Niche-tige brands look elite—but in the running boom era, they’re just hype on borrowed time.

The explosion of running culture has created a new class of brands competing in what I call the “niche-tige” space—a niche façade dressed up as prestige. These brands rely heavily on fleeting aesthetics, meme-like hype cycles, and micro-tribal identity signals to capture cult consumers. But as running shifts from a subculture to a mainstream lifestyle—with new indie performance brands emerging weekly—the niche-tige model is revealing its hollowness. Minimalism won’t save a brand either; without deep pockets or deep purpose, “quiet luxury” collapses under the noise of hype. The future belongs to brands with specificity, soul, and a point of view that starts weird—but grows into a world.Here