Fashion is much more than utility — it is a dynamic, complex form of creative expression. It is design, movement, imagination, emotion and culture intricately sewn together by fabric. 

The Met Gala is set for May 4, and this year’s dress code is “Fashion Is Art.” The annual benefit will explore the intersection between fashion, art and the body, illustrating their interconnectedness by contrasting garments with artwork from the museum.

But in an age of ever-changing micro-trends and mass consumerism, fashion is losing its artistic edge.

Now, you can build your closet directly from TikTok, the same app where you can go viral for 15-second dance videos or launch your pop music career. TikTok Shop, conveniently placed between the “Following” and “For You” pages, packages fads into aesthetics, advertising fleeting personalities with a string of seemingly random words, from “clean girl” to “tomato girl.” The trend turnover rate has evolved from years dedicated to a craze to only a few weeks.

Individuality is central to artistic expression. When micro-trends are sold to people en masse, art becomes a consumerist project. Instead of acting as a statement of individuality, fast fashion communicates that one adheres to trends. Art is meant to push the bounds of free expression, not incentivize sameness in pursuit of an aesthetic.

According to a Capital One Shopping report, Americans spend an estimated $32 million per day shopping on TikTok. Fast fashion brands collaborate with influencers to capitalize on these micro-trends, coaxing viewers to “run, don’t walk” to fill their wardrobe with suspiciously low-priced Lululemon Define Jackets they’re supposedly “obsessed with,” that is, until the next shiny new aesthetic emerges, further curbing individuality.

Especially as young people, we are on an endless search to define ourselves. But it’s difficult to develop personal style when you’re constantly pressured to reinvent yourself. In a time characterized by overconsumption, it’s futile to keep up when what’s “in” is constantly changing.

This year’s Met Gala theme invites us to reframe the way we view fashion. In its purest form, fashion captures the cultural zeitgeist of a moment, rather than exploiting a fad. 

In the 1970s, British designer Vivienne Westwood’s rebellious creativity ushered in the punk counterculture movement into the mainstream with studs and leather, revolutionizing the fashion industry.

Westwood’s 1990 Spring/Summer Portrait collection draws inspiration from 18th-century French paintings, particularly François Boucher’s “Daphnis and Chloe,” which she recreated on corsets.

Inspired by German artist Rebecca Horn’s installation of two shotguns firing blood-red paint at each other, British designer Alexander McQueen merged technology with fashion in his 1999 Spring/Summer runway show. You can’t look at the finale, with two robotic figures splashing black and yellow paint onto Shalom Harlow’s white, flowy dress, and believe it’s anything but art.

Whether it’s Anna Sui’s punk designs with influences from the Rolling Stones and Andy Warhol or Blumarine’s romanticism and ultra-femininity, fashion makes a statement when creativity drives production rather than speed. 

“In a way, fashion is beyond art,” said Andrew Bolton, the curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, in an interview with Vogue. “It embodies our lived experience. It’s the only art form that does that.”

If fashion embodies our lived experience, then fast fashion reflects a troubling one: where value is derived from expedience and convenience rather than care. Instead of choosing a clothing item as a reflection of your personality, clothing has been cheapened, both literally and metaphorically, into a tool of ethical and environmental degradation.

But unless you scour the depths of Vinted and The RealReal, these high-end fashion brands are out of reach for the average consumer. But the alternative to creative, intentional design is not mass production. Instead, brands must focus on offering affordable, sustainable choices that transcend the lifespan of micro-trends. 

Fast fashion is a $150.82 billion industry, yet some of its workers are paid as little as $1.58 an hour. As the third-largest polluter in the world, the clothing is made from low-quality material, such as polyester, which does not decompose once quickly used and disposed of. These costs are hidden from consumers, but are built into every cheap garment we buy.

Though demand is high, with fast fashion’s constant advertising and cheap accessibility, it is not the consumer who should be shamed, but brands like SHEIN and Zara that must bear the brunt of the blame.

Conformity is bred through fast fashion, sacrificing self-expression and individuality for micro-trends. In the words of the legendary designer Yves Saint Laurent, “style is eternal.” Instead of buying into every fad, we must return to fashion as a form of art, learn to slow down and discover our own personal style — but it must be accessible to everyone.