Fashion Is No Longer About the Moment, It’s About the Algorithm

Kyle Raymond Fitzpatrick of the Trend Report Talks Social Media, Fashion and the Digital Landscape We Live In

Kyle Raymond Fitzpatrick’s The Trend Report is one of those gems Substack has to offer-and a reading obsession of mine since day one on the platform. Kyle has experience writing for media outlets such as Playboy, PBS, Popsugar, and more, and even founded the art and culture website Los Angeles, I’m Yours.

His supertalent though, is tracking cultural trends and discerning the complex relationship between fashion, social media, and modern consumerism. In today’s chat especially for our Anti Trend Report, with insight and wit, Fitzpatrick unpacks how the digital era has transformed our understanding of self-presentation, identity, and value.

I bet my readers know you but just for the record, can you tell me a little bit more about yourself?

I’ve been doing the Trend Report for five years now, which is crazy! My background is in writing for publications and freelancing, and I also worked as a TV producer in Los Angeles for many years. A lot of what I did in TV production involved researching trends and creating trend reports, so it’s been a natural progression for me. I started my newsletter, and it’s really taken off. I live in Barcelona with my two dogs and boyfriend, Bobby, who sometimes makes appearances in my newsletter.

What are your thoughts on the death of trends or the changing nature of trends today?

I’m a bit surprised by this conversation because we’ve been talking about this for a while. The trend cycles are dying or at least shifting. Everything is becoming a “soup” of ideas, and while that’s not inherently bad, it means people no longer have a clear relationship with trends or culture. Younger people, especially Gen Z, are cherry-picking what they like without being part of a specific community or culture. It’s turned into a shopping experience rather than a cultural one. Shopping without an agenda leads to exhaustion.

This isn’t new, but it’s becoming more of a conversation now. The internet and fast fashion, especially with platforms like TikTok and ultra-fast fashion brands, have made it easy to shop without experiencing the culture behind the trend. We’re left with people shopping without truly engaging with anything.

Do you think trends or cultural movements are happening in fashion or elsewhere?

One trend I’ve been thinking about recently is the sheer knit material that’s been gaining attention, like in Paris Jackson’s Fashion Week look. It’s a very Barcelona-style aesthetic and ties into a wider trend of revisiting early 2000s Y2K fashion. However, this time it’s more sustainable and reflective of slow fashion. It’s a trend that will become more accessible, but it’s rooted in a deeper, more expressive approach to fashion.

Beyond fashion, I think people are starting to realize they don’t need to buy constantly, which is leading to a shift towards sustainability and more niche ways of expressing yourself, like shopping vintage or sharing clothes with friends. It’s a small but noticeable movement away from mass consumption and waste.

It’s not about saying, "I’m only going to wear Shein now," that’s not what I’m suggesting. What I mean is, at some point, when you develop your own personal style and understanding of the world, you realize certain things bring you joy because they reflect who you are. I’m not going to buy something just to wear it once, which is what fast fashion brands want.

I feel the same way. I connect with clothes…

Exactly, and it’s not just the emotional connection. It’s also about your personal taste and style, where you’re not relying on trends. Yes, trends might influence your choices, but the reason you like something is because it reflects you. I keep a large wardrobe for this reason too.

Sometimes, I have things like an army jacket that I don’t like now, but in two years, it might come back in style. It’s happened before, and older, more stylish people I know keep big closets for this reason. And it’s not just about size; it’s about holding on to things that are you. I don’t want to constantly buy new clothes, but when I do, I want it to be something meaningful.

Still, when we look at sales, especially with fast fashion, it seems contradictory. Gen Z claims to care about the environment and sustainability, but they continue buying super-fast fashion. It's a paradox.

It is a paradox. Gen Z, especially in America, wants to seem wealthy and keep up with a certain image, which often requires fast fashion. If you can’t afford the luxury brands, you’ll turn to Shein or Zara.

It’s about the image, not the quality of the clothes. They want to look a certain way.

Exactly. It’s more about instant gratification. Gen Z especially wants things right now, and while that’s normal for young people, it leads to buying cheap clothes that contribute to resource waste. When you’re young, you don’t have a lot of money, so you buy cheaper things. But that results in a lot of waste. If you saved the money you’d spend on ten $5 shirts, you could buy one or two quality pieces.

In my 20s, I didn’t buy from fast fashion. I went to thrift stores or saved up for something meaningful. People today don’t have the patience for that. Social media, with its constant stream of trends, has trained us to want everything immediately.

Fast fashion has conditioned us to expect things quickly, which affects how we behave in the world. We see something on TikTok, and we need to buy it right away. It’s created impatience.

That impatience is laziness. People don’t want to wait for something meaningful; they just want it now.

Ted Gioia in his Substack talks about "slop culture". It's a very lazy attitude towards consumption.

Yes, it's about laziness. The issue isn’t just acknowledging the problem—people need to change their behavior. For years, people have criticized capitalism and social media, but they keep engaging with it. Change comes when we stop just talking about it and actually make different choices.

Social media has created fake versions of ourselves. TikTok and Instagram allow us to build these illusions and then feed them. That’s why Shein and other brands are part of that illusion: to present an image of ourselves that may not be true.

The problem is that we’re constantly bombarded with stimuli, and it creates a disconnect between what’s real and what’s not. The Coperni show, for instance, showcases this perfectly—an aesthetic expression that’s ultimately a critique. It’s a representation of everything that’s wrong with our obsession with things that hold no real value, like a Tamagotchi purse.

There’s just too much stuff. We don’t need more runway shows or art exhibitions. We’re exhausted, and yet we continue contributing to this culture of excess. The art world, the fashion world, and Hollywood are all in decline because of this overload of meaningless content.