Microtrends fuel overconsumption and materialism, negatively impact the environment and don’t serve their purpose. I believe they cause more harm than good in society and across many sectors of the economy, targeting the human need to belong, and then exploiting that desire.

Financially, it is short-term gain, long-term pain. A short-lived fad that rapidly gains attention and loses it just as fast.

Speaking to Vogue, Agus Panzoni, trend forecaster, describes microtrends as the ‘need to categorise styles into hyper-niche aesthetics’, which theoretically should help with precisely defining yourself and your style (which you don’t really need to do).

It is a new marketing technique in which social media plays a crucial role. Platforms such as X, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube are where microtrends are born, receive attention, and finally die out.

Although the public ultimately decides which trends are worth following, it is social media and celebrities that have the most influence. Based on what I’ve seen, Gen Z buys into this idea of ‘FOMO’ – the fear of missing out – and trends utilise this to persuade them to purchase.

If beauty influencer Hailey Bieber is seen using a type of highlighter or wearing a new top, it’ll only take a moment before everyone else either has it or wants it. After the 27 year-old advertised her lip gloss by creating ‘Strawberry Girl Summer’, all her products sold out in just three days after being released.

Some may have bought the product because they genuinely like it, some however, could have purchased it simply based on its popularity and human’s herd-mentality. A product can also become even more desired by collaborating with brands to give out promotional codes, increasing sales further.

Events such as Black Friday or back to school sales also play a role in overconsumption and make people buy more things they usually don’t need.

Microtrends, which are beneficial mostly to celebrities and fast-fashion companies, – make them billions every year and tend to last for a few weeks before disappearing within a year. Just one case of this was fisherman sandals, which date back to the Roman Empire but made a comeback the last few years, but now seem to have decreased in popularity again..

In 2023, the apparel market was estimated to be worth $1.73tn.

According to BussinessWaste, people today buy 60% more clothes and fast fashion is responsible for 20% of worldwide wastewater pollution.

A big issue is also who is producing these clothes and if they receive proper compensation for their work. In a 2023 assessment by the Fashion Checker, it was revealed that 93% of the surveyed brands didn’t pay their workers a living wage.

These brands make employees work in often horrible conditions for a pay that is criminally low. This is not only unlawful, unethical and inhumane, but also unnecessary, as too much is produced and not enough is being sold, adding to the problem of discarding surplus and excessive items.

This has a detrimental effect on our environment. Why is that? It’s because they are regularly dumped in a huge disposal site in Chile. Hundreds of thousands of items have been left at the Atacama Desert in the South American country, around 39,000 tons of discarded clothing, pointlessly use the land and pose a threat to animals.

Not only is this impacting the environment, but it’s a huge kick in the teeth for those in need such as foster children, adoption houses, charity shops and children’s hospitals, where the clothes could have ended up instead.

The global popularity and short lifespan of microtrends leads to more people buying clothes or objects they won’t use. This is damaging not only to the environment but people as well.

Microtrends are not subcultures. The latter are less harmful to the environment as they focus more on a specific style rather than patterns ,such as cow print or checkerboards, like microtrends do. Subcultures focus more on the mentality and values hiding behind the aesthetic, whilst microtrends lead to the death of individuality.

Rather than building a timeless closet, consisting of a foundation customisable to fit your style, people often opt for trending items which they purchase, not out of their own preferences, but because everyone else is getting it.

Buying things you like and not what you think you should like allows fashion to be sustainable and not hurt your wallet, while also being true to yourself. We should take note and not fall into this trap.