The Weekly Roundup (week of 9.25)
a couple of good mediations on the art of personal style, and the pitfalls of online shopping.
1. Don't get trapped in a "State of Shopping"
Great article yet again from BBSP. This is an observant piece about those who enter a “state of shopping”. As fashion becomes more and more mainstream, we tend to encounter fewer people with an elevated sense of personal style and pure swag. A lot of people entering the market and participating in the luxury/streetwear world without a developed palate and eye for styling are the ones who enter this “state of shopping,” more easily than seasoned jawn-appreciators. Someone trapped in a “state of shopping”, mostly purchases pieces for the monkey-brained reason of capturing a fleeting feeling of instant gratification.
If you look like you relate to clothes primarily as a consumer — as a walking credit-card-information auto-fill, that is, as opposed to, e.g., an appreciator, self-expresser and exquisitely fitted life-liver — then what you’re broadcasting about yourself is not that you have taste, or a cool eye, or a sly sense of humor, or a meaningful connection to a piece, or a smolderingly hot aura, or anything else interesting. No!! What you are expressing, instead, is the boring non-message, “I bought new clothes.”
2. How Instagram Ruined Personal Style
Similar themes across the BBSP article and this one from Chris Black/GQ, however, I included this one because Chris specifically talks about what led us to this particularly stale environment of personal style amongst mainstream consumers. It’s more of a diagnosis and identification of the problem rather than a prescriptive solution. Read here.
3. The Thing About Trend Forecasting
This was a great summary of the state of trend forecasting and how the actual business/distribution of trend forecasting has changed over the years. This summary makes astute observations about the rise of the influencer/trend forecaster/content creator class who have dramatically risen in numbers with TikTok and Substack. The report also goes into detail about the way consuming and participating in trends has changed during the age of social media.
When the pandemic struck, K-Hole’s thesis around Normcore reached the masses as streetwear became oversaturated and we were all in premium sweatpants talking about it online. It’s impact made trend forecasting history with the christening of other -core’s, particularly Cottagecore. K-Hole brought trend forecasting and the naming of trends to the forefront of fashion and consumers couldn’t get enough. The mass amalgamation of these -cores created a new category of micro-trends, which spearheaded a new era of fashion bingeing* on social media.
The competitive nature of social media has created a time-sensitive ‘name game’ of trends. Thanks to K-Hole and trend forecasters such as Mandy Lee on Tiktok, suffixes such as -core, -sleaze and -chic are used to officially title new trends or hybridise existing trends into a (sometimes faux) newness.
4. Interview with Sean Monohan
This is like a week old now but truly a must-listen if you work in marketing. Also if you haven’t heard of Sean Monohan, you’re fucking up! He’s the most prescient, all-knowing trend forecaster + futurist in the game. Check it out.