The Performance of Being #real: How Fashion Lost Its Marketing Edge

Authenticity used to be rare. Now it’s the baseline.

We’re living in an age where “real” is not only expected. It’s performed. The stripped-back, overshared, irony-drenched, capital-R Realness that clogs feeds, brand bios, and campaign decks has become... predictable.

And when everyone is being real, no one is.

It’s a paradox of awareness we gained through using, or dare I say overusing social media. 

The New Uniform: Denim, Dishevelment, and a Caption About Your Ex

Let’s call it what it is: there’s a formula to this kind of relatability.
A well-lit shot that’s slightly off. A model who looks like she just rolled out of a very expensive bed. Maybe she’s eating a croissant. Maybe there’s a pile of laundry in the background, strategically messily. And underneath it? A caption that reads like a tweet from 2014.

This is what too much fashion copy has become: hyperaware, overly casual, always winking.

It’s exhausting.

The Ironic Trap: When Meta Becomes Meaningless

When a brand says, “We don’t take ourselves too seriously,” it’s often taking itself more seriously than ever. It’s a pose. And like any pose, you can see right through it.

This is the problem with copy that leans too hard into self-awareness: it gives nothing to hold onto. No actual conviction. No opinion. Just a shrug and a joke and a wink.

You read it and think,
Okay, but what do you actually stand for?

That question should scare copywriters more than it currently does.

The scary part is, what if you don’t stand for anything at all?

Real Doesn’t Mean Relatable. It Means Intentional

The best fashion copy doesn’t pander. It provokes.

It doesn’t flatten the product into some #relatable moment. It elevates it. It suggests a world. A point of view. A sliver of danger or desire or elegance or weirdness, something textured, maybe raw.

Miu Miu does this, for instance. So does Acne.
You feel a pulse under the words. They don’t try to be your friend.
They just speak like they know who they are. Which is far more compelling.

Say Something

We need to stop writing to not offend. To not confuse. To not alienate.

Good copy should be willing to do all three, if it means being memorable.

The point of fashion isn’t to blend in. So why is the language trying so hard to be neutral?Is it “quantity over quality” problem? If a brand reaches 2M users with a beige, bland feed and conversion is just enough to keep them afloat, that’ll do. Quality in fashion is in the message. Let’s not forget that fashion at it’s core is a form of art and it used to have a mission, well many of them. Social and political issues were highlighted through fashion. Historic and artistic context were articulated by fashion. They still are, but just by few. But hey, maybe that’s the quality right there. 

Brands need to stop tiptoeing and start telling their truth. Even if it’s strange. Even if it’s niche. Especially if it’s niche.

Clarity Over Quirks, Voice Over Volume

Here’s what it comes down to:
Don’t perform real. Be intentional. Be specific. Be clear.

Let go of the hashtags and the fake humility. No more ellipses in place of a thought. No more saying nothing in 200 words.

Fashion deserves sharper language. Smarter metaphors. Real personality.

Not “real” as a performance.
Real enough to actually matter.