From Mob Wife to MAGA Woman: TikTok Trends Are Losing Steam
Whatever TikTok’s fate in the US, its fashion fads have waned. What has replaced them is much more difficult for brands to navigate.
Losing steam?
Photographer: NurPhoto/NurPhotoAs the latest deadline for TikTok to be sold or banned in the US approaches, we’ll find out next month whether the app will continue to be a fixture on American phones or not.
A decline in fashion fads conceived by TikTok creators, (think “cowboy core,” “office siren,” and “coastal grandma”) means consumers and retailers won’t be as affected as they would have been a year or so ago, when such viral “aesthetics” peaked on the video-sharing platform. But brands have their work cut out in responding to what’s taken over since: lifestyle trends amplifying political, social and economic influences. After all, it’s much harder to monetize “recession core,” the “MAGA woman” look and “underconsumption.”