Japanese Gen Z dress for social media, not self-expression, survey reveals

The brands are out, coordinating your appearance with what you do is in it.

A recent survey of Shibuya Laboratory 109, a youth marketing research firm associated with the Tokyo fashion mall of the same name, recently surveyed 205 Gen Z people about their fashion choices.

85 young men and 120 young women aged 15-24 who are affiliated with Shibuya 109 Lab independent network were interviewed, starting with the question: “When you go out, how do you decide what to wear?

Interestingly, most of the respondents seemed to carefully coordinate their outfits according to their plans for the day. The first response from all respondents was “I choose based on where I’m going” (67.3 percent). Right behind was “I choose according to what I do” (53.7 percent).

Here are the fashions sported by A-chan, who prefers the “Light colored girl” style, the “Street” style and the “Mass production girl” style.

30.7 percent even said they plan their outfit based on who they’re hanging out, which means that they align their fashion with the fashion tastes of their companions.

One woman interviewed said: “When we wear similar clothes, we feel like very good friends. Plus, it creates a sense of oneness in photos when what we’re wearing matches where we’re going.

Then the respondents were asked about their own fashion tastes, with the possibility of choosing several answers.

For men, by far the most popular fashion style was “casual”. (58.8%), followed by “Clean and sophisticated” (24.7 percent). Right behind in third place was “Street” style, which got 22.4 percent of the vote.

While men seemed to have a majority preference for casual clothing, responses from women were more evenly divided. The top fashion style for young women was “Relaxed girl” (30%), followed by “Relaxed boy” (27.5%), and “Clean and sophisticated” (25 percent).

▼ B-chan prefers “French girly”, “casual boyish” and “Korean monotone” styles.

What was surprising, however, was that for young men and women, a good proportion of respondents chose three or more styles that represented their personal tastes. 28.2 percent of men and 44.2 percent of women seem to alternate between different styles of fashion, indicating that they do not subscribe to a particular trend.

When asked to rate the extent to which the statement “I choose fashion by taste, not on brands “ applied to them, out of all respondents, 28.3% said “Very precise” and 42.9% said “Fairly precise”, which means that in total, 71.2 percent agree that they do not take brands into account as much in their fashion choices as the style of clothing.

One student said, “I love Korean fashion, so I wear a lot of Korean style clothes, but I shop online, so I can’t remember which brands I buy.

A male student said, “I don’t really have a favorite brand, although I do a lot of shopping at GU and Uniqlo. I also buy from Zozotown, but I don’t know which brands.

â–¼ C-kun, who likes to alternate between “Casual”, “Sharp” and “Korean Monotone” fashion styles.

If not brands, what are respondents looking for when shopping for clothes?

In response to the question, “What do you focus on when shopping for clothes? “, 63.9% chose “Design”, 55.1 percent said, “The adjustment”, and 44.9 chose “How I can mix and match well”.

Several participants mentioned a “body type diagnosis” on social media, which they used to determine their build and what clothes and fashion styles would suit them best.

▼ “Body Type Diagnosis” includes “Straight” type, “Wave” type and “Natural” type, each of which has different styles suitable for them.

All of this is aimed at providing them with the best clothes so that, when they take full body photos to share on social media, they will look their best.

Social media is also the number one way for these young people to get information about fashion.. 83.4% said they get most of their fashion news from Instagram, 40.5% said “Video streaming services” and 33.7% said “TikTok”. “Family and friends” was another popular response, tied with “video streaming services” at 40.5%.

The main takeaway from this survey is that Fashion for Generation Z in Japan is becoming less of a tool for self-expression, and more of a communication tool, like, for example, using a coordinated gaze to say “Look how close we are!” “

While there are of course many influences on their choices, such as the popularity of Korean fashion, it seems that young Japanese people are less concerned with following a particular style or buying a particular brand and more concerned with finding brands. clothes that suit them so that they look good on social networks. As social media continues to have a predominant influence on the personal identity of young people, we can only wonder how it will affect the fashion choices of the next generation as well.

Source: PR Times, Shibuya 109 Lab via Netlab
Images: Public relations time
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