Tomato girl summer? How brands can keep up with TikTok’s micro-trends

To receive the Vogue Business newsletter, sign up here. When Hailey Bieber posted an Instagram photo captioned “strawberry girl summer” at the start of August, the internet hailed her heavily blushed cheeks and nose as the hallmark of a new summer aesthetic. Before she had even explained what “strawberry girl summer” meant — leaving people to assume it alluded to her pink cheeks — the hashtag had attracted over 16 million views on TikTok, as users began to share tutorials and recommend products to help people achieve the look. Bieber has since uploaded a makeup tutorial herself, while soft launching an upcoming blusher product line for her beauty brand Rhode. This comes after the “glazed donut” nail trend, which Bieber was responsible for perpetuating last summer, which currently has over 26.5 million TikTok views. Originally inspired by her chrome pink manicure, it was then adapted to describe dewy skin. Riding the glazed trend, Rhode launched an “essence” (a nutrient-infused lightweight skincare product that acts as a primer) called Glazing Milk in June. It sold out immediately. Beyond Bieber and beauty trends, social media is fueling the rise of viral aesthetics that combine catchy phrases with shopping inspiration. “Tomato girl” and “rat girl” summer trends have morphed from memes that promote lifestyle choices and vibes. While “tomato girl” is the sartorial embodiment of “La Dolce Vita” lifestyle (tomato referencing a slight sunburn you might get on vacation), it started after a series of social media videos compiling Mediterranean vacation motifs sourced from Pinterest went viral. “Rat girl” summer, meanwhile, is the anti-hot girl summer trend that promotes body confidence and carefree living. We mostly have TikTok to thank. Trend cycles used to start on the runway before eventually filtering down through the high street, spiked by the odd pop culture moment or celebrity co-sign. Today, viral “aesthetics” can blow up overnight and fall out of fashion just as quickly — but not before brands capitalise on the surging interest for products that help emulate the vibe. Not every brand is as well placed as Bieber’s Rhode, with a founder that can launch a micro-trend ahead of launching a corresponding product. To keep up, labels are using campaigns, branding and merchandising to cleverly align themselves during a flash-in-the-pan trend. “We see customers far more engaged with TikTok and Instagram trends and red carpet looks than they are with runway shows,” says Newby Hands, contributing global beauty director at Net-a-Porter, who notes that more than 80 per cent of customers say they are “extremely likely” to buy a beauty product after seeing it on social media. On the fashion side, the e-tailer has seen a 30 per cent increase in raffia styled products this season, which they believe is because of the tomato girl summer aesthetic. How are brands authentically tapping in? Once coined by an influencer, aesthetic trends like tomato girl summer or latte makeup are proliferated by other users, via videos offering makeup and clothing product recommendations to emulate the trend. However, if a brand’s products aren’t immediately listed in these roundups, they can also insert themselves into the conservation by conceptualising campaigns inspired by trending aesthetics. For instance, Refy beauty’s latest campaign was shot on the Amalfi Coast and drew heavily on the motifs of the tomato girl summer aesthetic. “The campaign did incredibly well on our social media and we saw huge spikes in engagement and reach across all of our channels,” says Refy founder Jess Hunt. “We launched our new tinted lip gloss collection shortly after, which was one of our most successful launches to date,” she continues, adding that it is now fully sold out. These labels help young people to translate the content they’re seeing into their shopping habits. “When something is coined ‘tomato girl summer’ it makes it a lot easier to look for versus being like, ‘Italian summer vibe dresses to wear’,” says Biz Sherbert, culture editor of the Digiverse, an editorial platform powered by creative agency The Digital Fairy. “We saw that a lot with Depop. People would start using these micro-labels from TikTok in the item descriptions. Instead of a basic brown shirt from the 2000s, it would be labelled ‘Bella Swan core’ or ‘vampire girlfriend’.” For Depop, 80 per cent of their users’ inspiration comes from social media, according to the platform. “There is a symbiotic relationship with what’s trending on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram being reflected in the app,” according to the company. Since tomato girl started trending, for