Fashion has long been used as a crucial component when it comes to curating one’s personal brand. The clothes we wear can both empower and evoke confidence within us while also simultaneously signifying to wider society the way in which we want to be perceived.Whether we like it or not the garments we wear place us as active participants and consumers within the fashion industry. As Miranda Priestly famously said in The Devil Wears Prada: “it’s sort of comical how you think that you’ve made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you’re wearing a sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room… from a pile of stuff”. The clothes you chose to wear daily are key when it comes to self expression and advertising your personal brand – it’s important to remember that none of us are exempt from this, especially in an era where so many aspects of our daily lives have become open to commodification, including our clothing.
Traditionally fashion trends tended to be cyclical in nature, lasting around a decade with each era’s distinct aesthetics being predominantly propagated by A listers. Think of Twiggy from the 60s, Madonna from the 80s and Paris Hilton from the 00s. The desire to emulate and adopt outfits worn by popular personalities is by no means a new phenomenon, however, the digital age has completely transformed how we interact with popular fashion trends. The advent of social media has aided in accelerating the pace at which the fashion cycle operates. What has emerged is a culture where celebrities, influencers and ordinary people alike are all now expected to reinvent themselves at quite literally the drop of a hat in order to retain relevance. In order to keep up with what is avant-garde, people have taken to undergoing relentless rebranding of their wardrobe. Often however, by the time the pieces one has ordered online to participate in a certain trendy rebrand arrive, they are already outdated. But how exactly did we get here and who is benefiting (certainly not our wallets that’s for sure)? What has caused this craving to constantly reinvent ourselves?
As usual, the culprit seems to be the online sphere. Upon opening digital platforms users are swiftly bombarded with haul after haul and video after video of ‘micro influencers’ explicitly detailing how to emulate whatever new hyper niche aesthetic is trending. What makes said ‘micro influencers’ unique when it comes to marketing trends and rebranding, is social media’s ability to present them as peers. Acquiring the clothes they wear seems achievable in comparison to traditional mainstream celebrities. Adopting facets of their personal brand is within arms reach due to their reliability factor. In essence both their lifestyles and stylistic choices appear attainable, resulting in users gravitating towards them.The problem arises however when you consider how quickly we are churning through these internet personalities and how the popularity of each new influencer seems to consistently coincide with the dawn of a new hyper niche rebrand. In part, why we have seen such a huge upsurgence in rebrand culture is due to the seemingly perpetual pool of inspiration to draw from. Humans’ inherent desire to remain liked and relevant in the eyes of our peers means many will buy into this cyclical loop of rebranding. The sad truth is that whatever rebrand one chooses to undergo will usually dominate online platforms for a week or so before promptly being tossed aside for the next topical trend.
“The desire to emulate and adopt outfits worn by popular personalities is by no means a new phenomenon, however, the digital age has completely transformed how we interact with popular fashion trends.”
We have entered an age where both clothing, rebranding and those propagating stylitics reinventions have become disposable. Think of how Matilda Djerf known for her minimalist dress sense, Sofia Richie associated with the elegant old money aesthetic and Hailey Bebier synonymous with the clean girl look have slowly lost relevance with the revival of 2014 indie sleaze and rise of the ‘Kesha party girl’. Adidas gazelles, Zara’s basic jeans and slicked back buns have been swapped out for chunky combat boots, ripped tights and slept-in unbrushed hair in order to truly emanate that effortless messy look which dominated the 2010s. Think Effy Stonem from Skins, tumblr icon Sky Ferreira or Kate Moss’ iconic 00s Glastonbury outfits.
The most prolific offenders of rebranding are in my opinion the Kardashian-Jenner clan. Their endless attempts to establish and popularise new clothing lines, business ventures or, if we want to be cynical, body type, in order to cling onto relevance is clear to anyone paying attention. We can see this through Kylie Jenner’s clothing line Khy which despite launching in November 2023 has failed to make any major waves. The collection’s heavy focus on faux leather, over priced loungewear and neutral colour palette is far from revolutionary thus making the overall collection appear as a shallow cash grab. Jenner has not reinvented herself but is merely reselling her brand to the public at an overpriced rate. Such was the case with her old fashion brand Kylie Swim. The price of the pieces becomes even more outrageous when one considers the poor quality of the garments – one is simply paying luxury prices for fast fashion pieces. The extortionate price point becomes obsolete in the minds of consumers when they are being promised that the garments they purchase will garner them a new stylistic identity mirroring that of a celebrity such as Kylie Jenner. This leads us onto the next point in our investigation into society’s fascination with fashion rebrands.
“Think of how Matilda Djerf known for her minimalist dress sense, Sofia Richie associated with the elegant old money aesthetic and Hailey Bebier synonymous with the clean girl look have slowly lost relevance with the revival of 2014 indie sleaze and rise of the ‘Kesha party girl’”
The prevalence of these transitory trend based rebrands hinders one’s ability to develop their own personal style. When being bombarded and over-exposed to so many different ideas of how you should dress it can become increasingly difficult to carve out our own unique look. The dominance of stylistic rebrands in popular culture also suggests a darker truth which is a lack of self identity felt within younger generations. It seems personal style is slowly being eroded away. As we would expect under late stage capitalism, the emphasis on constant rebranding encourages excessive consumerism. This is further perpetuated by influencers, who, in order to keep up with the latest microtrend, will direct you to their affiliate links and storefronts, making themselves complicit in the 92 million tons of waste produced annually by the fashion industry. It seems the notion of investing in a capsule wardrobe has been lost on a generation who grew up with fast fashion, real time retail, and received endless encouragement to purchase.
Without a doubt society has become infatuated with personal rebranding. The very nature of the digital sphere doesn’t help, encouraging both colossal overconsumption of both content and clothes. Keeping up to date with these incessant reinventions is overwhelming, daunting and ultimately unattainable but it seems as long as social media continues to dictate the fashion word, relentless rebranding is here to stay.
WORDS: Aoibhínn Clancy
