Grace Csizmadia. Styling by Playo Sazon. Models: Parris Washington, Christie Wang, Balthazar Alfred, Brandon Marsh
Internet aesthetics began popping up on platforms like Tumblr, Pinterest and Instagram in the 2010s. The first instance of 'core' referring to a style online occurred in 2013, with the genesis of 'normcore,' an aesthetic of casual, everyday fashion basics. This is not untrue of traditional subcultures. However in their case, style works in tandem with political messaging.
This could explain their fleeting influence and disappearance into the abyss of 'cores' at the end of their short shelf life. The nature of social media trend cycles and algorithms ensure aesthetics become quickly oversaturated and wiped from explore pages in favor of the next trendy 'core' at rapid-fire rates.
Barnett's analogy here I feel is null—punk rockers and those that collect hyped sneakers are not one and the same. These groups can exist in different camps. These anomalies could be the last of their kind. Newfound subcultures with the qualifiers specified in my definition: a social minority group with a shared set of values between members that bring about significant political or social change, may be a pipe dream in an increasingly digital world.