In an era of microtrends, fast fashion, and social media, trends are dying and beginning quicker than ever. Most recently, even though it hasn’t been trendy for long, it feels like even “Y2K” is coming to an end. Phrases such as “cheugy” are even used to describe “Millennial” trends from the 2010s, which isn’t a very distant past.
According to wrapcompliance.org, in 2019, 208 million pounds of waste were created by single-use outfits and the textile industry is the second largest polluter in the world after oil. Fast fashion is the largest culprit of this, cheap and affordable retailers such as SheIn, Zaful, and AliExpress are commonly known for their fast-fashion practices, but even Urban Outfitters, Forever 21, and H&M would fall under this category as well. At the end of the day, it’s almost impossible to avoid fast fashion.
However, “Micro-trends” are contributing to waste in a much different way. Normally, micro-trends have a life span of 3-5 years, while macro-trends are supposed to have a lifespan of 5-10 years, a macro-trend normally defines the style of the decade– think bell-bottoms, or shoulder pads. The quicker the fashion trend cycle the greater the amount of waste.
Queue the “Influencer Culture”! Influencers are often given more makeup, clothes, and goods than what they know what to do with. They are advertising for companies that send them goods for sponsorships, which is done so viewers can then buy these items because of how the influencer promotes them. Due to social media, we look towards influencers and celebrities to determine the trends of the season, or in our current case, the month. For example, think “House of Sunny”. Everyone was seen wearing “Peggy Cardigan” which then led every fast-fashion retailer to copy the piece design, which results in everyone being able to own this piece of clothing through influencer sponsorships, or by purchasing it through a fast-fashion retailer. Eventually, everyone is owning and wearing the piece, and then we grow tired of it, thus accelerating the trend cycle of the piece. This is happening every week. The mad dash to have the newest and hottest influencer sponsored piece, which then dies out in about a month due to the oversaturation of the piece on a viewer's socials.
Additionally, influencers and fast fashion companies aren’t the only culprits. Think of this more current example– the Miu Miu skirt, yes THAT Miu Miu skirt. More luxury fashion companies are mandating “complete looks” for editorials and publicity to increase sales and revenue. So instead of pairing a Miu Miu skirt with a Gucci top for the cover of Vogue, luxury fashion houses are mandating that the entire Miu Miu outfit should be on the cover, not just the skirt. An example of this would be Nicole Kidman’s Vanity Fair cover. Now, what does this mean in relation to the death of personal style? Historically, if you wanted to follow trends you would look toward Vogue, Elle, or any fashion editorial. Now, since these magazines are promoting looks taken directly from the runway instead of styling them in a unique and creative way, two things are happening.
Firstly, we’re growing tired of looks faster. Miu Miu puts an outfit with the microskirt out on the runway, then Miu Miu only allows Vogue to feature that complete outfit, so then we’re seeing the same outfit again. Then, Miu Miu sends this look to influencers, and only allows them to style it with other Miu Miu pieces as seen on the runway, so then we’re seeing the exact outfit again. Now imagine, because influencers are influencers, you’re seeing the same Miu Miu skirt styled the exact same way all over your Tik Tok, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. So even though the item may only have been out for a limited amount of time, we’ve grown sick of the piece because we’re seeing it styled the same exact way over and over, which results in an accelerated trend cycle.
Secondly, as previously mentioned, when pieces become trendy they then get mass-produced by fast-fashion retailers. Dupes of the Miu Miu skirt are already on SheIn and H&M, which then allows for everyone to have access to this look. Eventually, we grow even sicker of the trend because not only is it over-saturated on our feed, but now everyone has access to this item and likely isn’t styling it in any other way than how influencers are.
As you can probably start connecting the dots, these accelerated trend cycles are killing personal style. Just from being on Tik Tok, we see creators getting famous for “changing their wardrobe” by buying massive amounts of clothing from SheIn, they’re not actually buying what they're interested in but buying
to fit the trend cycle of whatever is trending on social media. Instead of buying pieces that are made sustainably, or investing in quality products, people would rather buy hauls of cheaply made fast fashion to fit the current microtrend instead of developing a personal style for themselves. Most of the time, you
don’t even know you’re in this cycle.
Developing a personal style doesn’t have to be complex, and you don’t have to overhaul your entire wardrobe to do so. Working on a personal style can be a rewarding experience, having pieces that become your “signature”, or associating colors to your wardrobe can make dressing and shopping easier and more fun.
Also, after developing your personal style you’ll be more unique, you won’t look like every other influencer. Utilizing second-hand retailers such as ThredUp, Poshmark, Depop, and Goodwill, can help you build your personal style in a cheaper and more sustainable way. None of us are perfect in the way we consume social media or fashion trends, but we can always improve ourselves for the sake of our future and environment.
Comments