For years, we’ve derided people who’ve let their individuality be subsumed by what they perceive to be “in” or di rigueur by calling them fashion victims. Head-to-toe monogram just because a magazine decided that “we’re going coco for logos”? Fashion victim. Have a wardrobe divided into the various “-cores” that pass us by? Fashion victim. Still a fan of beige-everything in the service of “quiet luxury”? Fashion victim.
Now, it seems there’s a new way of making fun of people who take aesthetic adherence a little too far: “brand victim”. Coined by trend forecaster Sean Monahan of the Substack 8Ball, this is for all the Stanley-toting, sneaker-drop-queueing, Rhode-smearing peeps who think your drinkware and lip-tint proclivities make you who you are. You’re a cautionary tale for conspicuous consumption who is also somehow doing the brand a service by becoming their walking billboard (while not being paid to do so). Your loyalty here serves the brand, not you. Desist.
Look at your wardrobe, your desk, you shoe rack. How much of the decisions there came with a “I’ll buy anything they make” logic? Just some food for thought.
