Amazon did a show about streetwear hypebeasts and it’s really funny

In an alternate and animated universe, the hypebeasts do not line up for Supreme but for “Latrine”.

The successor brand uses the same Box logo while selling everything from t-shirts to fire extinguishers, and no one is wiser than the name means “toilet” in French. It doesn’t matter if nobody knows why Dr. Phil is on one of the Latrine t-shirts or even who is – wearing the t-shirts helps you gain weight in the ultimate pursuit of becoming an influencer.

It is the configuration of the land in Fairfax, Amazon’s new animated series follows a group of 7th grade students as they jump into the hype on Los Angeles’ main streetwear street. The show, which premieres October 29, is both a tribute and a parody of the streetwear, sneakers and zooms that hold them so dear. Anyone who has a bit of self-awareness and has immersed himself in the quest for hyped footwear, clothing and accessories will eventually realize just how absurd the game is, a quality that Fairfax leans heavily while capturing the heart at the heart of any coming-of-age story.

Dale (Skyler Gisondo) is a newcomer to Fairfax Avenue, a serious Eagle Scout who moved with his family from Portland to operate a vaping store. Her serious exterior look is mistaken for a normcore play by her new friends and shepherds in the hype world. Derica (Kiersey Clemons) is an aspiring activist who always manages to make time for the last drop, while Benny (Peter Kim) pursues the dream of being a celebrity dealer when his parents don’t make him practice his cello . Rounding out the team is Truman (Jaboukie Young-White), an aspiring filmmaker who earns his money for jawnz by making portraits of dating apps for older women.

The streetwear and sneaker culture hasn’t really taken hold on TV yet, despite the Sneaker heads and the HBO competition series The Hype. Both of these shows suffered from taking themselves too seriously in an authoritarian take on what is “cool,” but the more grotesque nature of Fairfax gives it a real chance to become the defining series for hypebeasts ready to make fun of themselves.

“We love all of this stuff. We love Supreme, we love fashion, ”says Matthew Hausfater, one of the three Fairfax co-creators whose first job was in a vintage t-shirt store on Melrose Place. “But we also realize that some of them can be dumb. There’s a fun balance between what’s funny and what we think is cool, and we want to portray everything in a way that feels like we’re laughing with people instead of laughing at them.

“There is a pleasure balance between what is funny and what we think is costs. “

Indeed, there should be a lot of laughs even if you are unfamiliar with the history of the Nike Air Yeezy or up to date on the Last Drop Supreme. Dale and the viewer take a crash course down the street he calls “Hogwarts of fashion,” and the gang (or “gang gang”) sets out straight in pursuit of the Dr. Phill Box Logo t-shirt in the first episode of Fairfax. The second episode takes Dale to Instagram, where he needs to muster 100 followers to be able to step into an influencer night. But even if sneakers and streetwear fill the mood, there’s room for the kids to do community service at a retirement home or for Benny to try for an esports team in later episodes.

While Fairfax is all about kids, it’s made for adults, many of whom may have already started breaking out of the hype. Vulgarity is not lacking, and the dialogue is riddled with Gen Z-approved vernacular. Real zooms have entered the writers’ room in order to have their brains chosen, and the creators admit they spent a significant amount of time on TikTok and Instagram on behalf of research.

Along with Hausfater, the other two creators are Teddy Riley and Aaron Buschbaum, the latter having met at university and having sold several screenplays to the writing team. All three of them grew up in Los Angeles with a love for streetwear and sneakers, although they aren’t as obsessed with the hype as they used to be. Instead, they are more fans of the culture than active participants, and they see Fairfax as an ode to Gen Z, which has taken on the mantle of youth and gives hope for progressive ideals to the world. ‘to come up.

“We always say that they are the generation that will change the world,” Buschbaum says. “They are all itinerant marketing managers for their own brand. But it’s also the generation that gets their face tattoos, eats tidal pods, and takes on the challenge of milk crates. So it’s a really fascinating and interesting mix.

“They are also the generation it becomes face tattoos, eat tidal pods and do the milk crate challenge. “

To help refine the voice of the series, Nick Santiago and Matthew Hwang of Pizzaslime were recruited as consultant producers. Pizzaslime serves as a sort of streetwear tote – part brand and part consulting agency with perfect control of the times. They are the masters of the streetwear meme that takes photos of the very culture they are part of, similar to a Throwing shots Where Nolita dust bag.

“They are longtime friends of [Buschbaum and I], and their finger is on the pulse in a way that we know ours wasn’t, ”says Riley. “It was really important for us to have partners like Pizzaslime, Some thugs, and some of the writers we’ve hired to collectively help guide the show’s authenticity. “

Hausfater, who didn’t know the men behind Pizzaslime before the show, says he found them hilarious from the start of their very first meeting and that they immediately understood the mix of celebration and parody they were aiming for.

When I ask the trio of Fairfax founders if they’ve found another avenue for the obsession with streetwear, maybe vintage furniture or rare plants, Hausfater says they all have an eye for fantasy but their budget is not there yet. “It would be really cool to have an Eames chair,” he says. “But they’re also like six thousand. But I think we would all like to reach the next level of the ball.

Here, Buschbaum interrupts and suggests that if the show goes well, then Hausfater can get his Eames chair. And that day may not be so far away, because Amazon has already renewed Fairfax for a second season before the general public saw it. In the meantime, they will be among the very few to own a real-life Dr. Phil Box Logo t-shirt – which is only distributed to selected people and in a fire extinguisher holster as a promotion for the. emission. After all, if chasing after the grail has become too tiring, why not just make your own?