By Itzel Garcia

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Merch. It’s everywhere. At shows, in your favorite coffee shop, and for your local club soccer team. However, it appears that merch has transformed into more than just a simple t-shirt; now it includes tote bags, hats, keychains, and even novelty items. Virtually anything and everything can become merch with the right design and branding.

While technically merch has been around for decades -and can be traced back to being started by The Beatles, who pioneered selling tour shirts- its popularity and the amount in which consumers are buying has surged over the last decade.

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Why Do People Buy Merch?

Merch has become social collateral. This cultural shift in merch means that it is no longer limited to promoting events but now acts as a tool for self-expression. If you walk past a person on the street wearing a baseball cap of your favorite team, you might think to yourself “Go Dodgers”, or you would feel inclined to talk to them. Wearing merch can signal that you are part of a particular group, fandom, or subculture and can create an instant connection with others who recognize and share the same interests.

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The Merch Craze

Merch, as a consumer good, is booming more than ever. In 2023 Taylor Swift fans in Tampa, Florida camped outside overnight in front of merchandise trucks waiting to get their hands on Eras Tour memorabilia. By 8am over 1,000 people were in line. While merch was also sold inside the venue during the show, fans were concerned the length of the lines would cause them to miss portions of the concert, prompting them to spend the time waiting long before the shows started. The current resale value for one of these tour sweatshirts goes for upwards of $200, compared to the original $60 fans paid on tour.

One artist who sparked a movement back in 2013 was Kanye West during his Yeezus tour. West partnered with artist Wes Lang and designer Virgil Abloh to create t-shirt designs that would go on to sell during his tour and later hit PacSun stores nationwide. Fans no longer had to fight to get their hands on merch at concerts, but instead could go to their local mall to shop. This revolutionized the game.

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The Band Tee, Nirvana, and Posers

It is clear that the rise in popularity of merch has changed the way people consume it, but it has also changed what kind of people wear it. Before the 2010s, it was safe to assume that someone wearing a Led Zeppelin t-shirt was a fan of the band or at least a fan of rock music. Today, shoppers can stop at just about any clothing store, like Hot Topic, Hollister, or even Walmart, and pick one up. The abundance of the band tee has in turn made it lose its meaning. A prime example of the oversaturation of band merch is Urban Outfitters’ Nirvana crewneck that became popular amongst Gen-Z in 2023. The popularity of this crewneck wasn’t because of the love of Nirvana within younger crowds, but simply because it was a trend. It is no longer clear what a person’s taste is when almost every major retailer can sell broadly manufactured merchandise. Bands like Nirvana have gone far enough past a point where they are no different than a brand’s logo. The market for vintage and rare Nirvana merch is still thriving, but the mass production of readily available new and cheap apparel is for the younger consumers, who may or may not even like the band.

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‍The Sustainability of Merch

As the merch industry tries to keep up with high demands from consumers, factors like sustainability go out the window. Merch can be considered a form of fast fashion because of the way it is mass produced and leads to tons of waste. To capitalize on the popularity of movies or certain artists, merch has to be produced quickly and be made with inexpensive, low-quality materials. Merch produced for specific events, like championships, are designed with limited-time relevance before it goes out of style. For example, every year the NFL produces “winning” merchandise for both competing teams of the Super Bowl long before the actual game takes place. Since there can only be one winner, the pre-produced merch of the other team becomes unsellable. Hundreds to thousands of hats, t-shirts, banners, and other gear go to waste. In efforts to spare the loss of products, the NFL sends it to Good360, a nonprofit organization who sends them to countries in need. While in theory this partnership sounds like a good deed, there are many cases where companies dump unwanted clothes to the Global South and cause more destruction. The relocation of the unwanted merch can disrupt local economies because their markets are flooded with free goods.  

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The Future of Merch

As the merchandise industry continues to change so will its meaning.

Beforehand, merch used to be an invitation for someone else with the same interest to come over and talk to you. Now when two people both wear Nirvana shirts it doesn’t mean they relate to it in the same way or at all. Owning a piece of merch is no longer just about supporting your local restaurants or favorite brands. In an age of social media where who we follow online matters, merch can be a way for others to see that in real life.