Hipster Olympics 2012

BERLIN, GERMANY - JULY 21: Attendees look at a pair of sunglasses from a "swap box," where visitors can take items in exchange for leaving others, at the second annual Hipster Olympics on July 21, 2012 in Berlin, Germany. With events such as the "Horn-Rimmed Glasses Throw," "Skinny Jeans Tug-O-War," "Vinyl Record Spinning Contest" and "Cloth Tote Sack Race," the Hipster Olympics both mocks and celebrates the Hipster subculture, which some critics claim could never be accurately defined and others that it never existed in the first place. The imprecise nature of determining what makes one a member means that the symptomatic elements of adherants to the group vary in each country, but the archetype of the version in Berlin, one of the more popular locations for those following its lifestyle, along with London and Brooklyn, includes a penchant for canvas tote bags, the carbonated yerba mate drink Club Mate, analogue film cameras, asymmetrical haircuts, 80s neon fashion, and, allegedly, a heavy dose of irony. To some in Berlin, members of the hipster "movement" have replaced a former unwanted identity in gentrifying neighborhoods, the Yuppie, for targets of criticism, as landlords raise rents in the areas to which they relocate, particularly the up-and-coming neighborhood of Neukoelln. (Photo by Adam Berry/Getty Images)