Remember when “trendy” meant something? When you’d spend a whole season saving for that one bag, that one silhouette, that one pair of shoes everyone wanted? Well, Gen Z doesn’t. The generation raised on scrolls and screens has turned the trend cycle into a treadmill, one that’s sprinting faster than anyone can keep up with.
One day it’s quiet luxury, the next it’s mob wife energy. Between “Tomato Girl summer” and “Clean Girl autumn,” even the most dedicated fashion followers are out of breath. It’s not that Gen Z doesn’t care about style, it’s that they care too much, too fast. Their wardrobes are time capsules of fleeting micro-moods: balletcore, blokette, coastal cowgirl, all past lives before the algorithm even moved on.
Social media is the new runway, and the front row? Your “For You” page. A single influencer outfit can spark a thousand Shein dupes before the original brand drops its next campaign. Trends don’t trickle down anymore, they explode, pixel by pixel. The shelf life of “what’s in” has shrunk from months to mere scrolls.
But maybe just maybe that’s the point. For Gen Z, style isn’t about ownership, it’s about participation. It’s not “what are you wearing?” but “what aesthetic are you in today?” Dressing up is an identity experiment and once it’s done, it’s deleted like an old story highlight.
Still, a quiet rebellion is brewing. Vintage edits, outfit repeats, and the rise of the “de-influencer” hint that even Gen Z might be craving a pause. Maybe they’re realizing the most radical statement isn’t the next viral look, it’s wearing something again. In a world addicted to refresh, longevity might just be the new trend.
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