TIKTOK’S FASHION POTENTIAL

Words: Daniël Geldenhuys | Images: Getty

TikTok added 500 million users to its current total of 1.5 billion this year. It’s the most notable rise of a social media platform since Snapchat, but there’s absolutely no reason to feel embarrassed if you're not sure what it is or how it works. You might even have downloaded the app, created an account, felt confused and left. Because TikTok has thrown out the Facebook/Twitter/Instagram rulebook in the way its built and functions, it takes a little extra time to settle into it. It also means the platform has unmatched potential for content creators.

TikTok was birthed in China as an app called Musical.ly that allowed users to post videos of themselves lip-synching songs. It’s essentially still that, but with an extensive suite of tools to help you build a meme-vibe video in minutes. The tone is light-hearted, honest and playfully self-aware. Gen Z dominates the platform. “Can I just say that I’ve been on TikTok for two days and I already feel like that creepy oom on Mxit,” says South African comedian Schalk Bezuidenhout.

The app has been described as the Wild West of social media for a reason. When you open TikTok, you land on a page called For You, which shows content from people you don’t follow, based on an algorithm that prioritises the type of content you’re interested in over the people who produce it. Ads are few and far between and the majority of content is made on the app for the app (as opposed to being shot elsewhere and then uploaded). Branded content is rare. When you do find it, it feels far more authentic than an Instagram product post created by a marketing department. Case in point is the MAC #YouOwnIt challenge, which encourages users to show off their beauty glow ups. The hashtag has over 2 billion posts.

The endless feed of sweatpants, tees and hoodies is evidence that there’s plenty of space for fashion lovers to build a community on TikTok. Perhaps the most refreshing aspect of the platform is that the content doesn’t feel competitive in the way it does on others. There’s hardly any element of “look at my perfect life and then feel bad about yours”. This primes the platform to accommodate a more relatable fashion influencer – one who doesn’t aim to influence. A pedantically curated feed of designer clothes won’t work; relatable and fun content that shares styling tips and promotes body positivity definitely will.

If you think of TikTok as a developing revision of social media conventions, it’s perfectly timed with fashion’s revision of everything from sustainability practices to modes of presentation and vehicles of representation. We’re not yet at the point where we can say for sure how TikTok will alter social media overall, but it’s uplifting democratic values bode well for the future. How it will affect the fashion world depends entirely on users. Thanks to that key aspect of inclusivity, it’s a chapter of our tech history that you and your personal style can be a part of – on your own terms.