Balenciaga Triple S Trainers are $950. Gucci sweatshirts go for $1,300, and Off-White shoes range from $650 to $900. And kids at our school are wearing them. Kids. Let me just leave that there for a second.

Children who do not live on their own, who cannot support themselves at this point in their life and who do not have full-blown careers are wearing more than the cost of my monthly rent in the hallways of North Atlanta High School. So the question remains: Where are they getting this money? Their parents? Long weekends at Chick-fil-A? Under the couch?

Some kids come from extremely wealthy families, be that because of their parents careers or the fact that a lot of us live in Buckhead. Yes, Buckhead is bougie. Get over it. “My family has a lot of money so we give a lot, mostly to each other,” said freshman King Harris, the son of rapper T.I. “If anything though, I’m buying them stuff instead of vice versa.”

Other kids have taken an interest in music and gain money that way. Senior Jaivion Williams, for example, earns money with his rap group YNGM and with the help of his father, who works in the music industry. “I get to spend my own money on my own clothes which is cool,” said Williams.

But more than the curiosity of how they get the money for these clothes is why you would want to spend that much on something that will be out of style next season. I’m not gonna lie. I’ve wanted those clunky Balenciagas for months now, but I could never see myself spending the same amount for a plane ticket to Europe on bulky, hypebeast trainers. If I had a thousand dollars in my pocket right now, I wouldn’t pull up at Gucci and just give away five of my Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt paychecks. I think that brings in the whole “to each his own” thing though and I have definitely walked by someone sporting Off-White shoes and gone, “Dang. Those are fye.”

And I can say with quite certainty that this is due to consumer consumption.  Basically, this stuff is super expensive and comes out for a limited time, so people go mad for it. But, I know people who blow cash just because they like how different the clothes are and because icons they follow sport the brands. “It’s just unique and Lil Baby wears it so that makes it cool,” said sophomore Hugo Falcon.

Whether it is for a $1500 dollar Louis Vuitton backpack or $210 Gucci flip flops, people love to spend their bank. Why? Unique designs, limited availability, or maybe just for the fun of it. My opinions aside, buy whatever you like or whatever you think is popular or whatever fits your style. Fashion is an expression of you, not anyone else.