Week 7 - Fashion Influencers

Jinia Lee
ASA141
Week 7

I think that many people believe that teenagers can't really do anything or have any type of impact in society, but as social media continues to get bigger, teenagers are often the ones dominating that sphere. In Kawamura's Japanese Teens as Fashion Producers, they talked about how Japanese teen consumers play an important role in the production of fashion trends. This reminded me of how young influencers are asked by brands to not only sponsor their products, but also take part in creating new trends. For example, I came across the video below the other day and as I was watching, it was crazy to think how much effort goes into serving teens but also profiting from them. The girls are asked to work for a Brandy Melville shop and all they do is look at the clothes, pick outfits, take and post the pictures on their social media, and take them home. In addition, Brandy Melville managers would also take pictures of the teen girls’ outfits of the day to keep as references. This shows how impactful this demographic is, but at the same time, “teens” was created as a marketing tool to sell more. This then makes me question: Who actually benefits? If teens are the ones who are producers of fashion trends but are the consumers, does that mean that designers and brands benefit more or vice versa?