The Macro-Impact of MICRO-TRENDS

Written by Hannah Ryan

Fashion trends have been a staple in society for centuries, and continue to evolve today. These trends tell us a story about the quality of life in a certain time period. For example, during the 1920s fashion became more casual; men started to forgo suits and lean towards sportswear, this is due to the rise in sports during the time. With our unlimited access to the internet, more and more trends are starting to resurface. Younger generations are re-introducing fashion trends and broadcasting them through social platforms. Due to the globalization of social media, fashion trend cycles are starting to have shorter lifespans; they are known as micro-trends. The traditional life cycle of a trend is twenty years, however micro-trends tend to last for three to five years. Experts have noticed an uptick in the number of trends in mainstream popularity; this in turn has caused larger retailers to turn to a cheaper production model, which has caused a lot of harm to our environment.

A trend cycle begins with the introduction of a new trend, when the concept or design is in limited supply, and usually comes with a large price tag. The second stage is known as the acceptance stage; this is when we start to see more people start to take part in the trend, such as influencers and models. Designers use social platforms as a tool to share their ideas and trends to become widely spread. In this stage, retailers begin to pick up on the new trend and implement them to become more affordable for workingclass people. As the trend becomes more saturated in popular culture, it is safe to say the once new idea has peaked. More affordable retailers start to replicate the original idea, massproduce it, and sell it for a lower cost; this expedites the process of bringing trends into everyday life. The next stage in the trend cycle is the inevitable decline, when a certain trend becomes oversaturated in popular culture. People are already taking part in newer trends and have abandoned the ones that recently had the spotlight. This pushes the trend in decline into the next stage: obsolescence, when the trend slips out of relevance.

How did the micro-trend become mainstream? Before society became social media addled, we turned to models, movies, and celebrities who were the tastemakers of fashion trends. For example, Paris Hilton is the queen of the 2000s; who is credited with trends involving millennial pink, trucker hats, and lowwaisted pants. This group of influencers was relatively small compared to what we are used to today.ociety was provided with a small, curated selection of images. This hindered people from becoming aware of other trends, allowing them to last longer. With the introduction of social media in the early 2010s, society was provided with mass communication and burdened with being mass-influenced. We had access to a larger group of influencers, some often being your own peers, who started wearing new styles you had never seen before. In order to gain consistent viewership and provide new content, social influencers often turned to affordable retailers. Not only are these brands affordable to most people, but they were able to provide the hottest new styles and trends. Companies like Shein produce cheaply made garments for outrageously low prices; this, in turn, caused people to buy mass amounts of clothes to show off in haul videos. This was accessible to a large audience of people, and more people started partaking in large hauls. The sad truth about this is that a lot of these clothing items were worn once, and discarded. Micro-trends are the cause of overconsumption in fashion culture.

In order to mass-produce garments to accommodate the ever changing micro-trends, retailers make pieces out of cheap materials and pay their workers a low salary. These retailers hire large teams of fashion designers that churn out 10,000 new pieces each year, whereas sustainable designers create around 50-100 pieces per year. Most fast fashion manufacturing facilities are located in countries like China, Bangladesh, and India, where the minimum wage represents half to a fifth of the living wage; this is not enough money for employees to provide for their families. Not to mention the fact that most workers are forced to work 14-16 hours a day, seven days a week. During peak season, workers are forced to work overtime and sometimes aren’t paid for it.

Fast fashion has its ethical issues, but it is known for making a large contribution to environmental harm. With a generation of people overconsuming the fashion market, the industry continues to grow. Fast fashion has made a significant impact on water use, chemical pollution, CO² emissions, and textile waste. Because of micro-trends, there has been an increase in clothes being discarded. In 2019, 208 million pounds of waste were created by single-use outfits. Because these garments are cheaply made, they tend to last for a few washes before shrinking or fraying; consumers have no choice but to throw them away. To reverse the damage created by micro-trends, we must turn to sustainable forms of fashion consumption.

Have a lot of old jeans lying around? Cut them into squares to make a denim quilt.