Is Corteiz already the new Supreme?

The movement of hysteria and collective euphoria that the London streetwear brand unleashed in New York with the special launch of the new Air Max 95 in collaboration with Nike, could end up making it the new Supreme. Has Corteiz revived the hypebeast culture?

The Corteiz effect seems to evoke the resurrection of the hype culture, and of the drop cult already projected by brands within this same subcultural scenario such as Palace or Supreme. All that maelstrom of debauchery around releases or drops, with queues of hundreds of people at the doors of the temples of hype in order to get exclusive products and belong to these idealized communities could once again become part of a new reality.

That same wake or flame that seemed to be extinguished is now being rekindled by Corteiz, Clint’s brand that is rewriting the rules of the game. The British firm that was born in 2017, as a private club that everyone wanted to belong to, has cultivated during these years a whole network of devotees that are part of an emerging streetwear community that now worships its religion from anywhere in the world. All that aesthetics capable of merging with London’s youth culture, where sportswear represents a uniform or a status symbol, is now expanding like the universe.

THE CULT OF THE “DROP

The brand’s cult following in London extended its power and influence in New York, generating the same impact at the event they presented around the special colorway of the Air Max 95 in collaboration with Nike.

On March 21, the Corteiz fandom was in a frenzy at the brand’s pop-up where they could buy the exclusive silhouette. By the next day on StockX, the resale price had more than tripled from the initial $190 to over $600.

Corteiz dropped coordinates that led thousands of people to a local flagship located between 34th Street and 7th Avenue in New York. An enigmatic enclave where they could get the special “Pink Beamm” pair, which ended up gathering countless people sheathed in the brand’s “Alcatraz” tracksuits.

Expectation and furor ran through the veins of these new generations of hype that queued for hours to get that sneaker turned into the new cult object. Key episodes that add to this powerful movement by the label that is redefining streetwear culture, and that could become the Supreme of a new era.