Categorisation is specific to all people as a way of feeling belonging and easier understanding of the complex world around us.
This project focuses on one of the most known self-appointed categorisations, subcultures. People are taking bits and pieces of everything seen around them and consequently mix and match styles into new ones. This is the search for new communities they can get involved in and feel a sense of belonging. But with everybody being able to easily and quickly access the information, real subcultures cannot evolve. Along with the expansion and development of the Internet and social media, most of the subcultures made their transition from being physical to being mainly “virtual”. Consequently we started wanting to be approved, acknowledged, current. This is the end of classic subcultures and the beginning of new social forms. The Internet has become a powerful tool for building social trends without any historical or deeper social meaning. From the moment they have been created to the moment they start being accepted, they already become mainstream and thus lose one of their most important features, being different.
My project is a discursive project that tries to show people how bombarded we are being with trend content on a daily basis. Trends become a part of our everyday social surrounding and communication. They are changing the way we categorise and they enforce consumerism by making fictive expiration dates on fashion and lifestyle. Trends are making us think about and doubt our own identity every day. They are social phenomena that is just going to grow larger and change more quickly. The question is: what is the limit for a person when they just cannot follow the trends anymore? UP TO THE MINUTE is a website dedicated to provide you with chic insights and know-how tips about the latest global trend. It presents new trends on a daily basis and gives you insight in all of the things you have to know what currently is trending. You can learn how to dress, where to shop, what events to attend. You can even order merchandise from the UTTM shop so you can be in trend as soon as possible. Every trend lasts for only 24 hours, after which it gets replaced by a new one.
BESTBEFORE_ is UTTM’s brand which specialises in selling a wide range of products to equip you with the hottest gear for your daily trend. It is an ever-changing brand which keeps you up to date with what is in.
BESTBEFORE_ is a parody of the expiration date related to trendy products that basically do not loose their functionality but just start to lack desirability. BESTBEFORE_ sells everyday known products as hot stuff on the market because of their connection to the current trend.
Companies
London College of Communication, UAL
- Education & Research