The Clean Girl Aesthetic – Why College Students Are Clinging to Trends for Their Lives | Life and art

You walk down Main Street. You look up and see someone in a cute outfit – a black one-piece bodysuit, a pair of Hoka sneakers, gold hoop earrings, and AirPod Maxes. Maybe they’re wearing a colorful sweatshirt. Then when you pan to your left, the person walking next to you is wearing virtually the same thing, right down to the same brand of sweatshirt. Your friend who you go for a walk with? Yes, they are also wearing the same outfit but they paired it with OnCloud sneakers.

Why does everyone wear the same thing?

The trend cycle, i.e. the pace and phases in which fashion trends circulate through society, has accelerated rapidly in recent years. What was once known as the 20-year cycle has rapidly accelerated, and trends from the mid-2010s are already making their way back into people’s wardrobes.

Zachary Hoh, associate professor of the UC Fashion Design Program and the program’s coordinator, has noticed the emergence of trends among his students, saying that these are “groups of students who don’t typically favor the same styles of clothing expression.”

Hoh blames the companies involved in this quarter’s hottest trend.

“I think we’re seeing innovation in fashion supporting the push to market in increasingly shorter time frames,” Hoh said.

When you look at the leading brands in the clean girl movement, the rapid marketing is working to their advantage. Shares of Decker’s Outdoors, Hoka’s parent company, are up 95% this year, and Aritzias, a leading store for all things Clean Girl, is expected to grow 10% in the next nine months.

College-aged students are particularly vulnerable to microtrends. Both the trend cycle and social media usage have increased over the last 10 years, making the first generation to be affected most likely.

“Social media certainly has a big impact. I assume this is responsible for the rapid spread of most trends,” Hoh said.

That’s a problem. Not only is it wasteful for people to throw away clothes they recently purchased to keep up with trends, but it also prevents them from being creative with what they wear.

“Personal style is far more important than trends and provides an opportunity to express yourself,” Hoh said.

But is this coming to an end? In 2023, everyone wore the same 5 shirts and pants from the same 3 brands. This year it was considered coolest to have a personal style. From making your own accessories to “Jane Birken-ing” purses (adding personalized details to something that used to be less personal), the coolest thing right now seems to just be unique and you.

Students don’t have to admit defeat when it comes to their personal style. Many members of Generation Z have taken to becoming resourceful.

“Many of our students purchase second-hand and vintage items – this creates a unique wardrobe with varied styles,” Hoh said.

Being unique can be a trend in itself. Leading fashion retailers are capitalizing on Generation Z’s creative endeavors, such as Anthropologie, which sells bag charms, and Chloe, which is announcing an entire fashion collection with clothes that appear to be homemade but appear to have been made at home when sold.

“You could look at thrift, vintage and second-hand shopping as a trend in itself,” Hoh said.

We as a society may find ourselves on a constant trend hamster wheel that we cannot escape.