The Hipster Paradox and the Inevitable Fate of Urban Outfitters

A tragic thing has happened in recent years; the culture commonly known as "indie" has approached a dangerous precipice. Though there are differences between the two stereotypes "indie" and "hipster", the two have taken on a similar meaning. They are both generally applicable to a person who is independent from the mainstream, one who rejects popular culture. However, what does one do when this rejection becomes synonymous with popular culture itself?
As a teenager, I have witnessed as much as any of my peers the trends of our generation. We have worn tighter jeans, picked up guitars, and abandoned our Nikes for Converse. Everyone loves the movie Garden State and dislieks the government. The Merchants of Cool showed me how much the modern market is aware of this. While counterculture has been a powerful force throughout history, I am not aware of a time when it has been such a commodity for teenage consumers. In my mind, there is one place that embodies this concept to the fullest: Urban Outfitters.
Perhaps you have shopped here; perhaps you have not. They just opened on at the Cherry Hill Mall, but I first saw one in Dallas when I was in seventh grade. The cool hunters found their trend and harnessed it; hipster became the new big thing. Teens stormed their nearest mall to prove their nonconformity. I should know this; I am a chief culprit, and I have given Urban Outfitters more money than anyone ever should. There is a problem, though, which I hope I have made apparent already.
How can hipster be mainstream? Is one independent if they depend on his or her independence? How can the counterculture become the culture? When one is spending $50 to look like he or she only spent $10, something must be going wrong. The flaw with this system is already making itself apparent. Bands like The Shins, The Arcade Fire, and Vampire Weekend (all of whom sold albums through Urban Outfitters) have become "too popular" to retain their indie fanbase. This is the hipster paradox: being indie is no longer indie. This is why Urban Outfitters is doomed to fail.
Inevitably, Urban Outfitters will be exposed as the mainstream marketing ploy that it really is. While Rushkoff would probably suggest that this happens to all companies that cater to teens, I would think that Urban Outfitters would suffer more than the standard simply because it is a store that proclaims to be something it is most obviously not. I cannot help but think of today's movie, in which a woman said that the mainstream kills the "coolness" of the underground. This is certainly what is happening here, if it has not already happened. While mall rats will most likely not be able to kill counterculture as a whole, I would certainly expect the flanel shirt to fade from popularity for the forseeable future. RIP, indie.