SRRRRRY 4 PRTYRCKINNNN N BEING A CLASSIC BICOASTAL SHAWTY CAUGHT UP IN VACAY N DELAYING A NOW IRRELEVANT POST (>*-*)>
BASICALLY, on the first thursday night of march, i survived the marc jacobs heaven x deftones 2023 surprised show n there’s no lousy t-shirt to share. jus the clout couch photograph as a virtual signal of my supposed relevancy (thats my sibling! da one looking like a pimp in sunglasses! yes dat one!) n my weed-induced nonstop thinking abt what the night meant for da Culture……
in case u dont kno, its time i come out as a Heaven Stan *crying emoji* they rly got me in fall 2020 with the glamorized Gregg Araki merch. then, on the way to the club, i used my covid unemployment handouts to drunkbuy the $400 crazy daisy rug. yuuuup those were da times. i even went in da dms to defend mj/ava against the ripping off la rave heav3n allegations too! n when i do have the extra cash (which isn’t often so ur all welcome 2 send me money) i b scrolling on their website, taking screenshots, n sending to my boyf for their opinions. or begging previously mentioned sibling (SEE IM NOT LYING N TAPPED IN BUT R U????????) 2 buy me pieces. i currently own like 4 dresses, 2 skirts, n one hoodie…i think? so obvi no! hater! energy!….. at least rn!
back in may 2022, heaven threw their first nyc rager w i-D. drain gang performed, lana attended, n i got left at the door</3 (cursed night). i was in berlin during the nyfw party w charliiiii babyyyy so no live reporting on that, but after reading coverage of the night, its safe to assume the chaotic overflood of people trying to get inside is part of the heaven charm.
sooooo on that thursday night, once again, a sea of disciples flocked outside the judgement gate. groups of +10 claimed they were +1s, some successfully cut the line bc i guess its uncool to organize properly, some were bravely asking for spare tickets, N Everyone was on the list.
when a brand caters to the chronically online, a vip line just as long as the general admission line will never cease to exist. all corners of the gram needs at least one head inside the party to validate their niche within the brand n irl. in return, the individual becomes an IYKYK person. the cycle continues as they post online + free advertisement for heaven. 🤪🤪🤪 the heaven pr team truly gets a run for their money. HOWEVER, for this strategy to actually work, the Very Important People need to have ~guaranteed entry~ why else would someone who doesn’t have any previous ties to the brand decide to show up? (i believe only a select few were debuting the new collection – many people w Followings weren’t wearing any heaven actually. so again, why go if u wouldn’t go to a normal performance or weren’t promised to get in?).
the only reason why their parties aren’t exclusive is because they’ll get even more shit for it lolzzzz. but seriously. / regular people / will feel betrayed that a brand who designs specifically w their persona in mind weren’t given the ~chance~ to get in. (although that’s a fault in its own right, at the end of the day heaven is still a line from a luxury fashion brand). heavens open invite turns the party into the hottest event of the year for Anyone, not just the top 1% of instagram academy! the fashion brand surpasses the materials n becomes a realm of community! in the end, more people can talk abt it + heaven remains an entry way into all things Cool.
“HEAVEN is the gateway into our universe of subversion: teenage daydreams, alienation nation, candy ravers, psychedelic fantasia and day-glo dystopia. A fantasy world connecting subcultures and celebrating the multifaceted characters who have made up the Marc Jacobs community for the past 30 years.”
