To what extent can individuality exist in a post-fast fashion world?

In a world where fashion is mass-produced, bespoke clothing is rare for the average customer, and both big brands and advertising promote a certain look that should be created with certain garments – how far is fashion a unique expression? Or is it simply one size fits all?

While the aesthetics of customisation and embroidery become increasingly popular in contemporary RTW (and thus, high-street) fashion, the garments are still mass-produced.

Styling, which is the most obvious and accessible way to wear your clothing uniquely, is still severely limited by conventional fashion – most trends in mainstream fashion are repeated verbatim, with little if any change to styling, accessorising, etc.

It is no surprise, of course, that in the wake of mass-produced fashion where every fashion statement has been made a million times before, that it would give rise to “normcore“; a style of fashion where the intent is to be as normal and unassuming as possible – essentially, making a statement by saying nothing at all about yourself and your identity through your clothing.