How TikTok has changed the fashion game

Image Source: Mateus Campos on Unsplash

Regardless if you have a TikTok account or not, there’s no question we are all familiar with the app. Millions of users have taken the opportunity to create minute long videos of funny content, life hacks, shopping hauls, styling advice or dancing numbers, all to have the potential chance to go viral and gain a following. TikTok has completely taken the world by storm, with around 689 million active users worldwide.

However, the social media platform is not just beneficial for personal use. It has been a revolutionary tool for branding and marketing for multiple industries. A huge industry that TikTok has disrupted is the fashion industry. Well known fashion influencers such as Caroline Vazzana, Jessica Wanf and Fashion Fundamentals very own Audree Kate has used TikTok as a platform to give styling tips, BTS of fun photoshoots and advice of working in fashion in the city. 

Basically, TikTok is a great platform for users, brands and influencers to reach out to a broader audience and provide fun content in a more personal fashion. With that being said, here are more ways that TikTok has changed the fashion game.

Live Streamed Shows

TikTok clearly saw an opportunity once Fashion Week went digital, because brands began to live stream their shows through the platform. Brands like Saint Laurent, Dior and Louis Vuitton are just a few examples of well known household names that held a virtual fashion show experience on the app. The approach has been beneficial for both ends. For TikTok, it has increased millions of users. For the high end brands, it has gained the attention and following of the younger generations, especially Gen Z. Gen Z is the most technologically immersed generation so far, so for fashion brands to partner with the app Gen Z already uses provides a way for the industry to connect and relate with the generation.

Behind the scenes of fashion events

On platforms like Instagram, the pictures and videos that the viewer sees is after hours of editing and hundreds of pictures taken. It’s a few perfect shots chosen from tons of frames. While Instagram is great, most of the posts on the feed are all the best version of ourselves. TikTok has taken the opposite approach. The minute long videos have provided a more personal touch, with viewers having the chance to see what the actual lives of their favorite designers and influencers look like. “A Day in the Life” style videos have been extremely popular on TikTok. Brands have also posted behind the scenes footage of creative photo shoots or have designers post footage on creating a collection. All in all, TikTok has provided a great way for users to see the actual work that people in the fashion industry face. 

Brands Going Viral

TikTok may have started out as something fun and creative, but the business industry has now entered the chat. Thanks to TikTok, there are tons of sustainable brands and small businesses that have started to boom. Sustainability within itself had become a trend before TikTok entered the scene, and now it has expanded even wider. If you look up #upcyling or #sustainablefashion, you will find millions of videos providing authentic sustainable brands to shop and fun DIY fashion projects to do. There has also been an increase in individuals showing their work and users asking for custom orders. All in all, because of TikTok we get the chance to meet talented designers and smaller brands that have a lot to offer and now have the perfect platform to properly promote their products.

TikTok Fashion Month

That’s right, TikTok has their very own fashion month. And it’s been a game changer for millions of people. It has completely disrupted the trend cycle and trends that are all over social media right now wouldn’t even be possible without TikTok. Think of Y2K, 90’s outfits, cottagecore and royalcore. You can thank TikTok for the revival of those trends. Different brands have also taken advantage of TikTok’s fashion takeover. World renowned British luxury brand, Burberry, issued the TB monogram challenge where users had to recreate the TB monogram symbol using their hands. The challenge went viral where Burberry gained a stronger digital presence and millions of new followers. Since TikTok Fashion Month overlaps with Fashion Week, TikTok influencers were the new YouTube influencers at the fashion shows. Charlie D’Amelio was invited to sit front row for Prada at Milan Fashion Week and Noe Eubanks became the face of Celine’s fashion campaigns. As the relationship between TikTok and fashion continues to grow, I’m sure that there will be more TikTok influencers to grace the front row seats or be the face of major campaigns for more designers in the future. 

Janelle Sessoms

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