The Fast-Moving Influence of Social Media Icons

A video is posted onto your favorite social media app with a girl dancing in a silk black midi dress. You are drawn to the comments to see where this dress is from in hopes of buying it for yourself. The creator has added a link to the product, and within seconds, your new dress has already been ordered. With the rise of fast paced social media content, like Tik Tok, consumers are constantly being inspired to change their wardrobes simply because of a thirty-second video clip.

With the unlimited access to different influencers via Tik Tok and Instagram, trends are cycling faster than ever. In some cases, Tik Tok trends can travel so fast that they are out of style before a new piece to replicate that trend can even be delivered to your home. Who are these people we find inspiration from and how can they cause a trend to go viral within days?

Easily enough, today a huge source of inspiration comes from fashion influencer Matilda Djerf. On Instagram and Tik Tok, Matilda has a sizable following and is well-known for her big blazers and layered, voluminous hairstyle. Though she does not post very often, her videos lead people to emulate her style and shop at her online store Djerf Avenue. The website offers apparel modeled after her appearance and has, in general, produced the simplest method for visitors to acquire her coveted aesthetic. Having a one-stop shop that can give fans an entire Matilda Djerf-inspired aesthetic proves to be an amazing way for influencers to make money. While most will do collabs and partnerships, Matilda is one step ahead by making her own line of clothing.

Another well-known influencer that has had a huge effect on fashion is Emma Chamberlain. Emma started off as a YouTuber and gained a following through her funny lifestyle videos. From there Emma started to pursue other projects such as modeling and quickly became a source of fashion inspiration in the process. She is known for popularizing more casual items such as teddy jackets and yoga pants. She was one of the first influencers to attend the Met Gala, but as her own style developed, she started to inspire high fashion ensembles as well. Although at first Emma's approach in being an influencer was vastly different from Matilda's, both women are now immensely successful entrepreneurs in their own way. Our generation's fashion is largely shaped by influencers like Djerf and Chamberlain

While there are thousands of other influencers who have influenced this generation's fashion choices, the start of a trend is not always original. Many influencers will be influenced by each other, and a single trend can start to branch into a whole new aesthetic very quickly. Jadyn Hailey, creator of the Busy, Yet Pretty podcast, is one of the most popular influencers with the “pink Pilates princess” aesthetic. Although she is a source of inspiration for many trying to achieve the aesthetic, this comes from years of influencers who previously popularized yoga pants, Lululemon, and other key elements of this aesthetic. When multiple different influencers add their own twist to the trend, many different branches and sub genres and aesthetics emerge making this fashion more personal to the viewers. This just shows how the social media community works together to make each aesthetic or trend their own.

Influencers are an excellent way to distribute knowledge about the newest trends around the nation, as it typically begins in larger cities before spreading elsewhere. As everyone's individual style can be shared and used for information, giving our generations a platform to share their clothing has changed the fashion game entirely. We will keep seeing new aesthetic and fashion trends as influencers come and go, and they will only get better over time as more individuals find new ways to express themselves.