ENVIRONMENT/LIFESTYLE
In one of Julie George’s most popular TikTok videos from this past northern summer, she highlights some of the high quality items she owns and cherishes — a few pieces of jewellery, a single pair of Ray-Bans, a nearly empty bottle of YSL perfume. It feels luxe and aspirational, like so many popular influencer videos do. But George’s video is not an attempt to get you to buy the items she shows off, nor is it a celebration of new shiny stuff. It’s an example of a different trend that’s emerging across social media — 2024’s new take on minimalism: “underconsumption core”.
“I first came across underconsumption as a trend on TikTok maybe in June or July, and I immediately thought, ‘Wow, I have never related to something on social media as much as I do this,’ ” says George, a finance manager and podcaster based in Austin, Texas, whose account is described as “Life in my 30s”.
George has always been active on social media, she says, to promote various side hustles such as her podcast and a previous stint as a fitness-and-nutrition coach. But she was always put off by influencer culture. “It’s terrible for the environment — the constant stream of shopping hauls and discount codes and you need this and you need that,” she says.
When she discovered underconsumption, she felt like she had found her corner of the internet. Her July video — titled “underconsumption core as a luxury minimalist” and captioned “Finally a trend I can get behind” — quickly racked up more than two million views. Since then, she’s continued to use her platform to share insights on how she embodies underconsumption and minimalism — a journey she has been on since her 20s, when frequent moves made her question how much stuff she had accumulated in her home. In another of her recent videos, George describes how underconsumption has “completely changed my life” — getting ready to move yet again, sorting and packing this time has been a breeze, she says.
Underconsumption core (“core” being a descriptor that defines something as a trend, unified by a particular aesthetic or mindset) is generally about reusing and reducing. The videos are often set over soothing background music — for example, Norah Jones’ “Don’t Know Why” or Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” — and show creators proudly displaying the longevity of their favourite possessions, or how they use up products to the last drop: a simple, still-likeable tanktop that’s been a wardrobe staple for years; a dinged-up reusable water bottle that’s the only one the poster needs; a makeup palette that has hit pan (aka been used to the bottom).
Creators see it as a counter to the prevailing norm of excessive consumption increasingly driven by social media — a norm that contributes to a slew of environmental ills, from the (increasingly low-quality) raw materials used to churn out a steady stream of new products, to the pollution caused by shipping items around the globe, to the waste that clogs landfills (or ends up burning in deserts).
On platforms such as Youtube, TikTok, and Instagram, brands drive crazes over their latest gadgets or clothing styles, influencers show off massive shopping hauls, and the platforms themselves make it ridiculously easy to “shop now” with just a simple tap. (A few months ago, TikTok launched a partnership that allows users to make Amazon purchases without even leaving the app.)
Since it emerged this northern summer, the hashtag #underconsumption has garnered more than 20,000 posts on TikTok, not huge but more than enough to mean it’s reached many mainstream users in some way. It’s the latest evolution of a movement rejecting overconsumption in favour of more mindful, budget-friendly, and sustainable habits. And it builds on trends such as de-influencing — the 2023 trend in which social media users explicitly rejected the idea of influencing, instead trying to convince their followers not to buy trendy new items — as well as the no-buy year, and even Marie Kondo-inspired minimalism.
“I feel like I was on ground zero of underconsumption core,” says Jade Taylor, aka The Moda Mensch, a sustainable fashion content creator with 120,000-plus followers on TikTok. “The way I grew up was low-income, and I was always raised with the idea that sustainability was just something you did out of necessity.”
Taylor views underconsumption as a far more accessible form of minimalism than some of its predecessors. It doesn’t require throwing things away, or placing strict limits on oneself, or even achieving a certain aesthetic. Instead, it celebrates having sturdy items for a long time and using products up to the last drop — things that are easy on the wallet and also lighter on the planet.
Taylor, who uses both he and she as pronouns, also has a theory as to why this particular trend emerged in the summer of 2024. “I think it was dually a response to the type of normalised overconsumption that influencers have pushed, with their marketing, but also due to climate anxiety and economic instability,” s/he says. “People are latching onto this idea because they’re becoming more cognisant of our effect on the environment as consumers and the role that influencer marketing played in that.”
Climate change ranks high as an area of concern for Gen Z and millennials, and they have continuously pushed for better sustainability practices from whom they buy. More than half of respondents to a 2024 Deloitte survey reported either avoiding fast fashion or intending to do so in the future.
In the same survey, the cost of living outranked climate as the number one concern for members of both generations. Around 30% of participants said they didn’t feel financially secure, and nearly 60% live paycheck to paycheck.
“These flagrant displays of wealth are now insensitive and out of touch — because how are these influencers buying these $300 makeup hauls when so much of their audience can’t afford to keep a roof over their heads?” Taylor asks.
The financial draw of underconsumption core was echoed by others, including Mia McGrath, a London-based TikToker who focuses on personal finance. “I think underconsumption and frugality have a lot in common,” she says. “I think the cost of living and inflation has helped push this trend to the forefront.”
As a result, she expects we may see some of the principles of underconsumption core adopted by producers, as brands contend with what consumers want and how much they’re willing to buy. “I think we will see more brands pushing timeless, versatile basics because people are being less experimental and more keen to invest in items that will be with them for the long term,” she adds.
That is, if underconsumption core can avoid some of the pitfalls of minimalism trends that preceded it, some of which were hijacked by influencer culture as yet another way to promote a certain look or lifestyle that involves buying different types of products. This happened with de-influencing, Taylor notes. Influencers were quick to jump on that trend, claiming to “de-influence” their followers away from certain viral products, instead recommending others that were purportedly better. “Influencers are like the apex predators of the consumerism environment, so to speak,” s/he says. “They will always adapt.”
Shelby Orme, a long-time sustainability advocate and content creator with around 275,000 TikTok followers, says, “We’re seeing into people’s closets and homes on social media so much more every day than our brains were ever meant to. I think people are just hungry for being told that other people are experiencing the same things they are, and that’s why the trend has become so big,” she adds.
Orme thinks underconsumption core reflects a desire for more realism on social media — a mindset shift away from picture-perfect moments and unrealistic lifestyles. “It is good to see there are other people out there living lives where they are not overconsuming all the time.”
Whatever the fate of the trend, Orme and others see it as part of a broader anti-consumerist movement that is sending a clear message: Most people don’t live like social media influencers. And with continued financial uncertainty and growing sustainability concerns, many are content with consuming less — not more.
“I like to hope that as these little trends pop off, that more and more people become aware of it and have more conversations with their friends and family,” Orme says, “and we slowly see progress in every sector toward consuming in a way that will sustain human life on this planet — because ultimately that’s what this conversation comes down to.”
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