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“You can tell someone’s screen time from their outfit,” says writer and fashion commentator Alexandra Hildreth. It’s a joke between her and fellow commentator Rian Phin, who spot many a six-plus-hour screen time victim wandering around lower Manhattan. “If you walk through Dimes Square, you can tell which TikTokers people follow,” Phin says. “You can tell if they’re on the Ssense sale or the Farfetch sale.”
Ballet flats, yellow Onitsuka Tigers, cherry platform Adidas Gazelles, Sandy Liang bows and (often knock-off) Loewe puffer jackets are all identifiably online fashion. As temperatures dip, biker boots, moto jackets and Toteme-style scarf jackets crowd the streets.
“Ideas are starting to exist in a vacuum,” says Hildreth. She cites the “Demna aesthetic” as another example: more brands are popping up with derivatives of the Balenciaga designer’s approach, heavy on spandex and bulky outerwear.
We see what’s circulating around our own algorithm-defined echo chambers, where the same trends are repeatedly served up in TikTok and Instagram feeds until a feeling of “fomo” finally kicks in. “Everyone gets stuck in this very similar aesthetic rut,” Hildreth says. Cultural critic Charlie Squire, whose work has explored the implications of algorithms on personal style, agrees. “If you’re going to this algorithmically generated place to look for fashion, you aren’t interacting with ideas manifested in images, as fashion has always been,” she says. “You’re interacting with data manifesting as commodities — so you think about yourself in Pinterest terms and SEO keywords.”
As AI has become more sophisticated, and social media more pervasive, we’re feeling the impact of the algorithm more than ever. The pandemic was an asset for both TikTok and e-commerce; a couple of years down the line, it has transformed the way people shop.
More retailers are using algorithmic commerce, which refers to the use of algorithms, machine learning and data analysis to personalise and optimise the shopping experience, determining visibility and search results, Julie Austin, chief digital officer of Wunderman Thompson commerce technology, explains. Algorithms curate feeds to promote what’s selling fast and trending online, while social media shows users the product and brand content that aligns with their behaviours, interests and interactions.
“Creating self-perpetuating trends is an easy road to walk down, even when not intended,” Austin says. “That level of increased visibility can mean those products may sell more than others with less exposure, creating an over-inflated demand. Then this cycle begins again, most likely to a bigger audience this time, maybe with a new colourway.”
Shoppers are growing tired of the sameness. “It’s getting more and more palpably exhausting to see the exact same three or four aesthetics,” Phin says.
That said, users have come to expect some level of curation on both their Instagram feeds and e-commerce pages — which means a level of algorithmic input. But, the consensus is, it’s too much. “We’re reaching a point where it’s too funnelled and too specific,” Hildreth says, while emphasising that algorithms are what makes social media enjoyable (by showing users content of interest). So what’s the ideal middle point?
What came first?
The sameness of many online offerings are both a product and perpetuator of social media trends. “I definitely think social media has flattened aesthetics majorly, but I can’t say for certain who’s the chicken and who’s the egg,” says Laura Reilly, who writes shopping newsletter Magasin. She cites a low-quality literacy on the consumer side and an over-saturation of “middling” brands as mutual contributors.
It’s cyclical, Phin says. “The TikTokers create a video about how to shop a category that’s been created on TikTok. So it’s created on TikTok, then it goes to e-commerce, then they make a shopping video about ‘it girl, this kind of girl, whatever kind of girl’ culture. ‘Gift guide for tomato girl starter pack’, or whatever. It’s all completely connected.”
In retail, a buyer’s goal is to predict trends before they happen. For this, they look not to social media, but to data. “We don’t really think too much about the trend on social media. When we buy, we buy things before they even become a trend, so it’s partly historical data and understanding what our customers like,” says Tiffany Hsu, chief buying officer at Mytheresa.
At Ssense, it’s about balancing current and forthcoming trends, says vice president of womenswear Brigitte Chartrand. “As part of our seasonal strategy, we highlight product categories that we want to focus on based on data that spotlights current trends,” she says. On the flip side, Ssense buyers seek to identify upcoming trends to stay ahead of the game.
Buyers may seek to set trends on their sites, but will hop on micro-trends if spotted on the horizon. “If we do see some micro-trends creeping up, we will invest into it more,” Hsu says. Chartrand adds: “Picking up on trends early on, like we’ve been doing, naturally makes us move faster towards something new.”
Hsu says social media algorithms don’t influence her buying strategy given how frequently they change. “You don’t know who is seeing this or that post — and just because someone likes a picture doesn’t mean it translates into sales.”
Take the pantless trend. After an influx of panties on the SS24 runways (and Instagram feeds), buyers were left to navigate how heavily to invest. “We do have a few very image-oriented knickers in our purchases, but there are few units and are more statement purchases than commercial performance purchases,” Victoria Dartigues, merchandising director of fashion and accessories at La Samaritaine recently told Vogue Business.
Breaking through the noise
Buyers seek to offer differentiation and newness, balanced by what will sell. Part of Ssense’s buying strategy is to feature pieces that would be hard to find elsewhere, Chartrand says, adding that this helps to temper the more trend-focused buys.
To scout out these more unique items, Austin recommends that retailers utilising algorithmic commerce give consumers a degree of control by allowing them to indicate interest areas or different categories they’re keen to explore. “Balancing algorithmic recommendations with discoverability is key,” she says.
But if consumers want to look beyond e-commerce pages of major retailers, where can they go for organic discovery? That in itself is becoming increasingly difficult, thanks to the algorithms — it’s why nobody knows where to shop anymore.
Reilly says you can “tune out” the noise of sameness if you know where to look. Independent retailers — from the Lower East Side’s Café Forgot and Colbo to online-only Apoc Store and Maimoun — offer some internet respite. “I put a lot of credit in the hands of buyers and independent store owners, who do a lot of research of their own to find great, new, exclusive brands to work with that give them an edge over their competitors,” she says.
Hildreth also encourages shoppers not to distrust social media on account of algorithmic recs. If you follow a content creator you like, and they post (unpaid) about a brand they like, and that’s how you discover said brand, that’s organic, she argues. “That’s just what organic means now in 2023 — versus finding items in a storefront on the street.” Finding the ‘right’ content creators is another feat.
Squire recommends stepping away from the phone, or laptop, altogether. “Watch old movies, read a magazine. Instead of looking to individuals [on Instagram], look at things within their context, where they’re formed.”
If you’re in need of inspiration, in a very chicken-or-egg move, writer Erika Veurink posted a TikTok, that wound up on Instagram, with a list of 11 movies to watch when you don’t know what to wear. Because we are in 2023, after all.
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