With fashion being on the rise on different platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Pinterest, people can guess that money has been the biggest factor when it comes to purchasing clothing. As of February 2026, 161.7 billion dollars have been spent on fast fashion brands from its consumers, according to The Sustainable Agency Blog. Fashion enthusiasts Jacob McGinn, Brennan Agee, and Ella Killian are all connected to fast fashion, but are all unique and different in their own ways, somehow, someway.
Freshman Jacob McGinn shares his process from trying to evolve his “fast fashion” wardrobe into a more unique style.
“I find most of my inspiration from apps like Pinterest and Instagram. I would consider myself a fast fashion consumer because I started getting more involved in fashion [around summer 2025],” said McGinn. “I am currently trying to evolve into a different type of style because I feel there [are] a lot of trends and everybody wears a lot of the same things, I just want to be different from everyone else.”
This is a pretty common goal amongst fashionistas: “I’d say TikTok somewhat has had an impact on fashion, but Depop has more of a diverse section,” McGinn said. “When I’m buying clothes, I just look for what’s currently most popular.”
This is a pretty common goal for someone who just “started” trying to get into fashion. “I’m also trying to lean towards more timeless pieces since I feel like not as many people go for that type of stuff. I just want to be more unique than most people,” McGinn said.
Sophomore Brennan Agee takes a different approach while seeing himself in the future as a consumer of these “fast fashion brands.”
“I like a lot of the bigger brands like Hollister and other main brands, but I would for sure consider myself a fast fashion consumer or a ‘Hollister warrior’, that’s the main one I know,” said Agee. “I think fast fashion has had a pretty negative impact with all the things like pollution and the loss of creativity with everyone dressing pretty identically.” A main source where I find inspiration is TikTok, which tends to be a more popular site to find inspiration amongst the student body.
Freshman fashionista Ella Killian walks us through her wardrobe and clothes-buying process.
“Bigger brands like Hollister and H&M, I think a lot of people buy from there, but I think the way they sell could be better,” Killian said. “Fast fashion hasn’t affected me in bad ways, but I do think it affects a lot of other people.”
Killian has noticed changes all around her with all the different brands like Hollister and PacSun that have been exploding the clothes market. “Over the years. I have noticed more people buying those brands, and it’s made everyone dress the same.”
Something unique to Killian is her Onitsuka Tigers, which is a Japanese shoe brand that has quietly exploded on apps like TikTok and Instagram. “Something unique to me in my wardrobe has to be my [Onitsuka] Tigers.”
For Killian, her buying process must meet her requirements, which is typically the invisible rule for everyone. Her requirements consist of what would go well with her style and if it’s really worth it, since the material might not be the best for the money.
Overall, despite the ups and downs that have been in the fashion community, there has rarely been a lack of creativity with all the consistent ideas flowing in, and all the inspiration given from one to another to keep the fashion craze alive and ready to be passed to the next person wanting to evolve their style.
