Mainstreaming underground

In today’s technological world, it’s easier and easier to see what everyone is wearing. We’re constantly inundated with fit pics, trends reports, must-have items, grails, archive accounts, etc., etc, etc. Skipping ahead a bit here, my point is: is anything really underground anymore? With so much access and connection, is there anything that’s really under the radar?

Of course, we still have subcultures, there are still niche brands, and we still have gatekeepers. But, by and large, underground style, clothing, and scenes are pretty exposed to the light. I think this newfound “exposure” is double-edged. It’s wonderful that anyone can find community, but some communities would prefer to remain unfound. Some of what made underground culture and style important was that it wasn’t for everyone. It wasn’t something you could just stumble on or Google to get into. You had to respect it, learn about it, and do the work to be a part of it.

There is something to be said about the importance of inaccessibility. It creates respect. It manufactures creativity and works with intention behind it. When there is no weight to buy in, then there is no reason to try. Underground brands, groups, and “things” begin to lack cultural capital when they are prostituted out to the masses with little required for participation. It’s not punk to not care. It’s punk to not give a fuck with intention. We need to be invested in the things we do, invested in the clothing we wear, and the groups we interact with. Things only matter as much as we believe they should. The underground cannot exist in a vacuum. We inform it as much as it informs us. So act intentionally, or else we might find ourselves culturally bankrupt.