Social media trends can be a minefield to keep up with at the best of times, but the switch-up from #mobwife to #cleangirlaesthetic to #bratsummer and now being #cutesydemuremindful over a six-to-nine-month period is likely driving the rate of fashion consumption up at an astonishing pace.
Once upon a time, seasonality dictated what people wore with a trend lasting an entire S/S or A/W, sometimes even spanning two seasons. I recall that in the early 90s, mums watched The Clothes Show on the BBC on a Sunday evening. Then at some point over six months, they’d head into their local M&S or BHS on the hunt for items influenced by what they’d spotted on the runway, and pay quite a premium for them too, although they’d last an eternity.
We’ve come a long way since then (evidently the programme no longer graces our screens) to a time where anything you see on your favourite TV shows can be purchased at the click of a button and even delivered the next day – see Netflix shop for example. You can even purchase directly from catwalks in some cases where events are live streamed. A partnership between Digital Fashion Week (DFW) Creative, YouTube, Google+, and Twitter, allows consumers to watch live streams of the event and make purchases through Asos Marketplace. It’s instant gratification at its best.
But recent social media trends would suggest its less the designers influencing upcoming trends and instead mere mortals, like you and me. The pace of trend changes together with algorithms feeding the fast fashion empires that are churning out clothes to meet this current trend before switching to a new one a few weeks later has resulted in the obsoletion of fashion seasons.
Here is the conundrum: The fashion sector waxes lyrical about its ambition to lower waste and become more environmentally friendly. But its production, the styles and the volume together with the frequency of drops, is now directly influenced by a consumer who has become accustomed to having what they want when they want it. And if they can’t get it from one brand at the price they want to pay, they’ll find it at another. The fact is, they need that fashion fix in order to stay relevant. Fashion seasons are now substantially shorter and are led by hashtags such as #missitmissout.
Last week Just Style spoke to several industry organisations about where the fashion world is ahead of COP29 in terms of meeting its targets. While progress is being made it is certainly not at the expected or desired pace. Executives from Cascale, Canopy and the Apparel Impact Institute conceded the fashion sector isn’t doing nearly enough to combat the climate crisis and needs to act more boldly and urgently to address the climate change as a collective.
But in an era where consumers are now leading the fashion charge (thanks to the infinite power granted to them by the industry), dictating what the latest trend should be and it only lasting until they change their minds, are we simply screaming into the void?
There will be some – a handful of brands – that will choose to reject the status quo and avoid fuelling the fire – my mind jumps to skincare brand Deciem, which unlike its peers, closes The Ordinary and Niod shops on Black Friday to make a point about conscious consumption and lowering waste. But then there are others that will capitalise on the opportunity and simply fill the existing gap.
Yes, the playing field needs to be levelled. How and what piece of legislation at a global level might be able to achieve this remains anyone’s guess.
I, for one, love the industry’s optimism around meeting its climate goals and commitments. Do I believe it will get there? Not until it regains control of the situation and stops pandering to the consumer’s every whim and fancy. In other words it’s time to end #bratsummer and whatever comes next.
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Nonprofit Cascale tells Just Style exclusively it is in talks with EU legislators to understand the mechanics of what is practical for the apparel industry in terms of sustainability regulation with plans to expand that part of the business in future.
CMA advises 17 fashion brands to review their green claims
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Portugal apparel sector attracts buyers on sustainability, circularity
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