example, they’ve seen a 644 per cent increase in searches for linen trousers and a 289 per cent increase in searches for woven bags, which are two items linked to the aesthetic. Due to this success, they have even set up an internal team who specialises exclusively in identifying and amplifying trends bubbling up across social media in order to bring them life through their channels. “For example, we might spotlight sellers who have an interesting point of view on an emerging trend and how to style the look or curate trend-focused shopping pages such as The Depop Edit.” Similarly, online beauty marketplace Cult Beauty is also launching “The Cult Beauty Trending Edit” in September as a direct response to trending products on TikTok that immediately sell out on their channel. Aesthetic movements as a vehicle for self-realisation Gen Z loves to romanticise the mundane, and TikTok gives them the perfect tool to do so, says Marta Indeka, senior foresight analyst at consultancy The Future Laboratory, who points out that everything from salted granola to corporate business wear has been made into a viral TikTok trend this summer. “There are no barriers to entry — anyone can participate and put their own spin on viral trends, so the line between spectator and insider is paper thin,” she says. Gen Z are the loneliest generation, according to research from US healthcare company Cigna, which might explain their penchant for online movements that allow them to connect to others. “I think these aesthetic movements are mostly a tool in self-realisation. The idea of ‘finding yourself’ can feel so big and overwhelming; having a little character to play with while you figure out what works for you and what doesn’t can make it more manageable, which is where these aesthetics come in,” agrees Lola Kolade, the originator of “rat girl” summer. Makeup artist Rachel Rigler, who coined one of summer 2023’s most popular trends “latte makeup”, (which was also co-signed by Bieber) believes that, despite how many trends there are, consumers are still likely to find one that suits their personal aesthetic. The psychological play on wanting to chase the latest viral moment also helps drive the marketing machine. “I hate when I’m behind on current trends, and I feel like so many people feel the same way,” she says. “So, when a new trend starts to surface, people either watch the videos because they want to be educated on the trend or they want to partake.” Are we reaching peak aesthetic absurdity? As the summer wanes, how will these aesthetics mature? One of the most recent summer trends is “blueberry milk nails”, a pale blue shade spotted on musician Dua Lipa and influencer Sofia Grainge Richie. The phrase has proven divisive across TikTok, and retaliation to non-trend trends is kicking in. “Within marketing it’s always been a thing to give existing products or styles new names that seem different, but are simply being repackaged to fit the cultural zeitgeist better,” says The Digiverse’s Sherbert. Nail trends have followed the glazed donut template, Sherbert says, since that trend first went viral. “But ‘blueberry milk’ just isn’t a widely known food, so it seems like they were searching for two food words that could adequately describe a pale blue and put them together.” As a result, Sherbert believes it felt less tethered to reality, and that Gen Z therefore sees it as crafted from the capitalist cookie-cutter mould. “It’s like if Sofia Richie and Hailey Bieber fell off the face of the earth tomorrow, would you all be ok?” said one TikTok user @biriyanibby_ in a video that now has over 1.9 million views. Others have trolled the obvious marketing play by creating spoof videos on absurd food aesthetics such as “baked bean girl” or “hard boiled egg”. “You have to keep whatever your point of view is as a brand, even when you're participating with viral trends,” continues Sherbert. “Or it’s about having a sense of humour about it. When brands try to engage with it too seriously is when people feel like it’s too much.” Makeup artist Rigler agrees: “I would love to start seeing brands create some of these trends. Similar to us, each brand has their own aesthetic — so what’s stopping them from getting creative and coming up with their own aesthetic movement that stays true to their core ethos?” Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly described Rhode's Glazing Milk as a lip peptide. (Updated 16/08/23) Comments, questions or feedback? Email us at feedback@voguebusiness.com. More on this topic: The Vogue Business TikTok Trend Tracker TikTok unboxing: Luxury fashion’s low-cost marketing tool Hacks and roasts: Inside the new social media currency

Make better business decisions

Make better business decisions