From A Walk To A Movement

​Within young society, the pressure to adhere to the current trend is quite strong. When the new clothes of the season come with a price-tag that matches consumer desire, the prices tend to be higher. For this reason, many people find themselves unable to stick with the moving trends. More stable trends in societal subculture therefore become a more realistic goal for a person to set themselves in order to feel like they fit in. Separating from the main crowd for lack of interest or as a rebellion against the seemingly shallowness of the fast pace of change, or lack of ability to keep up with the pace of change all give rise to the need for something else to gravitate towards. This is in order to satisfy the human desire to feel like a part of something bigger.


Identity and style go hand in hand in many cases, and new fashions and ways of dressing, behaving, and expressing ourselves usually emerge in areas where there is a lack of money, poorer communities who cannot keep up with the fashionable trends in society will settle for a stable subculture that works well for them. Here the younger generation, who are naturally inquisitive and inventive, will come up with ways of expressing themselves to counter-act this dry element of their neighbourhood. Once a walk of life in this way begins to spread, and the ideas pass from one to another over time, and are expressed in a varying array of interpretations, the media will begin to reflect this in their products.


Once the image is given a spot-light, the iconic version of the style is created by the continual repetition and boosting of the famous individuals who are using it for their own identity. Clubs then form niche movements around their music styles that are designed to appeal to particular subcultures, the imagery in advertising and furnishings used by the local institutions in this way reflect ideas into the crowds they populate, so a mix of the media chosen and the aesthetic of the whole infuses into the consciousness of the following that congregate there.


Due to the nature of trend movements, the spotlight only lasts for a short while, and within a few years at most, the imagery and style of the subculture that was reflected becomes old, and artists look to other things to model their works on. However, once the fire has been fuelled, so to speak, and the crowd within the subculture has reached a certain number 'n', self-autonomy begins to take hold, and the principles and styling become ingrained in the consciousness of the community. This allows the ideas to pass on via influence and inspiration from different generations, where those who have firmly established themselves within a trend become the role models of the young.


Usually when a subculture is established, it follows with niche art labels in music, clothing, and film, in which concepts and ideals from that alternative mind-set are reflected and celebrated in order to appeal to those who identify with them. A small cell of interest can grow into a global neo-tribe much in the way as older styles and subcultures have done before, once a network of media, commerce, and personal attachment has taken place.