In a world where fashion has arguably become more of a statement rather than a feeling for many young people around the world, do you feel consumption has gone rampant in the youth society?
Could there possibly be a correlation between this, and the sudden popularity of replica fashion?
Oh definitely. Consumerism and status in terms of fashion today is insane. I see kids as young as 10 looking to buy Yeezys, Givenchy, Fear of God or whatever is popular, spending maybe three to four months of their below minimum wage on a single item, just to flex. Or last year where the trend was to buy the most expensive beaters like Ozweegos, just to show others that you don't care about thrashing a pair of $500 sneakers. Don't even get me started on Supreme...
I'm certain that the sudden popularity in replica fashion is the cause of Supreme, Yeezys and the aforementioned scenarios.
Because now kids don't have to spend $250 on a t-shirt to flex, when they can spend the same amount to buy two pairs of 350s, a pair of ultra-boosts in triple black and some 1:1 Bape or Supreme tees.
Through your influence as a moderator, are you able to sense and feel how, especially the male youth, has become more aware of style and fashion over the past few years?
I'm not sure if my role as a moderator gives me a unique insight, since we don't know the age of the users. DesignerReps does have more mature and high end focused users, compared to other replica forums, but that's also due to our rules of not allowing certain brands like Supreme, Bape, ASSC etc. But I have no doubt that the male youth has become more aware of fashion in the past few years. Forums like r/Streetwear, r/Malefashion and Facebook groups like The Basement and Fundamentum has boomed in size over the past year or two.
When I tried to sell some sneakers two years ago, it'd be guys my own age looking to buy. But when I've tried to sell my (legit) Yeezys, then it's been kids younger than 15 every time. This might be due to my shoe size being an US8, or the fact that kids are more interested in fashion these days. Now your question about them becoming more aware of style is a whole other debate!