Fashion Trends Are Dead
Fashion trends are a byproduct of culture and consumerism. They come in the form of shapes and sizes, colors and patterns, and are often dictated by the heads of fashion houses. Often attributed to specific subcultures or a certain period of time, trends represent shifts in taste preferences, creative expressions, and societal values. The widespread acceptance, or scarcity, showcases the supernatural significance of trends, and their ability to mean different things to different people proves their contextual nature.
In the 1850s, fashion trends were standardized by a couturier named Charles Frederick Worth. Charles Frederick Worth is often regarded as the father of haute couture. In 1858, he founded the first haute couture fashion house, House of Worth, in Paris. He was a prominent designer in the 19th century and is accredited for revolutionizing the fashion industry by sewing labels into his garments, presenting collections on live models, and elevating the status of fashion designers.
The fashion industry today is not so different from Worth’s initial outset with seasonal collections, creating fertile grounds for trends to take root and grow. Fashion collections moved from four annually to once a week in some cases. Worth didn’t have the resources and machinery to produce at such a large scale. Fast fashion has taken Worth’s initial process and cut down the time to make more clothes that are trendy and affordable.
Fashion trends are an industry lifeline. Trends shift consumer’s attention from one product to the next, creating urgency and demand. Instead of designing for a muse or community, fashion brands are designing to capture as many people as possible to increase their bottle line year after year. The nature of trends is to change to enable discovery and remain relevant in today’s fast-paced consumerism.
Trends are cyclical. They are known to repeat throughout history. Y2K (stands for Year 2000s) is an example of a fashion trend that reemerged in 2021. With substantial evidence that it had fallen out of favor amongst the general population in favor, Gen Z consumers adopted similar styles for Y2K nostalgia and a desire for uniqueness.
Social media proliferates trends with influencer and digital campaigns. Models and influencers project aspirational lives online to elevate their status, which plays into consumers’ desires and insecurities, creating a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out). Trends are in constant interaction with status signaling and class associations, contingent on their origins and who adopts them. Paradoxically, social media shortens the lifespan of a trend’s significance. The longer a trend lives on in high visibility, the more it becomes ubiquitous, losing its significant qualities in exchange for mass market appeal. For example, brands like Bottega Veneta erased their social media presence to preserve their exclusivity.
In 2020, the media had a core frenzy. From normcore to cottage-core to Barbiecore, and the list continues. Core is how consumers are describing fashion trends today. Core trends go beyond frivolous, fast-moving fashion trends to bring people with similar interests together. They represent entire ecosystems of products, attitudes, and behaviors. They each have their own set of guidelines to ensure authenticity and connection, making it more meaningful for the in-group, and trivial or isolating to outsiders.
Trends highlight the relationship between individuality and belonging, and following trends is how consumers create an identity. Whether the identity is unique or not, it’s a form of communicating values externally. Exploring a change in identity often comes with a shift in style, and trends help enable discovery on a more intimate level.
When consumers constantly follow trends, their sense of self is always changing. Their identity is determined by extrinsic forces instead of intrinsically determining what’s on brand for the individual. Some consumers, like influencers, find being on-trend authentic to their personality and status, whether they’re conscious of these decisions.
Ultimately, trends are designed to give consumers confidence. They allow for personal expression, creativity, and identity development. With trends as core beliefs, they create a deeper self-awareness and confidence, teaching consumers to appreciate themselves and not rest on external approval.
