TikTok: The Latest Fashion Giant
Zoe Robinson
It is no new concept that social media has an enormous influence on what is or isn’t in. TikTok is the latest to provide fashion influencers with a platform to show what's trending online or on the high street, giving influencers the option of 15s, 60s or 3 minute long videos to showcase their fashion purchases. More often than not these bulk buys (or hauls) are from Primark, Zara, H&M, Shein etc. Whilst there is nothing wrong with the average shopper going to these brands, particularly for affordability, these influencers are not encouraging the longevity of clothing. In reality they are encouraging us to buy new with every season and to follow every trend as they come.
For instance, this Autumn/Winter season we have seen the major comeback of UGG boots, teddy coats and earmuffs. The new found popularity of Y2K and 90s fashion pieces highlight that fashion always comes back around and thrifting for these pieces is a much more ethical way of keeping up with the trends. Companies often see the latest, seasonal TikTok trend and make copies of them to sell as their own, usually as cheaper alternatives to the originals. M&S, Accessorize London and Jack Wills are just a few who have jumped on the iconic style of the ‘UGG minis’. As far as brands go, they are not the worst when it comes to mass production, sustainability and ethics. However, ‘fast-fashion’ brands cash in on the trends too, like BooHoo and Shein; brands notorious for their poorly made, unethical copycat pieces which are sold for nothing. This option is typically more desirable for a customer who wants to always be on-trend without costing themselves a fortune.
The result is mass overconsumption, and the surplus of influencers encouraging this behaviour only adds fuel to a well-lit fire. It should be noted that nobody should be shamed for not shopping sustainably, sustainability is a privilege and a complex topic at that. This complexity stems from the definition of what does ‘sustainability’ really mean? It can mean many things, like products made ethically from companies who pay their workers a living wage and provide safe work environments, are sustainable. It can refer to the materials used in production. Typically, polyester is viewed as unsustainable as items made from it tend to get damaged faster and require replacing more frequently. Materials can be viewed as unsustainable due to their effect on the environment. Polyester and denim are materials which waste gallons of water in the cooling process, which can further become contaminated and damage the local environment if not properly disposed of. Despite denim jeans (provided they have been skillfully made) such as Levis, usually lasting a lifetime making them sustainable under one definition, their effect on the environment makes them unsustainable under another.
The list of definitions goes on and they usually clash with each other. It is very rare if at all possible that a product will meet all of their standards. However, this complexity should never be a reason to encourage overconsumption of trends. This overconsumption has now become a trend in itself due to the exposure of products on TikTok and it needs to be stopped. The public's overconsumption results in further poorly made clothes from lower quality materials, like nylon and polyester. Even big companies are resorting to cheaper materials to keep up with the demand and turn over a bigger profit.
There are many, many, MANY reasons why this trend needs to go. To start it can wreak havoc for the workers who are making the items, especially in fast fashion companies where they are being underpaid to work in unacceptable conditions for exceptionally long hours just to produce the vast amount of product, in fact it was revealed that Shein offers around 700-1,000 new styles- daily. Warehouses for these fast-fashion chains have poor ventilation, despite workers who are treating fabrics being exposed to dangerous chemicals such as acrylonitrile, which is produced when treating acrylic, a common material used in jumpers and hats. Repeated exposure to acrylonitrile can cause severe liver damage. Poor ventilation has led to warehouses being deemed ‘sweatshops’ due to the soaring and unpleasant temperatures workers are forced to work in.
Furthermore, the environment suffers from the vast amount of fuel used transporting materials to manufacturers, finished products on to storage units, and from those units on to you and if the item doesn’t suit it has to go back again. The fashion industry is estimated to contribute to 10 per cent of all man-made carbon emissions and it is estimated the average consumer chucks 31.75kg of clothing per year which has led to some calling it ‘disposable fashion’ over fast fashion. Given that plastic based materials such as acrylic, fleece, nylon, polyester and viscose are non biodegradable, they can take up to 200 years to break down, resulting in mounds of clothing in landfills.
This overconsumption is destroying the fashion industry as a whole. Before the TikTok whirlwind, microtrends used to have a lifespan of 3-5 years, now it’s a matter of months, regardless of how popular they are at the time, the moment they are deemed ‘cheugy’ they’re gone. Microtrends result in many dupes, leading to over saturation of a particular product in the market, a designer brand creates an original piece and every other brand creates a dupe. This was seen with Skims shapewear, the design of which was heavily praised for its ability to snatch every body type. Now dupes of this can be found in Primark, TikTokshop and Amazon. Despite the materials used being lower quality, the product not lasting as long and the effect not quite as snatched as the original, the price is what makes these dupes desirable. These dupes blew up on TikTok to start, but now, hardly any fashion creator uses them. Once an item is everywhere consumers grow bored of it and it is never seen again as it has lost its desirability and originality. This often happens with celeb wardrobes such as Kendal Jenner’s Loewe, $825 dress that took the internet by storm which can now be purchased for as little as $10 on AliExpress.
We as consumers need to start investing in our wardrobes again, take care of your clothing and it will take care of you. If you’re buying from less sustainable brands- make the item last, use your best judgement and ask, how often will I wear this? It is estimated we wear items 7 times before we get rid of them. If you can’t see it being a staple piece that you will wear over and over again and not just a one and done, give your purchase a second thought. Where you can, consider shopping second hand whether it be local charity shops and vintage stores or going onto ‘Vinted’ or ‘Depop’, the smallest thing can help. If you do depend on fast fashion brands for whatever reason try not to overbuy.
Fashion influencers may be partly responsible for the overconsumption crisis, but it is ultimately up to us what we do or do not buy. We just need to remember there’s nothing wrong with buying something trendy if you can make it last, but you don’t need to buy every trend every season. It’s time to slow down the pace of trendy to untrendy and start committing to the clothing we buy.
Cover image courtesy of Tiktok
Zoe Robinson is a deputy Health & Lifestyle editor at The Scoop and a Law student at Queen’s University Belfast.