.png)
By Emily Bevins
If you’re anything like me, then you were probably offended when Tiktokers like Addison Rae and Dixie D’Amelio were invited to the 2021 Met Gala. The Met Gala is a staple of the American fashion industry, and with this year’s theme literally being “American Independence,” seeing Addison Rae in a poorly tailored gown (you can SEE the dress’s ribbing) she claimed was “vintage” (even though it was designed in 2003), it only added insult to injury. While Rae did not make it on the best-dressed list for the night, her attendance did solidify one thing—TikTok has actual weight in the fashion industry.
TikTok soared to the height of its popularity during the height of the pandemic. Tweens, teens, and people way too old to be the app’s demographic all flocked to the time-sucking venture to cure their boredom. TikTokers grew followings practically overnight and began reaching audiences of hundreds of thousands, sometimes even millions of people. During this time, every brick-and-mortar store was closed, and online shopping reigned supreme. Seeing Tiktok as a new platform to reach a new, impressionable audience, online shopping brands began to sponsor Tiktokers in the hopes of capitalizing on the Tiktoker’s sudden fame. There is nothing inherently wrong with brand deals; they effectively bring new patrons to businesses and stimulate the economy. However, the brands that have received the most attention on the platform are almost entirely attached to “ultra” fast fashion.
“Ultra” fast fashion is a term used to describe brands like Asos, Zaful, PrettyLittleThing, Fashion Nova, and Shein that release cheap products seemingly out of thin air. They often lack transparency with how they make the products and how they pay their employees. Shein, a China-based company that recently became the #1 most downloaded shopping app (overtaking Amazon), is especially unclear about the treatment of their factory workers. In 2019, the company refused to submit its records to the UK’s parliament in accordance with the UK’s strict export laws.
Besides their suspicious business dealings, why is “ultra” fashion bad? Forever 21, the brand the launched the term “fast fashion” in the 90s, releases about 1,000 new items weekly. “Ultra” fast fashion brands release about 1,000 new items DAILY. You might be wondering why that is a bad thing. After all, more choices mean more people are satisfied, right? Wrong. More choices, and more cheap choices at that, leads to rampant overconsumption.
Everyone has a story or knows someone who has a story where they bought something online, hated it when it came in, and thrown it out. The sites/apps have incredibly intense algorithms that specifically curate to your desired style. They are designed so that you see a shirt that you like for $6 and add it to your cart. You scroll a bit more, and oh! You must have that $10 dress, and those $15 pants and that adorable $12 cardigan. Before you know it, you have racked a bill of over $100. That’s okay though because everything was so cheap, and last week, you watched Addison Rae unload a $700 haul from the site! You really saved money by buying so much. A week later, you receive your package in the mail. You excitedly start ripping open the packages only to find that the shirt doesn’t fit your shoulders; the dress is see-through and way too tight; the pants feel weirdly crunchy, and the cardigan is itchy. You got what paid for, and you paid the ultimate cost—now you must throw it out. Our landfills are filled with clothes that will never be worn.
But is that Tiktok’s fault?
Not entirely.
TikTok's contributions to overconsumption can be seen through its effects on microtrends. Historically, microtrends are trends that last about 3-5 years with macrotrends lasting 5-10 years. However, the life cycle of microtrends has sped up exponentially over the past several years. Now instead of microtrends dying after 3-5 years, some don’t even survive the season. Fashion was never meant to move fast; it’s supposed to be timeless. Just as it's hard for videos to stay relevant on Tiktok, it’s hard for clothing trends to stay relevant to consumers. There is always another Tiktoker raving about the next big style. Just over the summer, there was the biker short trend, the tie-dye sweatsuit trend, the “coconut girl” aesthetic trend, and the metallic bikini trend. Only one will survive past the season—biker shorts (and that’s only because Princess Diana was the one who made them famous in the 80s). The others will fade into obscurity due to their oversaturation. And then where do they go? To some donation center that will inevitably throw them out? No one wants to look “uncool,” so no one will buy an island-themed tube top in fear of looking like a 2021 summer lookbook.
All this said, I do not believe Tiktok to be the end of the fashion industry. There are a lot of creators who inspire their viewers to use sustainable habits and curate a wardrobe that they’ll use for years. The problem lies with the Tiktok algorithm sending videos of Shein shopping hauls to viewers’ ForYou pages, instead of creators who encourage people to find their own style. The perpetuation of such unsustainable shopping practices hurts our wallets, hurts our environment, and hurts our fashion industry. Tiktok might not be ruining fashion, but harmful corporations like Shein are. Tiktok is only their chosen method of reaching their markets.
So, the next time you are on your ForYou page, and you see a video sponsored by an “ultra” fast fashion brand, just keep scrolling. You’ll be better for it. I promise.
Emily Bevins is a McConnell Scholar in the class of 2024. She is studying political science, English, and history at the University of Louisville.