Why are teens stealing backpack accessories? Nike Elite zipper thefts are the latest illegal trend on TikTok

Nike Elite zipper thefts are a trend popular with teens in which kids steal detachable accessories from backpacks in stores. Generation Alpha began to show off their collections on TikTok in September, noting that they're also stealing stashes from other kids at school.

The lesson here? Not to sell items with detachable bits like extra rope that makes it easier to zip up a backpack in a world where the kids have no third place to hang out and engage in more wholesome activities.

Why are teens stealing Nike Elite zippers?

It's unclear exactly why the children targeted these specific Nike accessories for theft other than the fact that they can be easily removed from the corresponding backpacks. Knowing teens and how they operate when bored, one of them probably just decided to take one of these items randomly one day and bragged about it until their friends followed suit.

According to TikTok videos, participants in the trend don their zipper collections on their own backpacks or their shoes at school to prove to everyone else how hip they are. It's like bead bracelets, but with crimes.

Nike Elite zipper trend origins

Again, unless someone confesses, it's difficult to know when the first kid snatched a zipper puller from a Target back-to-school display. The earliest TikTok video talking about the trend, however, may have occurred on September 13, 2024.

On that date, user @kyrieirvingishimm posted a slideshow showing their shoes and claiming to live in New York, along with a photo of 15 of these zipper accessories in different colors with a warning to other thieves:

"Do not leave your Nike Elite lackin around me."

The TikTok videos spread

It's generally not a good idea to post footage or photos containing proof of your crimes on the internet, but once one person did it, more TikTok entries were sure to follow. Thousands of videos are now up under tags like #NikeElite and #zipper, with teens showing off their collections.

There are also posts showing that the kids are wearing their own Nike Elite backpacks covered in the stolen accessories in school. As soon as the wider news media and then school administrations get wind of the trend, these brazen teens are surely going to have a bad time.

Reactions to the Nike Elite zipper thefts

Comments on many of the earlier TikTok videos include inquiries as to why anyone would do this, probably because they've already forgotten what it's like to be a teenager in public schools. Remember, teens either have to do anything they can to gain acceptance in that jungle—or accept and embrace their status as an outcast (and perhaps steal JanSport accessories instead).

This trend has already spread so rapidly that an increasing proportion of videos on the topic are complaining that it's becoming impossible to find Nike Elite backpacks in stores that haven't been harvested.

On September 19, user @sammvovk put up a post showing a store display of these bags with every pocket opened to search for the zipper pullers.

@sammvovk Nike elite bag #nike #nikeelite #zipper #dreds #fyp ♬ Karma - Dee Billz & Kyle Richh & 41

Condolences to the workers who have to clean up the backpack section 15 times every shift until the stores start locking them behind glass like every razor over $10.

Examples

Related trends:

• ‘This is completely unacceptable’: High schoolers rip sinks from bathroom walls for TikTok ‘devious licks’ trend
• ‘Why is that even a trend’: Woman’s viral TikTok about stolen Hyundai highlights the ‘Kia boyz’ challenge
• Underconsumption core: The TikTok trend that will encourage you to buy less
• ‘Fancy Pants Rich McGee over here’: The TikTok trend encouraging us to stop being snobby

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