Type any time period in the 20^th century into google, followed by the word ‘style’, and a clear, consistent image will appear. For the 1970s it is flower power, Gogo boots and long flowing tops. For the 1980s it is loud prints, denim on denim, big hair and shell suits. For the 1990s it is grunge, plaid co-ords and flannel shirts. We all have an image of each decade in our heads. But, with fast fashion on the rise, propelled by the likes of TikTok, what will be remembered as the defining trend of the 2020s? 

While in the late 20^th and early 21^st centuries, fashion trends were becoming increasingly determined by celebrities, films, music videos, and magazines, current fashion trends, at least among younger generations, are increasingly determined by social media. Given the fast-paced nature of social media, in which consumers seek instant gratification from short videos, it is no wonder that it is changing the rate at which fashion trends cycle through, leaving barely any time for designers and clothing brands to respond to trends, before apps like TikTok have moved onto the next wildly different trend.

Good On You, an online app and website that rates the ethical nature of fashion brands, defines fast fashion as ‘cheap, trendy clothing that samples ideas from the catwalk or celebrity culture and turns them into garments in high street stores at breakneck speed to meet consumer demand.’

However, these ‘ideas’ are coming more and more from TikTok, and the consumers themselves, leaving trends harder to predict, and trend cycles much more fast-paced.

Given the nature of TikTok videos – a fast paced blur of ideas and styles that is over in an average of 60 seconds – is TikTok perpetuating our love for fast fashion?

There is no doubt that TikTok has considerable influence over real life fashion trends. Its influence is epitomised in the recent popularisation of the ‘Balletcore’ aesthetic, which encompasses an ‘off-duty’ ballet dancer look. Popular on TikTok throughout 2022, it has recently moved from online sphere to reality, with Urban Outfitter’s ‘Balletcore’ line, new for 2023. On TikTok, #Balletcore now has over 400 million views, while #Clothinghaul now has over 2.6 billion views. High Street giant Urban Outfitter’s incorporation of the style in their new line proves just how powerful the voice of TikTok is in dictating trends. Indeed, many users are taking to the task of trend prediction, and #2023 trend predictions now has over 24 million views.

This is just one example of how TikTok’s micro-trends are spilling out into high street and online stores. 

Although TikTok recently enabled creators to make 10-minute-long videos, most creators use 60 second, or 15 second videos. It seems that influencers understand that the shorter the video, the more engaged the consumer will be. TikTok also has a For You Page (FYP) feature, which shows the user videos that have something in common with ones they have already interacted with and ‘liked’. This creates a form of echo chamber, in which the user only sees videos similar to ones they have previously shown interest in. Therefore, if a certain trend, such as Balletcore, is trending on TikTok, it is likely that certain users will have their FYP flooded with Balletcore videos. Often, these users are impressionable teenagers and young adults, who, upon seeing so many videos of the same trend, will naturally want to feel part of it, and buy these clothes. The combination of narrowing attention spans, and echo chambers which warp the popularity of certain trends, lends itself perfectly to the fast fashion industry, with high street brands profiting off a market of consumers with ever-changing ideas of what is ‘trendy’.

However, perhaps TikTok can be a solution to the problem of fast fashion, at least theoretically. #Sustainability has 4 billion views on TikTok, and many creators are spreading tips on how to grow your own vegetables, or promoting apps such as Depop and Vinted, where consumers can buy second hand clothing online, directly from individuals. The recent ‘Deinfluencing’ TikTok trend, which sees creators criticising trending products that they don’t like, may be any answer to the culture of consumption created on these online platforms. This atypical influencer behaviour is perhaps prompting people to be more critical of trends, and to detach the value they find in a product from whether it is trending online or not.

Therefore, TikTok can simultaneously be both the problem and the solution when it comes to fast fashion. However, ultimately, no matter the amount of content that ‘deinfluencers’ produce, their content is limited only to those who have previously interacted with their videos, leaving consumers who are deep into the fast fashion side of TikTok isolated from this alternative viewpoint. Indeed, TikTok’s very nature and composition lends itself to a fast-paced fashion trend cycle, unlike any we have ever seen in fashion history. Only time will tell what fashion trends, if any, will characterise the 2020s, or indeed whether the 2020s will simply be characterised as the era of fast fashion.