Gorp-core, coquette-core, office-core, and even core-core; mainly fostered on social media, “core” is the suffix we attach to words that describe the niche aesthetics, trends or movements blowing up online. In the past, the cycle of cores produced on socials has appeared to be rapid, with new ones dropping every other week; however, we’re starting to feel like the popularity of cores is dying down. Leave to high fashion brands to only just start clocking cores now, though.
Within fashion, there are plenty of theories for how trends take off, one of the most widely followed being the “trickle-down” theory founded by Thorstein Veblen. This theory ascertains that trends tend to start at the top of the social ladder, led by wealthy, high fashion buyers, and trickle down until it’s finally adopted by a mass audience, where it becomes a high-street trend.
However, the impact of cores created on TikTok by everyday people rather than the wealthy or established high fashion brands is evidence for a different theory for how trends work; it’s called the “trickle-up” theory. Coined by Paul Blumberg, the “trickle-up” theory explains what happens when trends appear to trickle upwards, from the bottom to the top, and it’s kind of what’s happening with cores.
Whilst it feels like the generation of new cores on social media is taking a break at the moment, with people actually moving away from following them so religiously, many high fashion brands are only just jumping on the trends that have been popular online for a while. Arguably, Miu Miu is one high fashion brand that’s adopted a viral online core as part of its aesthetic in recent years, following the corp-core style of mesh shirts, tiny specs, and leather loafers to a tee.
The same brands that used to shape the fashion industry are now looking to the general public for the upcoming trends that are about to blow up, or in many instances already have blown up. We’re still seeing certain brands following their own aesthetic, like the likes of Rick Owens and Sandy Liang which have always stuck in their own distinct lanes; however, many other fashion Houses have arguably become hooked on the popularity of cores.
On one hand, the entire concept of cores is problematic, due to the fact that their rapid, repetitive cycle encourages overconsumption and can be exclusionary to those that can’t afford to keep up with each trend. When we’re constantly jumping from one thing to the next, it’s expensive, exhausting, and unsustainable to keep up.
However, one of the biggest strengths of the core-ification of fashion is that it shows that high fashion brands can be influenced by the consumer, rather than it always being the other way around. We have the power to set the trends we want to see in fashion, so think carefully about what core you’re about to start following next.
Featured image via Vetements©
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