TikTok has given the fashion marketplace a total makeover by shifting to digital runways and citizen models through the rise of TikTok influencers.
Norwich University of Arts (NUA) Fashion Communication and Promotion student Erin Flock said during a time like the COVID-19 lockdowns, the TikTok fashion movement was bound to happen.
“Everyone’s following that platform,” Ms Flock said.
“So why wouldn’t a brand use that to engage with their consumers?”
“I think fashion is always one step ahead, so we are in the fourth industrial revolution in terms of digital and definitely commerce.”
A 2019 study found fashion consumers are seeking an emotional connection with the clothes they purchase and brands need to develop new online strategies to meet this demand.
“In terms of fashion marketing, it’s aimed less at the clothes and more about what the message of the brand is portraying,” Ms Flock said.
She added that TikTok fashion videos serve as an efficient marketing tool in the fashion industry.
“You’re not going to waste any time. YouTube is like a 20-minute video now, they’re more like episodes and people haven’t got the time to sit to watch two or three of them, but with TikTok, they can flick through and just get the message straight away.”
An average TikTok fashion video can optimise aspects of fashion films in just 15 seconds.
This coincides closely with a recent study by Microsoft, which reported the human attention span is approximately 8 seconds.
Priya Suppiah, a 17-year-old avid TikTok fashion user in Malaysia, said the multiple angles used in the videos serve as the best kind of advertising.
“It gives you a real idea on whether the product is one-use only,” she said.
“[TikToks show you] if you have nothing to wear it with, if it looks really bad on you or whether it is actually really nice and can go with anything.”
Ms Flock also said it is important to showcase how a garment moves and fits, something that is hard to determine from an image in a magazine.
“TikTok portrays fashion in movement which is something that all designers want,” she said.
“Fashion was never meant to be 2D.
TikTok’s transition tool and other features, such as the ability to add music and text, allow users to stitch various elements into their videos.
Sydney-based TikTok Fashion influencer Tara Chandra said the app has allowed her to be more creative in how she presents her outfits and looks.
“We can work with different trending transitions, audios, songs and videos,” Ms Chandra said.
“We can turn something everyone’s using into our own.”
Despite a wide selection of options to choose from, to TikTok fashion consumers like Ms Suppiah, the music choice used in the videos matters a lot.
“Especially for fashion videos,” Ms Suppiah said.
“If someone doesn’t like the music you’re playing, they don’t want to sit through the whole video, especially if they’re going to watch it multiple times to try to recreate the outfits.”
As 60% of TikTok’s general demographic is made up of people who are aged16 to 24, Ms Chandra said most of her followers are 18 to 24 years of age.
A 2020 study revealed when the right music is paired with the proper fashion style, adolescents are prone to strongly resonate with the clothes presented to them.
“The younger generations are more like sponges,” Ms Flock said.
“They’ll see it, want it and buy it.”
Ms Flock said roles have reversed in the fashion industry and it is now common for TikTok influencers to create trends that then filter up into high-end fashion and catwalk shows.
“The trend of being an individual, being your own person, doing your own thing...that is huge at the moment," she said.