One of the most important elements of style and fashion that, in my opinion, gets paid little-to-no attention is the dichotomy between being a “Curator” and being a “Collector”. By definition a collector is one that tries to obtain as much of a particular item as possible while the mindset of a curator is to, for lack of a better term, collect only the most special of pieces and items. Neither method is “wrong” per se’, but has anyone ever waxed poetic about the difference between the two or specifically, has anyone ever given their personal opinion on the subject?

My immediate research says “No.” Well, more like “Not really.”

It isn’t because it’s not a subject worth discussing but rather because I doubt very seriously that anyone outside a certain group of people (whom I’ll touch on later in this article) would take the time to think about such a thing. In addition to that, companies pay a lot of money to make sure that this thought process never sees the light of day.

ATTENTION: I’m not a conspiracy theorist.

I’m not saying that Nike is purposely trying to prevent us from using our free will to think or that Ralph Lauren is actually trying to assimalate the world’s citizens into living, breathing Polo zombies…yet…in a strange way I kinda am saying that. [insert puzzled look]

Marketing, advertising, and branding is done to keep one’s name at the forefront of a current customer or possible consumers mind. If I want to buy something, 9 times out of 10 I’m going to seek out what I am already familiar with; that’s human nature. Especially with times being what they are and everyone moving at a million miles per hour, we tend to stick with what we know or whatever best catches our attention. Advertising departments and marketers know us better than we know ourselves–and they should, they’re paid tons of money to exhibit that expertise everyday, because it’s a fact that most people attribute the “most known” with “the best”. We can’t help it.

For instance, ever notice how you always see a McDonald’s in any town with more than one traffic light and how they are constantly marketing the hell out of their products? You think they are spending that money for the fun of it? Heck naw. They do it because they know that WHEN you think of purchasing a burger, you’re probably going to hit up the spot that is a) most convenient to find and b) the one you remember the most. On those two premises alone Ronald McDonald has the game on LIZZOCK! Does Mickey Ds sell the best tasting burgers around, of course they don’t, but they never said they did. They said they can get them to your FASTER than anyone else and over time society has been conditioned to believing that McDonald’s is the benchmark to which all other burger joints are measured (but they shouldn’t be though…I already say that, didn’t I?).

What does that have to do with fashion? I’m getting there, I’m getting there…

The only way we can be conditioned to believe anything is if we are constantly connected to the source of the propaganda. Television and radio have been he main conductors of this marketing juice since their inception but over the last decade the internet has filled a much needed gap in the race for our collective thoughts. We are always being marketed to, always being told what’s hot or what’s not, what’s the new shit to get on, and where we should be spending our money and, in the spirit of full disclosure I feel it necessary to tell you that I’m ok with that. It’s the nature of the beast and a product of our capitalist way of life. As a business man myself, I’m cool with it. It’s not my right to be one of your favorite websites, I have to earn that distinction. So I have very little issue with a company spending their money to market their message to their consumers. Because, ultimately it’s their job to keep their business afloat.

However, the constant advertising has lead to a false sense of hope and security. One rooted in the belief that happiness can only be found in our next purchase; that new car, that bigger house, those new shoes. It’s a ferocious cycle that usually doesn’t end until we die, so in turn, we tend to be slaves to who ever can best facilitate our wants and desires. So is life.

Part of the reason this topic of “Curation versus collection” even came to my mind is because, long story short, I stumbled upon minimalism. Now, I’m not going to spend my time trying to convert anyone who is reading this into a minimalist because it’d be a waste of my talents. I’m much better at writing about the Southern aspect of streetwear than how people should live their lives or spend their money, but I will say that reading up on minimalism–and my subsequent attempt at practicing said lifestyle–in a weird way has helped shaped the scoop of this website. I’m finding that although I still subscribe to the RSS feeds of many fashion and style blogs (because my thirst for knowledge has never wained), my desire to own what it is I’m seeing has been dramatically decreased.  Which has led to a more focused output of post and a much happier author. Besides there are tons of people much more qualified to teach you the ways of enjoying your life with less stuff.

Because of this “enlightenment” of mine, instead of focusing on pure consumption for consumptions sake, I’m able to stay on the task that I originally gave myself when I created H1GHER LEARNING: providing a platform in which eclectic Southerners can discuss, from our distinct perspective, the many aspects of streetwear culture. A blog in which the focus is not just on WHAT to get or WHERE to get it but WHY we specifically should be interested in the first place. A website dedicated to the intelligent discussion of what everyone is talking about, and sometimes things like this post, stuff people AREN’T talking about. Never has there been a site like this, feverishly committed to the education the young, fly Southern constituency. At it’s core, this site is still about consumable items and yes at times I will give my two cents on what you should and should not be buying. But since this site is geared more toward a concept than products it allows me to do what Slam X Hype can’t do.

I’ll try to explain myself without sounding like a complete idiot tomorrow when I try to explain why you can’t out hype Hypebeast.