Cam Barr
Have you ever found yourself thinking, ‘What is the latest trend?’. Fashion is ever-changing, and not everyone can be stylish, but over the last few years trends have come and gone quicker than ever. TikTok has generated a certain attitude towards fashion amongst Gen Z that encourages them to purchase clothing in mass amounts to keep up with the so-called ‘battle of brands’.
TikTok has skyrocketed since the Covid-19 worldwide lockdowns, allowing people to explore and discover the fashion world from their phone screens. It is no surprise that the social media app has created a need for overconsumption, evident in excessive clothing haul videos. While brands like Shein and Boohoo do impact the rapid rate at which trends are changing, TikTok is accelerating this toxic cycle. TikTok was predicted to reach 1.8 billion users by the end of 2022, connecting more young people with their favourite brands and influencers.
Who Is To Blame?
Ask yourself, again, what is the latest trend? Is it cowboy boots, Y2K style, orange lensed sunglasses, cargo pants, or Nike Dunks? Since 2020, nearly everyone I know, including myself, has had a deep dive into their personal style and a wardrobe transformation. Right now, in the season of winter fashion, I assume the latest trend is vintage looking leather jackets or oversized sheepskin coats. Don’t worry if you didn’t know, it’s probably too late anyway.
The rise of TikTok, Instagram reels, and other short form video platforms play a large part in this rapid trend movement. We scroll endlessly, seeing dancing teenagers, objectively attractive people, wannabe influencers, and influencers promoting designer brands, spreading news about the latest fashion. We begin to see trends trickle down from one designer brand’s social media account to another, creating competition.
Likewise, fast fashion brands, with their ability to produce products quicker than ever, are willing to make as many videos as required to ensure that their videos are gaining the necessary traction and virality. The speed at which these six-second videos and clothing are being manufactured have hyper-saturated the fashion industry, constantly influencing consumers’ consumption, value, and wardrobe.
This chaotic and trend-obsessed environment has been manufactured by fashion brands and so-called ‘influencers’ wanting to gain popularity. TikTok has accelerated peoples’ needs to find and wear the next best thing. However when the time comes to wear this ‘next best thing’ it’s already too late. Trends have become so short lived that even those who can call themselves fashionistas are unsure of what’s in and what’s out.
Big Designers And The Fashion Industry
Big fashion companies have a reputation for paying influencers huge amounts of money to wear their latest designs. The intention is for people to buy the latest clothing, wear it a few times and then finally hang it in a wardrobe, sad and unworn. If the trend receives positive interaction and high social figures, it fits perfectly into the algorithm, no matter the demand of the product.
Five years ago we could all define the latest wants and needs, whether it be the Zara khaki parka, Comme des garcon converse, Supreme Box logo T-shirts, Super skinny biker jeans, or Yeezys. We now live in an age where people rush to a name every week, this makes it easier for brands to mass control customers creating a chaotic consumer landscape.
In the long-lost years of 2014-2019 the fashion industry’s attitude to make people truly want something, leading it to blow up online and start creating brand partnerships, is gone. However, the TikTok trend-obsessed culture has removed the passion for brands to truly work hard and define what really is this season’s big clothing thing, leading fast fashion brands scrambling to replicate Kim Kardashian Yeezy dress or Birkenstock Bostons. Instead of forming partnerships and obsession, it has led to online subcultures such as Goblincore and normcore.
Instead of people building their wardrobes and outfits from their authentic selves, people are creating outfits and styles to fit in with their next seven-second video. TikTok has now formed an online store, making it more convenient for users to purchase directly from brands within the app.
But it’s time to talk, just because something is trendy, doesn’t mean you need to buy into it. The phrase ‘being trendy’ can mean a lot of things to many different people and, ultimately, it’s up to you to decide what you like and what you want to wear. The conversation is no longer, skinny jeans or baggy jeans, cool or uncool, but now relevant or irrelevant. There are thousands of dedicated fashion influencers that exaggerate the need for new items and trendy pieces, although there are specific influencers such as @Wisdm8, who has over 8 million followers worldwide, creating luxury and thrifted outfits encouraging young people to spend their money on long-lasting pieces and second-hand items.
Mentally Gen Z is drained. Fashion culture has become so decentralised there is no way anyone can keep up, but the problem is, we are expected to follow. Our TikTok personas have overtaken our authentic fashion persona.
Featured image courtesy of Good Faces on Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