- taken from their og brand announcement
IF n ONLY IF, u were part of the lucky few to get inside music hall of williamsburg, u were then side-eyed by downtown manhattan scenesters, internet influencers, HF models + magazine editors girlies, e-girls who started listening to deftones in 2020, diehard fans who fight the air, indie boys who know / good music / n random tiktokers who i couldn’t effectively categorize but i knew were on tiktok. obvi, heaven succeeded in alluring quite literally everyone.
the major contributing factor was, obvi, the fact that it was a deftones concert. a 35 years old band w 9 albums pulling in a packed audience isn’t anything new nor surprising. BUT it is interesting when said band never fully became a mainstream household name. i believe the only time they came close to becoming one was with white pony in 2000. still, that was 23 years ago n i dont think their following albums reached the same commercial acclaim.
waaaaay baccccck in da olddddd daaaayssss, liking deftones signaled u were a sophisticated nu metal bro or alt rock girly. in 2020, right at the peak of the igirl/demonia chokehold, change (in the house of flies) made its way onto tiktok through hot online goth/emo girls. (to continue my shameful honesty,,,, this is when i tried to get into them too bc some edgy cool girl said they were her fav crying emoji face palm emoji kms). im not on tiktok bc I Love Myself, but im pretty sure my own summer (shove it), be quiet n drive (far away), sextape, n cherry waves made its way on there too…! since the songs r good vibes n not their harder/darker/metaler stuff (which is totally okay!), normies felt comfortable enough to use these tracks too. (although im a gatekeeper n find tiktok cringe, im not shitting on the people who found out abt them this way. how else is a new generation supposed to find such an old band. plus deftones have been WORKINN, they were bound to collect. im trying to b grown…. im Trying). so like usual trends, liking deftones has become so ~trendy~ that its not even trendy anymore. now its a personality trait for Everyone, which turns the experimental alt metal band into pop culture. (im praying yalldont let nu metal back in, we cant have another woodstock 99!!!!!!) n now about 30 years later, they have officially became a classic staple in rock music.
as carrie bradshaw so brilliantly said so herself, i couldn’t help but wonder if this would’ve happened without tiktok. or if this newfound community love for deftones makes them /less cool/ n if so, is there a way for musicians to become successful without losing their edge.
of course before tiktok there were other social media sites where bands blew up (hello myspace), but its different on tiktok. the algorithm is so intricately created that it knows exactly who to show these songs too. the algorithm knew who the hot goth girls were, who were the people who wanted to be them, who were the people who wanted to fuck them, etc. plus it was happening when everyone was locked inside n was only able seek kinship thru the internet.
re: deftones losing(?) coolness. part of why i feel this, i think, is because the show felt like a stadium tour. i had fun! it was great! they were amazing live! but! it didn’t feel gritty n grunge n pure rock n roll, but mayb that was never their intentions. they were never an underground, low-key band, just a band with less listeners than like korn or something. (or mayb i was jus too high n in awe!) HOWEVER, i do think the heaven x stray rats collab with them added to this.
their collection almost feels….kinda…….. corny. its not necessarily bc they decided to capitalized off their renewed relevancy, this is actually integrated into the ethos of the brand. since their formation n partnership with artists/muscians/movies/etc etc, heaven has commodified a specific 20something identity. they create clothes based on indie media that announces to the world I’m A Sexy Edgy Person With Taste. 2-3 years ago, the collab would’ve said the same. today that’s old news n almost meme-ish (me to myself while crying in fetus position: nothing wrong w being a meme, nothing wrong with being a meme, i repeat there’s nothing wrong with being a meme).
the same thing happened with the bladee collab too. his drop with heaven happened after the drain gang craze, the only reason why it actually worked tho was because it featured his own designs/drawings making it a piece of Art. with the deftones collab, it’s nothing rly new, just screen prints of the album cover n lyrics (although i do think the mesh jersey is hot n i love the back or mayb its jus bc gabriette is modeling it crying emoji). in order for it to rly work it would’ve had to happen right before the trend started or right at the beginning. now its jus too late :/ that’s why their collections w movies, shows, artists, etc hit better when there isn’t a overwhelming cultural dominance. take example their newest eternal sunshine of the spotless mind pieces. the movie is a classic, its popular, its critically acclaimed, but it’s not necessary hip at the moment. it jus kinda always is so it doesn’t feel like we’re being forced fed our identities/interests/tik tok.
of course the reason it didn’t exist 2-3 years ago is because heaven was still a baby figuring it shit out. mayb it shouldn’t exist at all then….?