Irene Westerbeek
Curator and founder of the Cool Collector. Irene (1984) lives and works in Rotterdam, the Netherlands as a freelance trendwatcher and brand strategist.
Ten years ago hipsters were a relative new phenomenon. The last ten years the hipster took many shapes, from sneaker nerd to mountain men and from vintage queen to pastel punks. All labeled as a hipster because of their common desire for uniqueness in the global melting pot!
But little hipsters grow up and the twenty-something hipsters from ten years ago, are now thirty-something. And like normal people, the hipster has a desire for offspring, amazingly cool offspring! Hipster parenting has brought a new kind of hipster into society: the Minihipster.
Hipster parents believe becoming a parent should not require one to relinquish creative control over one’s life, move to the suburbs, and purchase a minivan. They embrace ‘cool parenting’ as a lifestyle choice. Out with the primary colors, Disney stuff, baby pastels and the blue-or-pink-terror! In with the vintage children’s books, toys and contemporary children’s furniture!
Hipster parents want something cutting-edge, hip and hilarious for the radical kids in their lives. In short, parents who want to put their offspring in something they wouldn’t mind wearing. Maybe so they can hang on to some shred of coolness through their children. Or maybe they even believe they can increase their coolness.
On websites like etsy.com it gets obvious that there is market for Minihipsters. Little rebellious shirts or teats with mustaches get an enormous positive response. The Hipster temple American apparel started a line for children and many other brands realize that parents prefer their kids looking like rockstars instead of cute. There even are lullaby cover versions of songs by rock bands such as Coldplay, Nirvana, Pink Floyd, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Bob Marley. Parents used to dream about their kids growing up to be doctors or lawyers, now they would be impressed if they became a member of an Indie rockband called Half Man Half Biscuit.
The Minihipster is an interesting group for new products, concepts or an opportunity to stretch a brand. How about a mini Starbucks? Fixed Gear look-a-likes for kids? Or a toddler vintage store? Some see the Minihipster as an new accessory of there vane parents, like a big purse or a Chihuahua. Others see it as a breath of fresh air. Over the last 15 years or so there’s been a proliferation of hyper-parenting, what we’re seeing now is merely parenting done the new way. A way in which parents believe it’s good for kids to have culturally relevant parents and see them having fun.
MINIHIPSTERLINKS:
BLOG BY HIPSTERPARENTS: BLEUBIRDVINTAGE
