Nike. Adidas. Thrasher. Patagonia. American Eagle. If you look around at students’ clothing in any given classroom, you’re bound to see the logo of at least one these brands. On t-shirts, pants, shoes, and backpacks, logos are everywhere. But what is the point of paying to be a billboard?

According to Dayna Winter, a writer from the e-commerce company Shopify, wearing logos evokes emotions and serves as an “outward-facing expression of your personality”. For example, the Nike Swoosh conveys feelings of motivation, endurance, and strength, a reminder of the company’s motto, “just do it”.

“It’s supposed to show something about you, most likely just to show that you have a lot of money,” said Josh Fowler, freshman. “Like a flex, you know?”

The way a brand is interpreted is based on how the brand presents itself. If a brand markets themselves as expensive and desirable, the public perception reflects such traits.

“Ask yourself this: do people buy Nike sneakers because they’re better than other sneakers?” said Alex O’Bryne, director of online store website-builder WeMakeWebsites in an interview with Winter. “No. They buy them because Nike has created an extremely desirable brand; they buy them because they’re cooler. They buy them because of what wearing Nike sneakers says about them and they’re happy to pay a premium to do so.”

Social media has made it easier than ever for brands to grow a loyal fanbase of people. Wearing branded clothes helps us fit in with a group and luxury brands help customers flaunt and feel a heightened socioeconomic status. Moreover, recognizable brands retain good sales if they have a reputation for being good quality.

Promotions by celebrities and online influencers have helped perpetuate logo fashion into mainstream media in recent years. Examples of this are Gigi Hadid’s collaboration with Tommy Hilfiger and Kanye West’s collaborations with Adidas.

“Before, nobody really cared for simple shirts,” said Fowler. “But once it turned into like ‘Kanye wore this’, it [boomed] and then people start caring.”

“I think [celebrities influence] a lot,” said junior Kyshawn Kelly. “Little kids look up to those people, so if [influencers] wear [it] and say it’s cool, then the kids are gonna think it’s cool.”

Kelly doesn’t personally find logo fashion fashionable and agrees with the criticism that it’s “paying to be a billboard”.

“[On] the clothes that I buy, I don’t like logos that have words in them, but if it’s just a little logo then it’s fine,” said Kelly.

Clothing centered around logos often cost much more than their logo-less counterparts. The classic Supreme box-logo t-shirts with the retail price of $48 are resold for upwards of $2,500 on StockX, a resale website that is considered to be on the cheaper side. But without that Supreme red rectangle, regular white cotton t-shirts are sold for less than $10.

“[They’re expensive because of] the rarity,” said Fowler. “Rarity has turned into a staple for streetwear, especially Supreme. Collaborations between brands [make clothes] more rare, more expensive, [and] more interesting. ”

Despite the criticism and high prices, the logo fashion trend doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon.

“The whole point of having a shirt that has a logo is to be a billboard and to show that you have this brand,” said Fowler.