Social media plays a big role in fashion trends and how they evolve. All of the major designers from fast to high fashion use social media to communicate their products to people.
Fashion influencers have a power to influence beauty standards and also clothing trends. People look up to what their favourite influencers wear and want to look like them because they create the perfect image of themselves. Fashion trends can also affect people’s mental health as they might feel judged when wearing clothing that is no longer in trend. They can also develop eating disorders because of the unrealistic body types of models and many social media influencers.
Fashion trends have existed while back when social media didn't exist, and there were also the “influencers” - fashion icons whom inspired other people. People were always trying to look like others instead of embracing their own style.
Social media could influence your fashion choices subconsciously. By scrolling through your instagram feed and stories, you can subconsciously decide whether you like certain items or not. That affects the choices which you make later when purchasing clothes. Being inspired is a normal need for a person, but sometimes it can get very toxic. I have noticed how many young people are trying to look like their idols, changing their appearance to look like them and even acting differently to be like them. The society idolises some people to an unhealthy extent. Social media like TikTok which is extremely popular now days has a lot of content which focuses on creating outfits to look like some of their idols.
Social media have a big influence on fast fashion production as they rely on trends that imitate some designs from the fashion shows or from the style of celebrities. They produce clothes that are a part of a quick trend so the customers eventually have to go and purchase other more trendy garments. Many fast fashion brands such as Fashion Nova pay influencers to tag and promote their products which makes them gain a large amount of sales.
Due to social media having so much influence on fashion, and trends changing so quickly - it leads to overconsumption and a lot of textiles waste. Fashion designer who focus on sustainability and timeless pieces are having a hard time because of fast changing trends which are dictated by the social media.
YouTubers are a part of the social media influencers, and many of them film Haul videos about all the items that they have purchased. Very often they purchase these items from retailers like Asos and Shein. Creators buy as many clothes to create a trendy review, but it has a very negative impact on our environment as it leads to overconsumption. Especially when the garments are purchased from fast fashion retailers who copy small designers garment designs and create trends out of them. This process of copying less known designers pieces and producing them in factories with horrible working conditions is extremely unethical.
It is important to not get carried away by trends and think about what you feel the best wearing. Think about sustainability and ask yourself when buying fast fashion if you would want to wear the garment for a longer period of time.
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