a whole. Hipster baiting is a little hack. Hipsters are like children. Not only the obvious parallels (twee, childlike nature; constant need for adult supervision; soft skulls) but in that I do not hate hipsters so much as I cringe when I imagine what they will ruin. Comedy for example. All the ‘alternative’ comedians who are making waves are great (Demetri Martin, Human Giant, all the comedians covered on Apiary and Dead Frog [blogs I write for]). But I am (perhaps irrationally) frightened that comedy will eventually be taken over by whimsical hipsters that are more concerned with one day being on the line-up for Coachella than with developing an act. I also roll my eyes when I see hipster comedy sketches on YouTube that reference the same ‘alternative’ comedy tropes that great comedians can use but amateurs can beat to the ground. When I hear an alternative hipster comedian mention ‘robots,’ for instance, I wince. As far as hackneyed comedy topics go, robots are the new Viagra. -—Mo Diggs, blogger http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/features/4846/why-the-hipster-must-die-the-hipsterati-talks-back

Hipsterdom

 The American Apparel look has made such an impact it’s become a major style for hipster counter culture. The connection between the clothing company and the youth movement has caused the image to spread, along with hipsterdom culture. The relationship between the two is so immense that a lot of attention has been drawn to the counter culture and questions concerning what does the hipster image actually stand for?

People have criticized at great lengths that hipsterdom should come to an end because the group has only materialistic concerns. If this was to actually happen then a major chunk of society would disappear. The hipster image has become too huge for it to be quieted. The image has crept up in almost every major city of America, at least anywhere American Apparel is established. The major questions should be why and how did the hipster image come to be recognized on a national level? Is it only American Apparel that has caused the image to flood pop culture? Answers to these questions may be hard to find, but let’s hypothesize.

One way to find some answers is taking into consideration those that want hipsterdom to come to an end.

A quote from the TimeOut article “Hipsters Must Die”:

Under the guise of “irony,” hipsterism fetishizes the authentic and regurgitates it with a winking inauthenticity. Those 18-to-34-year-olds called hipsters have defanged, skinned and consumed the fringe movements of the postwar era—Beat, hippie, punk, even grunge. Hungry for more, and sick with the anxiety of influence, they feed as well from the trough of the uncool, turning white trash chic, and gouging the husks of long-expired subcultures—vaudeville, burlesque, cowboys and pirates.

 TimeOut is suggesting that the hipster is not an original movement but one that has developed from other styles and past counter cultures. This is probably why hipsters become associated with postmodern ideals because the culture is appropriating from what was once original in the past. Hipsters are working within the system and rearranging what past cultures have left.

 Another quote is from an Adbuster article “Hipster: The Dead End of Western Civilization”

 ”We are a lost generation, desperately clinging to anything that feels real, but too afraid to become it ourselves. We are a defeated generation, resigned to the hypocrisy of those before us, who once sang songs of rebellion and now sell them back to us. We are the last generation, a culmination of all previous things, destroyed by the vapidity that surrounds us. The hipster represents the end of Western civilization – a culture so detached and disconnected that it has stopped giving birth to anything new.”

 There can never be an end to culture just different kinds. Since Hispterism is unlike counter cultures that came before, it is difficult to accept the differences. Criticisms that bring down hipsterdom seem to believe in a ‘correct’ counter culture but cultural movements don’t occur to be accepted by the mainstream. Hipsters have created a culture that celebrates their youth and have chosen a type of image to express it.

Attainability

The images above are models from an American Apparel ad. Viewing images like these supports that the company is not only focused on hyper sexualized imagery to promote the clothing. Instead the ads show why American Apparel’s image is successful: the look is attainable. The advertisements that use young people who look more ‘normal’ makes the clothing appealing to the male or female customer. The clothing can be for partying or lounging. The look is versatile. Here is an image of actual everyday young person sporting the American Apparel look:

The girl in the photograph resembles an ad for American Apparel, except she is only an employee who works at the store. Still her resemblence to the models just by wearing the clothing of American Apparel shows how accessible the image can be.

