In a recent Guardian article, journalist Jess Cartner-Morley details the societal and cultural shift we’ve experienced over the last 12 months in moving away from cold hard facts and embracing more of a “vibes-based” approach. It’s a transition that can also be traced across the fashion sphere, seen in the many “cores” that have emerged on social media – from mob wife and quiet luxury to gorpcore – which some see as a supercharging of the trend cycle, while others regard as an opportunity to be less prescriptive, and more interpretive, in our approach to fashion. “A vibe has a mystique that a trend does not, because it is more than just visual,” Cartner-Morley explains.
I would say that my attitude to TikTok’s many viral aesthetics aligns more with the latter approach – after all, you could argue that these new-gen “vibe” videos are merely a digitised version of old-school scrapbooks and mood boards. So it’s with this mindset that I’ve approached…
