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In today’s increasingly digital world, social media apps are no longer strictly platforms for self-expression and photo-sharing, they have evolved into virtual runways. With apps like Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok transforming how fashion trends emerge, spread, and fade more rapidly than ever. This cycle of buying and promoting has made the fashion industry more accessible, but also more disposable.
Samantha Fritzinger, a 30-year-old user-generated content creator based in New York City, considers her Instagram account a personal blog in which she posts daily outfits and other fashion content. With more than ten thousand followers, she is what people would consider a social media influencer. As someone in the fashion industry, she feels a sense of pressure to keep up with the trends.
“Maybe this is because I am in New York, but all of the massive influencers are cookie cutter versions of each other,” said Fritzinger. “All of them wear the same brands, the same jewelry, same hair style, which is where most people, especially younger generations, are getting their inspiration. I think we have come a long way in diversity and inclusivity, but we also have a long way to go.”
For Taite Mendenhall, a 28-year-old freelance producer and project director based in New York City, social media has become a vital source for fashion inspiration and documentation. Having worked behind the scenes at New York Fashion Week this September, she has witnessed firsthand how brands and popular trends are promoted first online, then showcased in person.
“Social media influences my personal clothing choices regularly” said Mendenhall. “Last week I was on a mad hunt for the perfect slouchy sweater because I saw the way a girl on my social media styled hers and I fell in love with it.”
Mendenhall’s experience emulates that of millions of other social media users, especially Gen Z. According to a 2022 study by Marketing Charts, 39% of Gen Z social media users are directly influenced to purchase an item of clothing after seeing it on TikTok or Instagram. What once required an entire season-long ad campaign, can now happen through one post and a viral hashtag, or recommendation from your favorite social media influencer.
Fritzinger is constantly testing her limits with her personal styling choices. With most of her inspiration deriving from Instagram, Tiktok, and Pinterest, she reflects on how her perspective has changed since realizing how social media fuels her fashion opinions.
“I think once someone finds their personal style, you stop chasing the trends as much and instead choose to follow trends that compliment your style more. I think now more than ever too, the trends come and go so quickly, it’s hard to follow all of them.”
While this immediate connection between social media consumers and clothing has made fashion more inclusive, it also accelerates overconsumption patterns and unnecessary spending. A 2023 report from the Earth Day Organization, found that the fashion industry produces roughly 150 billion garments a year, 87% of which eventually end up in landfills.
Ali Aita is a first-year Apparel Design professor at Appalachian State University teaching Consumer Textiles. She’s also the former manager of the consignment store, Anna Bananas, located on Kings Street in Downtown Boone. As a 28-year-old who has been in the industry for five years, she doesn’t always agree with every sales tactic she sees while scrolling social media.
“It’s so blatantly obvious to me when influencers are just trying to sell a product,” said Aita. “After working in sales for five years, I can call bullshit when I see bullshit. I can see through it if they don’t believe in the product.”
Aita notes that while social media has opened new doors within the fashion industry by allowing anyone to participate in trend growth, it has also shortened the lifespan of those trends.
“Trends lasted for years until they switched onto something else, popular for years,” she said. “Now trends go out of style so much quicker.”
This constant turnover brings both opportunities and obstacles. Brands struggle to keep up with the dynamic pace, and fight to stay relevant. While also fueling consumer demands for new items. For fashion connoisseurs, it means limitless inspiration and brings forth new ways for fashion expression and creative individuality. For the industry, it means more innovation and indulgence. For the environment and overconsumer behavior however, it worsens the attitude towards the fashion industry and its buyers and consumers.
The conversation around social media and fast fashion is complex. Platforms such as TikTok and Instagram have made fashion more engaging, personal, and interactive as they promote clothing brands.. Yet, it raises questions about consumer awareness, sustainability and the environment, and the long-lasting effect this has on the fashion industry and what we wear.
As Mendenhall and Aita both suggest, social media’s impact on fashion is neither entirely good nor bad, it’s simply a reflection of how technology, especially social media, continues to shape the way we see, shop, and style our clothes everyday.
“I think social media makes fashion more inclusive,” said Mendenhall. “There are so many brands and people who wouldn’t be known or interested in fashion without social media.”
These platforms make it accessible for everyday people to share their fashion hot takes without working within the industry directly. Independent designers, thrift enthusiasts, and fashion lovers can reach wide audiences without the backing of major brands or companies.
“There are people who may not be involved in fashion at all but know so much about fashion because of who they follow on social media,” said Mendenhall. “I think we all get to decide what fashion means to us too, so it being so pertinent on social media, just expands the reach overall.”.
A well-curated feed can strike attention and spark conversation, this turns into inspiration which can turn into a viral trend overnight. The way clothing is photographed, styled, and presented online often determines how desirable it appears to others.
In 2016, Instagram first introduced shopping tags, giving users the ability to tag brands and clothing items in photos, changing the way users interacted with fashion online. Suddenly, followers weren’t just admiring an outfit, but at the click of a button they could have it in their shopping cart. This feature was quickly embraced by brands and users as it boosted sales and made style inspiration instantly shoppable.
According to a study by UCLA, we prioritize and pay close attention to every individual clothing item in an outfit. In order to piece together a look that pairs well together or meets our satisfaction of uniqueness to it.
“We develop two high-level style measures that are relevant for fashion goods: compatibility, which quantifies how well the items in an outfit match each other, and distinctiveness, which measures how visually different one fashion item is from others in the same category.”
Together, these measures help us evaluate how well different pieces in an outfit pair together, and explain why certain outfits or pieces perform well on social media. An outfit that meets the right balance between compatibility and distinctiveness is more likely to catch the viewers attention and go viral. Aesthetic appeal also contributes to what dominates your feed.
This digital acceleration of fast fashion exploitation and promotion in social media has driven trends at breakneck speed while pushing users to constantly scroll. As the world of fashion through social media continues to chase the next viral look, we must find a balance between staying trendy and cautious.