The images below are glimpses of regular young people hanging out. The clothing worn by the crowd is similar to the style that American Apparel markets. It is possible the plaid shirt or the yellow striped hoodie did come from the store. Nonetheless, the photograph supports the clothing style is popular enough to be recognized anywhere.   

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Selling the Look

Everyone, in their own way, wants to look a certain image. That is why there are many different types of clothing companies for all sorts- low or high incomers, young or old, boring or hip, functional or aesthetic- the majority want to feel and look good in what they are wearing. It is up to the clothing company to make their advertisements sell the image the customer wants. 

The clothing promotions for American Apparel market towards the “young metropolitan adults” living in urban areas. The ads have drawn much attention from the public because the images are almost blatantly pornographic. American Apparel is teetering between the world of advertising and the porn industry with the images. CEO Dov Charney wouldn’t have it any other way. He wants to make sure his clothing company is representing the younger generation and be inventive at the same time. The message the ads send out can be read exclusively for a  younger crowd and disapproved by older adults. Charney is pushing a boundary continually present nowadays: sex. He has taken the idea ”sex sells” and created a whole new image. The messages are not anything less from the truth. People desire sex. People want to be viewed as good looking so another will take interest in them. A young adult who sees American Apparel advertisements and chooses to buy the clothing has decided to be desirable like the model (male or female). The clothing barely sells the image more so the attitude coming across in the ad. Below is a typical ad of American Apparel.

The ad demonstrates a sexually confident young woman looking directly at the camera with her captive look. Without the context of the ad the photo could be thought of as an image viewed on soft core porn sites, a girl’s Myspace photo, or a personal moment between two love ones. Putting the photo back into its context, the selling point becomes the models sexual attitude and not the clothing she is wearing. The image becomes desirable because it promotes sex. The idea sounds basic yet the set up of the photo is constructed to fit a specific formula that creates the affect.    

Here is another with image of a girl on a table very similar to one above.

No, not all American Apparel ads display the models on glass tables inside vague apartments. But the images support that American Apparel ads are constructing ‘normalcy’. The concept can extend to the type of girls American Apparel uses for the ads as well.

Part of the sexually transgressive approach is to supposedly photograph girls from everyday. Charney wants to use the “young metropolitan adult” in his ads to attain the look of authenticity. His choice to use real girls instead of professional models (or amateur models) is counterproductive. On the one hand, Charney is appreciating women for the natural beauty they possess but exposing the naturalism to create the affects of a porn shoot or video. At least that appears to be the case when viewing ads like the photo below. The model is in a provocative pose that reveals an ideal body.   

However, even though the images are pornographic some of the images address the concept of ‘real’ models who display facial and body characteristics that young women customers can relate to. The CEO claims he wants the models to be just like the young adults “you might see walking down the street, at the local coffee shop or working behind the counter at an American Apparel store.”. The statement holds true when looking at the model in this photo:

The features of the model make her appear like a regular young women. The model’s noticable tan line, her bruised knees, even her abs appear to be less than perfect. The noticable qualities make the model more personable and relatable to the female customer. The ad sells a look that is attainable.  It is difficult to see with many of American Apparel ads but American Apparel, in its own way, is trying to reinvent beauty with their advertisements.

Charney-the overseer of the ads-may possibly set up photo shoots with himself and the models that are constructed to appear very submissive. An interview with the New York Times describes Charney’s involvement with the American Apparel ads “He sometimes photographs the models himself, and when they are pictured in bed it may be in his bed or on his couch…and the photos seem to suggest that they were taken while getting it on: his bare chest and a pair of sky-blue gym shorts beneath a woman straddling him or his face partially visible on the pillow next to a happily disheveled young woman.” Here is an example:

 One cannot tell if Charney is actually engaging sexually with the model or if the setup is a performace. The CEO has certainly made a reputation for himself as being so submissive that the truth would never be told. Still, the idea that the company is trying to convey a specific message that involves performances, even by Charney is curiously interesting to ponder about.  

Quotes taken from the New York Times

Wolf, Jaime. “And You Thought Abercrombie & Fitch Was Pushing It?” The New York Times (2006): 1-8.