Beyond aesthetic resonance, though, we’ve also seen a rise in merch products that directly appeal to the specific lifestyles and demands of the specific audiences they appeal to. Herrensauna – the hard, dark and fast Berlin rave with a sound and look to match – recently announced the release of a shoe designed in collaboration with Buffalo, the German footwear brand known for their clodhopper platform boots. While it may seem odd at first glance to see an ostensibly underground techno party teaming up with a commercial shoe brand, the move reveals itself to be a pretty shrewd one on deeper contemplation. “It’s a really good match in my eyes,” Berg says. “There’s a direct point of contact there – a great deal of people who go to that party would wear Buffalos or similar black platform shoes, so it’s directly tapping into an existing audience.”

Savvy, for sure, but fair questions could be raised around the implications of merch-ifying a party that’s emblematic of a scene in which conversations around gentrification and commodification are rife. Is a Herrensauna shoe the death knell in the commercialization of Berlin’s techno scene? Well, not quite. “The thing is, today, anything can and will be commercialized – even ostensible punkness,” Berg argues. Rather than an indication of the party’s waning integrity, he sees Herrensauna’s merch collaboration, and others like it, as opportunities to consolidate the communities that have coalesced around them, offering ways for people who self-identify with a party, club, record label or DJ and their ethos to affirm their affiliation. “The underground doesn’t exist in the same way it did three decades ago, and it’s almost impossible for it to,” he says. Rather than on nicheness, geographic specificity and countercultural values, he notes that “perhaps a more contemporary expression of the idea of ‘underground’ is rooted in defining a strong, uncompromising aesthetic and finding ways to give people access to that,” a task that, with something as simple as a shoe collab, the team behind Herrensauna have gone some way towards achieving.

Berg makes a convincing point. We live in a time where anything that conjures a sense of community is subject to commodification, and a physical spirit of community is an intrinsic value of electronic music culture. Rather than cause for cynicism, however, the swell in elevated, fashion-tier merch offerings is arguably a sign of development, offering novel means for people seeing access to an increasingly global, delocalized cultural movement to feel like they’re partaking in a meaningful way. “In electronic music culture, merch serves as a tangible connection to the ephemeral experiences of music and community,” Higher State creatives conclude. “It’s a form of self-expression, a badge of belonging, and a medium through which fans can support their favorite artists and movements. Merchandise in this context transcends its material value, becoming a symbol of cultural affiliation and personal identity.”





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