TikTok Trends: Fashion and Influence

By Jaquan Caine & Tiara Starks

A glance at how TikTok is influencing its users to buy what's hot

Most of us can admit having fallen victim to the addiction that is TikTok. The app’s minute long videos, and constantly changing trends, keep the viewers scrolling for more. Millions of users from all over the world are exposed to its trends.

Among the many influential movements of TikTok stems the wave of fashion trends that people flock to buy. Fashion is one of the top categories on the app with over 84.8 billion hashtags. The impact of influencers promoting fashion trends or brands has been around since the early 90s. Followers of influencers are drawn in by the idea of feeling like one is a part of their world or buying into that lifestyle.

In modern day, TikTok influencers have given the fashion advertising industry a run for their money, literally. Over the past few years, young social media personalities such as Emma Chamberlain, Charli D’Amelio, her sister Dixie, Addison Rae, and countless others have not only been a source of entertainment for TikTok viewers, but also as inspirations for the latest trends in fashion and lifestyle.

The largest trend to date on TikTok has been Y2K style. Crop tops, baguette bags, baggy pants and pastel jackets have created a new wave of trends all over the app. Y2K fashion even has its own hashtag with millions of posts related to it. These trends have a tremendous effect on designer brands. According to the Editor in Chief of Vogue Anna Wintour, fashion has more of a trickle up effect rather than a trickle down effect in modern fashion. This Y2K street style has maneuvered it’s way into the major fashion brands as designers take inspiration from the popular street style.

Not only that, but the slow but steady reemergence of Y2K style can be traced back to a few Tik Tok videos that gained massive traction. For example, Rae’s Instagram feed is filled with photos of her emulating the photographic style of various early 2000s cover shots. Fans flood the comment section with praises such as “Gorgeous”, “THE HOTTEST TO EVER EXIST”, and “OMG” while others quip in with comparisons to other stars like “Dua Lipa on a budget”. This can also illustrate that the current fashion industry is not only consumed by social media stars but also traditional celebrities like singers and actors.

TikTok has been a hub for style inspiration, allowing users to have easy access to the latest fashion trends. The short videos are great for quick tips and tricks on how to style yourself for events or just daily fits. Younger generations are gravitating towards the internet to find out what’s the next best thing to wear. No longer is the public subject to staring at the cover of Vogue on a magazine stand in the middle of the street to find out what’s cool to wear. You can now have a large array of options right at your fingertips.

TikTok has forever changed the world that we know today. From simple how-to videos to being a place of joy and laughter, TikTok has not failed to always be of interest. I find myself asking people all the time if “They have seen a certain TikTok”, as that is the norm of today’s generation. TikTok has become a platform for people to express their opinions, ideas and creativity. My greatest wish is for the app not to suffer the same fate of the late great Vine.