Meet the Dedicated Hypebeasts Who Camped Out for Kanye Merch

There's a Kanye West pop-up store in Melbourne right now, selling Life of Pablo merch. I know this because I was just there, talking to the hypebeasts and the hypebaes, all bound together in one winding, two-block line by their shared desire to purchase a hoodie.

Outside of 21 temporary Pablo stores simultaneously opening their doors all over the world, there are people doing the exact same thing. They are there because Kanye has turned band shirts from "those weird AC/DC tour replica tees you buy for your dad at Big W" to "a garment you'll camp out for 16 hours to purchase." Basically, he's made merch cool again.

Actually, Kayne has done something even better: He's made it relevant. Because of him, a t-shirt isn't something you buy after a concert has finished to remember the night; it's something you buy when you haven't even seen the concert, and probably never will.

Merch is now an event in and of itself, one that's just as important as the actual show—to some kids, probably more so.

VICE: You're at front of the line, how'd you pull that off?
Andrew: We came down at 4:30 PM yesterday afternoon. We were at school and we saw there was gonna be a pop-up in Melbourne. So after school we went to the city to waited for the announcement—just so we'd be ahead. When we heard "Brunswick Street" we were like "Alright, let's go."
Leon: "Get chairs, go."
Andrew: We were the first people here. For an hour, there was no-one else here.
Leon: Now I'm wondering though, is it really worth it?
Andrew: Nah, it is. It is. 'Cause it's the experience too.

You'll get your pick of everything in the store.
Andrew: I want a hoodie and a Melbourne t-shirt.
Leon: At least.

Hype.
Andrew: Yeah, hype.

Are you seriously here with a broken leg?
Jake: Not broken. I just pulled three tendons in it.

But you're still here.
Jake: Yeah.
Tom: I just came from the pub.

You guys have the nicest blankets here.
Inez: These were lent to us last minute.
Christian: Yeah, last night I got home from work and my mum said, "Apparently Kanye West's pop-up is on Brunswick Street." We ate something, grabbed the camping chairs, and left. On the way we had to get the blankets from a friend, 'cause we'd forgotten to bring them but we'd driven too far to turn around. We've been here almost 14 hours now.
Inez: We haven't slept. At 11 PM last night, my sister dropped off McDonald's for us.
Christian: I'm actually supposed to be at work in 17 minutes.

Hold on, is your mum a hypebeast?
Christian: She must be.

How much money will you drop?
Inez: I'd like to limit myself to $500.
Christian: I think $1,000. That's a nice round number.

I think you'll be some of the first people let in.
Christian: Yeah, the guys from the front are taking names to make sure everyone gets in in the right order. They've noted down like number one to number 80 so nobody loses their places. Everyone here is really nice.

Who are your favourite designers?
Jia: I'm a bit of a hypebeast, like everyone else in this line.
Ben: Kanye, obviously. Raf, Raf Simons. Virgil Abloh is good, but overpriced.

I don't know if I fuck with Virgil's Off-White label though…
Jia: It's very "International Student," so I wouldn't wear it. I would fit the stereotype. The clothes are nice but I don't want people to think I'm an international student, 'cause I'm not.

What's in the bags?
Ben: I've got a change of clothes in there. I was basically wearing pyjamas earlier.

What makes this worth sleeping overnight?
Ben: It's Kanye. It's Kanye! If they have a denim jacket, I'll definitely be getting that. Also, being able to resell.

Are you really gonna resell?
Ben: Nah, nah… well, maybe.

What are you wearing?
Brayden: Simple fit. Got the black joggers on, got the Kith Dooms, Thrasher hoodie, and the bomber—to keep warm.

How long have you been here?
I left my house at like, 4 AM this morning. I didn't camp.

What do you wanna get?
Well, I don't know what they're gonna drop, no-one knows. Hopefully I'm gonna get a hoodie, shirt, and a hat. I'm just copping for myself today. The vintage denim jacket is around US$400, so if I can cop that, I'll cop that. We're like, 50th in line, so if there's nothing left in my size, I'll cop and resell for my size later.

Do you have a passion for fashion?
I don't know. You could call me a hypebeast but I just like the way certain things look. [Gesturing to his friend in a pink hoodie] I own a couple of those hoodies, the pink and the sky blue. I just like the way they look, they're different. I'm wearing all black today, but I just dressed for comfort, 'cause when I got here it was dark and no-one could see what you were wearing.

When did you arrive?
Courtney: Yeah, we all got here between 5 AM and 6 AM.
Jordan: I was meant to start work at 10 AM, but I've pushed it to 12 PM.
Two kids who are literally the coolest people I've met in my life: We got here at 5:20 AM. We have a day off school!

Who are these children?
Courtney: I don't know. None of us came together. But I feel like I've known them all my whole life, 'cause we've been talking for five hours.

You're in a car, not in the line. I like that approach.
Mina: We were earlier. See that little black chair? That's my spot over there.

Are you worried somebody's gonna take it?
Nope, not at all. To be honest, we've done this plenty of times before. Usually with shoes, for me. Everyone in the line has a general understanding.

Are there people you see at campouts all the time?
Yeah, definitely—like those two kids [points over at those two little cool kids]. I work at Hype DC, and one of them is in my store all the time. I said hello to him and was like "shouldn't you be at school?"

Are you a hypebeast?
I don't know. That's a hard question. I'm OG, I've loved Kanye ever since I was a kid. I've gone to all of his Melbourne concerts—the first one when I was in grade nine. So I certainly don't like everything that gets hyped, but if you like something, you do what you gotta do to buy it.

Have you camped out for Yeezys?
I did one camp out, but that was a relatively easy, as far as Yeezy campouts go. It was at Republic Boutique last year: We got there at 5 AM and left at 3 PM. Usually for Yeezys you have to camp for a week. I would never go that far. I've got a life.

Was it worth the camp?
They probably weren't even worth an overnight camp, but generally it can be fun when you bring a couple mates. Just stay up all night, drink, smoke, have a laugh. Plus it guarantees you a pair. These days if you want a pair of shoes, you have to do it, it's the only way. Online is fucked—there's bots everywhere.

How much has it changed from when you started lining up for drops?
Back in the day, when Jordans were dominating the market, you could rock up to a store three or four hours before they opened and be sweet. Now it's like, if you really want a pair you've gotta take a week off work. It's ridiculous. It's blown up a lot in the last two years.

You're at the very back of the line, man.
Gavin: I should've gotten here earlier, but when they had the Yeezus pop up on Chapel Street [in 2014] I think it only took me like 45 minutes to get in. The line wasn't like this though, this is a lot bigger.

Well, Kanye's clothes have gotten more famous.
Yeah, as his career has gone on the merch has gotten bigger. I remember being a kid in the 80s and going to see all the rock bands—back then, that was where you bought merchandise: the Guns'n'Roses t-shirts, the Metallica tops. I think merchandise disappeared for 10, maybe 15 years there, because it was all linked to rock music, and that got less popular. Kanye started used those same 80s rock graphics and basically brought merch back.