From Taylor Swift to Joe Biden, the power of fan merchandise shows no sign of ebbing

Fan merchandise, once the purview of post-concert stalls selling shirts and posters, now touches every industry – from high fashion to politics

‘Music and entertainment franchises are the obvious core backdrop, but there is more interest in political or activist merch now as well,’ one expert says

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Taylor Swift collaborated with Stella McCartney on merchandise for her seventh studio album, Lover. Luxury designer collaborations like this one are now commonplace. Photo: TAS Rights Management

Published: 2:30am, 13 Oct 2020Updated: 7:12am, 17 Oct 2020

Fan merchandise is said to have been born in the 1940s when music fangirls, or “Bobby-soxers” (named for the socks that girls often wore at the time), would scribble their favourite musicians’ names on their clothes. Music merchandise has since evolved into a globally celebrated phenomenon, and recent years have seen the wave transform into a tsunami that touches every industry – from high fashion to politics.

The internet has put fan culture, much like everything else, on steroids. After all, we live in a world where K-pop fans were able to, in June 2020, use their collective power to sabotage US President Donald Trump’s rally in Oklahoma with the power of social media alone.

Still, while fan power may be bigger and better than ever, merchandise has retained the original meaning it had back when only the few lucky concertgoers could buy and wear band T-shirts – a sense of identity and belonging.

At a Busted concert in 2004, I can remember being greeted by a pop-up filled with posters, plastic toys and jersey tops, all covered in the British rock band’s faces. Deciding that I needed a tangible connection to them, I bought two tops, a badge and a poster.

A model wearing a The Who band T-shirt outside Valentino during Paris Fashion Week. Band tees used to be merchandise bought at concerts. Photo: Getty Images

The validation I felt following that concert echoes Gen Z’s obsession with merchandise today. In 2020, though, it’s no longer a promotional extra at concerts – it’s a central moneymaking focus.