HOT CONCEPT HYPE

▶ THE FRENCH call it je ne sais quoi. Branding experts call it clout. TikTok teens call it hype, and they’re the ones everyone is watching right now. When a group of high-profile TikTok stars moved into a Los Angeles mansion last year, they called it the Hype House; countless other social media celebs (mostly young women, mostly flat-stomached) have carried the hype baton since then. The term describes something envious and ineffable, a level of popularity that transcends follower counts (though having lots of followers helps) or dance moves (though those help, too) or dating a floppy-haired, black-nail-polish-wearing

TikTok guy. Hype is something that can’t be acquired through hard work or being repped by the right agency; it’s best gotten from another host, like a virus. Hype means people are paying attention.