If you haven’t heard of it, the “20 year trend cycle” is when fashion from 20 years ago become popular again, often being reinvented for modern times. However, the advent of social media has been repeatedly linked and theorized as to why the time frames between the origination of fads and their repopularization continue to shrink. This pattern began with the rise of fast fashion during the 2010s with the help of social media, but exploded due to the proliferation of microtrends present on TikTok during the Covid quarantine.
Microtrends popped up everywhere at this time. They captured the attention of teenagers and young adults who were on their journey of self discovery and had one exploratory avenue through fashion. The youths became categorized based on a single, distinct facet of their personality. It may have felt like a community, when in reality all it did was push young people with nothing else to do in their free time into buying an entire wardrobe that reflected their new aesthetic.
Oversaturation and exposure to media content during Covid increased the marketability of pieces that were trendy for a month at most and allowed for progressively more and more microtrends. This was simultaneously exemplified and facilitated by the “-core” phenomenon that still exists today. In a pitiful attempt, people would slap the suffix “-core” onto any word to transform something as simple as a color into the next big thing. All of this has resulted in the volume of clothes the average American consumer buys per year since 2000 quadrupling.
Americans threw out 17 million tons of clothing in 2023, with 65% being thrown out within the first year of the purchase. This is heavily due to the worse quality of fast fashion items, a necessity for these brands to function. Low quality materials such as synthetic fibers, for example polyester, are cheap to create and therefore cheap to manufacture clothing with. The downside is that polyester is specifically produced from oil extracted chemicals and in high carbon-emitting factories.
These fast fashion factories are typically located in countries with low wages and standards for work environments. This means they can hire lots of locals to work on their items for a minimal salary, therefore lowering their product prices. For example, Shein has multiple factories in China and its new headquarters based in Taiwan. Companies like these benefit from mass production because of an economies of scale principle, where the cost per unit decreases due to commodity abundance on the market. According to Forbes in 2020, industry overproduction was about 30-40%.
The prioritization of producing and distributing quickly over regulations surrounding garment quality and textile waste has emerged. This is primarily because speed to market fashion cycles have shortened alongside trend cycles. The influencers with brand deals and hauls appeal to consumerist behaviors, in combination with the average American’s instant access to social media has led to the facilitation of new, pernicious and indulgent spending habits.
These retailers prey on impulse buying, a result of a desire for instant gratification and expedited by social pressures such as fitting in with a community or emulating a favorite celebrity. Peer judgment is included in being a social factor, which also is an emotional trigger, along with discounts that convince our brains we have to buy something now before it disappears. This plays into post-purchase rationalization in addition to justifications, such as reasoning a purchase as a reward or a necessity and the possibility of seeking out peer validation.
Even though these psychological factors exist, consumers, especially young ones, are smart enough to actively acknowledge that any pieces they buy because of a new trend will evaporate into oblivion in a matter of weeks. They are more likely to buy from a fast fashion brand where the product will fall apart soon after. This cycle is therefore repeated and continues to pollute the Earth. As a piece of advice, consider investing in clothes you truly love, shopping at more second hand stores, and developing your own personal style.