Is streetwear becoming fast fashion?

"Streetwear" etimologically means

"clothing for the man of the street",

that should prevent any form of elitism from the beginning.

In fact streetwear (and also sneakers) have always been for everyone on the surface. Yet there was a time, not long ago, where the passion for streetwear and sneakers was a sort of parallel universe, for insiders only.
There were sneaker-enthusiast and apparel-maniacs, but all they all used to live in a protect environment, defended by that unwelcoming aura that surrounds every subcultural movement. This universe had a very strong connection with hip hop music, but also with sports. Then hip-hop started to come out from the underground and made its way to the mainstream, in the meantime internet entered in our homes and suddenly we all were connected. The spell was broken forever.

Now we live in a time where hip-hop and trap music are at the top of mainstream music industry. This means that hip-hop and trap artists style is now affecting fashion trends at all levels. Also thanks to the internet, unlike what happened in the (recent) past with old mass media, we are allowed not just to emulate a certain style, but to know exactly what our favorite celebrities are wearing as fast as we can't google it. All those factors set the basis for the overexposition to streetwear that is affecting almost everyone in recent years. Brands, celebrities, influencers, blogs and online communities are unceasingly bombing us with the latest limited sneakers or the last capsule collection, or whatever. As a result, the lifespan of a single sneaker of piece of garment has been shortening more and more. The hype system we all are subjected to will end up killing hype faster and faster. Everyone is so overexposed to everything that all things grow old, even before coming out and slightly after they are already dead. Classic sneaker myths like Air Yeezys, Foamposites Galaxy or Paranorman, Jordan Flu Game and many others obsessed sneakerheads for years. Now it's hard to find a sneaker capable to hold the hype for more than two weeks. There are surely some recurring reasons why sneaker game is becoming everyday more similar to fast-fashion. that all things grow old, even before coming out and slightly after they are already dead. Classic sneaker myths like Air Yeezys, Foamposites Galaxy, obsessed sneakerheads for years. Now it's hard to find a sneaker capable to hold the hype for more than two weeks. There are surely some recurring reasons why sneaker game is becoming everyday more similar to fast-fashion.

#1 Internet kills magic

Now everyone can get to know everything about everything with a click. This totally destroys the magic surrounding a release. It's easy to know what's coming, essay to know how it looks like and also it's easy to know if something will be heat or not. That leads to conformity and kills personal taste. If everyone looks the same, everyone will get bored sooner.

#2 Media Overexposition

When something finally comes out after months of whispers, previews, tweets, articles, shoots, seeding to celebrities and instagrammers it has already grown old. People get so used to the upcoming release that it makes them no more interesting for the time they come out.

#3 Too many releases 

Is also clear that there is definitely something wrong with the increasing amount of limited releases. Now they are just too many. Often more than one per week. This makes every release "not that special" and the countless drops make the single sneaker hard to be memorable. 

#4 Celebrities endorsement

More and more often the most important thing is no more how anything looks like, but who will wear it. With the right celebrity endorsement companies can sell almost everything. As a result we end up buying what we have to and not what we love, trying to follow trendsetters. Also celebrities and influencer have to move fast from a style to another in order to avoid becoming boring. So people are constatly pushed to the next thing faster and faster.

#5 Resellers 

Resellers are as old as sneaker collectors. What has changed today is the amount of resellers and the amount of people who only buy in order to resell.