By Lauren Sherman | August 31, 2026
A decade ago, fashion seemed like the center of popular culture—and youth culture, in particular—though we may not have fully appreciated it at the time. But the center of gravity in celebrity culture, though we didn’t quite call them influencers yet, was already moving from magazines and movies to smaller screens, all platformed by Instagram. The expression and experience of style was shifting online, too. During the 1990s and 2000s, superstar one-name designers were world-famous, but this new era elevated entire classes of creative directors, stylists, makeup artists, talent, and myriad other stars. If you were a creative young person, then the industry appealed on account of its very cerulean blue–style intrigue.
In the intervening decade, of course, the industry had only grown—and then consolidated, corporatized, and fully professionalized. So, do kids still dream of a career in fashion? To learn what they think about the business, I sat down in early August with 18 college students-slash-recent-graduates from 15 different American universities who are scholars in the Fashion Scholarship Fund, an organization that offers money, mentoring, and plenty more to its recipients. Seven of the students I spoke with were also awarded cash in the Virgil Abloh™ “Post-Modern” Scholarship Fund, established by the late designer a year before his death. Naturally, Abloh’s legacy was a big part of the conversation—he was critical to fashion going mass, after all—but we got into everything from the positives and negatives of A.I. to the rise of secondhand sourcing and the lack of interest in star designers. Here’s a sample of their responses to various thematic topics.
Matthieu Who?
While many of the kids in the group cared about specific designers—Virgil, Jonathan Anderson, and Demna were all named—the general consensus was that they cared more about the clothes than the creative directors. They also didn’t care so much about brand names.
“So from the business side, I would say that I do care about the designer of a brand, just regarding trend forecasting. … But from a consumer perspective, I wouldn’t say I care much about the designer behind the brand.” —Cassandra, 24, fashion merchandising
“I agree with her. … It’s about the whole production and not just the clothes, for me. The experience and the runway show are more important than who the designer is or what house it’s coming from.” —Claire, 22, fashion design
“For me, it’s less about brands and more about product now. … I don’t think I have loyalty to any particular brand. And it’s really hard for them to … hold my attention, unless it’s something super impressive or super unique.” —Andrea, 21, marketing major
“I am kind of going off of Andrea’s answer. … It’s more about the product than the brand. … I love vintage Ralph Lauren, Vivienne Westwood, Stella McCartney because I’ve always had really good experiences with their product quality. … I feel like a lot of the newer stuff, even with some of these good brands, isn’t made as well as it was, like 10, 20 years ago.” —Natalie, 20, fashion merchandising
Secondhand Side Effects
Unsurprisingly, nearly everyone in the group shops secondhand, and most prefer to. Some cited moral reasons, others praised the quality and saw it as an antidote to fast fashion.
“I think the benefit of shopping secondhand … is that we are creating our own aesthetic. … I’m moving away from the buy buy buy mindset that a lot of these brands are trying to push. Like, what is it now, like 32 seasons in a year?” —Ava, 20, fashion design
“What I love most about secondhand shopping is that the quality tends to be better. … You can find pieces that are more authentic but also just better quality in general.” —Claire
“Our generation is a little bit sick of A.I. and technology. And we use clothing and secondhand shopping as a way to feel … tangible.” —Rachel, 20, fashion and textile management
Celeb Fatigue
Celebrity culture is increasingly fragmented, with YouTubers you’ve never heard of amassing millions of followers and A-list movie stars fading into indie status. For these kids, the only way this stuff works is if you have a personal affinity to the creator.
“As a consumer, I don’t care too much about celebrities. And they’re kind of ruining the fashion game. I remember when Travis Scott wore Nike Dunks. … The price went from like $190 to like, $200 to $300. … It takes away the authenticity.” —Andrew, 25, industrial and product design
“Generally, I don’t really have an opinion on celebrities. … The only time it does matter to me is if it’s a celebrity that … I’m really invested in. Olivia Rodrigo wearing Kurt Geiger on an album cover was something that I actually cared about.” —Natalie
“I don’t care as much if it’s a celebrity wearing something that I can’t afford, because it’s unattainable to me. … But if it’s something that’s accessible, like Hailey Bieber has her own brand, Rhode, then I’m like, That is something that I can purchase. I can get behind this. If they’re wearing something that I can afford … then I feel extra cool if I can buy it and wear that, too.” —Claire
A.I. Can’t Replace Taste
Most of these kids were pretty positive about A.I. They weren’t worried that it would take work away from them or lead to a life of algorithmic destitution. But they all agreed that you need humans to make these tools interesting or good.
“A.I. drives creativity. It’s not the creative itself. You are the one that’s putting in the prompts … as opposed to the A.I. doing everything itself. Because at the end of the day, it’s not going to work without the human brain. … A.I. does not have lived human experience. … Taste is something that A.I. can never really … duplicate. That’s something that’s solely human-based [and has] human perspective.” —Cameron, 22, business administration and marketing
“It’s up to us to understand that imagination is power and that everything starts in the mind, the soul, and the body … to utilize these tools to enhance what was already there.” —Kuan, 20, fashion design and merchandising
“There is a worry in the back of my mind, for me personally, seeing how A.I. is being scaled so fast, and there are no regulations in place to stop how rapidly A.I. is expanding.” —Gabby, 22, fashion marketing and management
Luxury Is Too Luxurious
There was a general sentiment that luxury goods are just totally inaccessible unless you are ultra-, ultra-rich. (Let’s not forget, they’re kids!)
“I’m, like, thinking about the gas prices.” —Rachel
What Marketers Don’t Get About Gen Z
As usual, the new generation doesn’t think the older generations understand them in any way.
“There’s a misconception that we are susceptible to trends, even though it’s honestly kind of the opposite.” —Gabby
“What brands tend to underestimate about our generation is the fact that we will hold brands accountable. … If a brand loses our trust, it’s very damaging to our generation.” —Sammi, 20, fashion and apparel merchandising
“If anything, our generation is a little bit sick of A.I. and technology. … It’s like the future to you guys. It’s not the future for us.” —Rachel
“The industry sometimes mistakes our generation’s appreciation for simplicity, for wanting absolutely everything to be minimal. I don’t think everything needs to become quieter just because minimalism is popular.” —Cameron