Stay-at-home orders are keeping people home, and have shut down the fashion world, but young people are still finding ways to create and express themselves at home. But how is the fashion industry changing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic? With young style hungry teens at home DIY fashion is spiking. High fashion designers have either postponed or canceled fashions throughout the world, and some have even done online shows. Lockdowns have put a hold on instore shopping, but many are passing the time with online shopping. 

There is really nothing else to do right now, so many people are turning to fashion. Stores may be closed, but that is not stopping people from altering, designing, and selling second hand clothes. 

Many teens are taking their old clothes and creating unique works of art. Bleach and other dyes are popular to change the appearance of fabrics. Sewing and embroidery are popular to add to or change the shape of clothing. Some are even going as far as creating entirely new pieces from scratch, but many people are just upcycling their old clothes.

 The new trends of upcycling are disrupting the fast fashion industry, instead of giving in to the throw away culture of the twenty-first century fast fashion ideals, they are reselling their clothes on websites like Depop and Poshmark.

Young people are making more conscious decisions about fashion, and they are making a smaller environmental impact by buying second hand and selling second hand. 15 million of all Depop users are under the age of 25. The website is like social media for clothes, people follow sellers they like and can find new designers on an explore page, similarly to Instagram. The app is filled with one of a kind pieces, from old clothes being resold to custom never seen before pieces. According to a vogue business Depop has seen a 40% rise in listening compared to march of last year, they have also had a 65% increase in sales compared to march of last year. 

Painted jeans are another trend that have been taking off since locks down have started. They were popular before, but have since have become an easy way to revamp old jeans that are sitting at the bottom of your closet. The only materials needed are acrylic paint and a pair of jeans, which makes it easy for anyone to create them at home. 

Many of these clothing alterations journeys are well documented on Tik Tok. The app has been flooded with creators displaying their process of creating custom pieces of fashion from old clothes they had in their closet. Other people are making styling videos styling different pieces from their wardrobe and wishing for a time they can wear them out.

Many Depop sellers make videos showing how they pack and ship their orders. Others are making tutorials about making patterns at home and sewing the clothing together. These step by step videos are very popular and are a great place to start if you do not know how to sew. 

High-end designers like Dior, Alexander Mcqueen, Alexander Wang, and others have posted fashion DIY videos, challenges, and inside looks at the process of creating their  looks. Dior has posted many talks with their designers and they have designers working on projects at home.

Alexander Wang has posted DIY tutorials. Alexander Mcqueen has posted tutorials about embroidery, they did a video about their bee embroidery from their 2013 spring/summer collection.  Many spring fashion shows have either been canceled or postponed due to the pandemic. Other designers, like Harris Reed, are doing live videos once a week to do Q and A’s.