Fast Talk: How This "Sneakerhead" Built A Major Online Magazine

Meet Kevin Ma, whose website Hypebeast began as a sneaker blog, but now gets up to 3 million visitors per month.

Kevin Ma is the founder and editor of Hypebeast, an online magazine covering fashion, culture, design, and many other topics. Ma runs the site with his staff out of their Hong Kong office, and his stamp of approval (read: a feature on Hypebeast) can help make or break an underground or indie brand trying to catch the attention of influencers or even savvy mainstream consumers. Fast Company spoke with Ma to learn the proper usage of the words "sneakerhead," "deadstock," and "hypebeast."

What is Hypebeast?

It’s a site I created in 2005. It just started off as a blog. There was a big sneaker culture going on worldwide. A lot of people were collecting sneakers, limited edition sneakers. People were actually lining up, and in New York at a store called Staple there were riots by kids who wanted to buy sneakers. I was a sneakerhead myself, lining up to pick out the latest limited edition shoe. I started the site talking just about sneakers. Eventually I started talking about different subjects, all connected to the sneaker world, like hip-hop, streetwear, fashion, skateboarding. Now we’re discussing more aspects of culture, including arts, high fashion, and design.

And what is a "hypebeast"?

“Hypebeast” is a term commonly used amongst our culture. People call [someone] a hypebeast if he’s interested in certain topics in this culture: sneakers, fashion, arts, music.

This is a term used in Hong Kong?

No one uses it in Hong Kong. It’s a U.S. thing.

I guess I don’t get out enough.

If you go to areas like SoHo....

I live in New York, and you live in Hong Kong, but you know New York slang better than I do.

It’s just a very niche culture...

Teach me how to use the word “hypebeast.”

In the very beginning, kids on these message boards would say, “You’re such a hypebeast,” and it meant you would buy into the hype without thinking what the product was about. It was kind of a negative ...

[Source: Fast Company]