HOW DOES FASHION BECOME TRENDLESS?
2010-Present
Photos by Maurício Nahas of the 2024 Atacama fashion week, an event styled around the mass dumping of used fast fashion into the Atacama desert in Chile.
What's The Deal With Gen Z Fashion?
In the 2010s, the social media influencer defined how we purchase. In the U.S., trends in fashion consumption originated bottoms-up from social media instead of top-down from fashion brands and retailers.
Meanwhile, the fast fashion industry benefited heavily from quick trend cycles and high waste production. In response, Gen Z ushered in a wave of "Trendless fashion", seeking to promote eco-friendly consumption and individuality in fashion.
According to Teen Vogue, the amount of clothing owned by the average American increased by 60% from 2000 to 2014. Gen Z wants to stop that trend in its tracks.
Giulia Zappia, 20
Artist
Davis, CA
"I want to express myself and feel confident, but how is me expressing myself effecting other people?"
HOW DOES GEN Z PRACTICE CONSCIOUS CONSUMPTION?
Nikita Srinivas, 21
Law Student
Santa Barbara, CA
"I know what things I've liked for a long time and which things are more fleeting."
THE EVOLUTION OF FAST FASHION
AT THE START OF THE
DECADE...
In the early 2010s, social media became the marketplace in which fashion was exchanged as social currency. As influencers, individuals gained social clout by posting themselves in certain brands, while retailers gained the power to drive fashion trends and consumption.
Then, fast fashion became increasingly popular with teen demographics. Popular traditional retailers such as Aéropostale and Hollister had to switch to a fast fashion business model to compete with fast fashion retailers like Brandy Melville, H&M, and Forever 21. Styles were produced quickly and cheaply for the masses.​
Retailers were able to produce fast fashion by using cheaper fabrics and underpaying workers. In the wake of the Great Recession, designer fashion at affordable pricing was appealing to the public. The ethics of production were out of sight and thus out of mind.
In 2019, there was an average of 27,000 keyword searches for "sustainable fashion" every month, an increase by 75% from the previous year. In 2020 searches for sustainable fashion peaked with an average 100,000 Google searches within the year.
From 2020-2022 the fast fashion apparel merchant Shein made over 100 billion in sales and produced and average of 6.3 million tons of carbon monoxide. In the same year the market for secondhand apparel among younger generations grew 24%.
In 2016 Aeropostale, the once thriving teen fashion brand, filed for bankruptcy, forced to switch to a fast fashion model. In the years following, human rights activists have alleged the company's used of sweatshops and child labor to produce their clothing.
AT THE END OF THE DECADE...
In response to the unethical nature of fast fashion consumption, a counter-culture movement rose among members of Generation Z in the 2020s.
At the cusp of another economic downturn with the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020, online retailers such as Amazon and Shein produced and sold fashion for faster and cheaper than ever. By closely following high fashion designers and promoting mircotrends, retailers were able to speed up production cycles.
The movement for politically-conscious fashion peaked with them.
With prevalence of social media and internet use throughout the global pandemic, platforms such as TikTok and Twitter gave space for politically-conscious movements to grow. As creators shed light on the increasingly unethical business practices of fast fashion brands, a push against mass-produced homogeneity and for individuality and sustainability went into fashion.
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​ Gen Z "Trendless fashion" advocates for not following trends as a way to reduce consumption, second-hand purchasing, and the boycott of fast fashion retailers.
Key Trends
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Maximalism and bright colors
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Open gender expression
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Nostalgia-core (Y2K, 90s, 80s resurgences)
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Athleisure without the athletics
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Sustainability!
