Generation Z bets on anonymity, but not as you imagine.

There is a particularly related sketch in the Netflix special on the Bo Burnham Inside pandemic called "Welcome to the Internet", which begins with a cheerful stanza: "Welcome to the Internet / take a look / anything that occurs to your brainIt can be found / we have mountains of content / some better, others worse / If nothing interests you, you will be the first. "

It becomes more sinister when Burnham satirizes both the endless roll of internet information and our inability to take advantage of it.But in a lighter note, that initial verse is an amazing description of my online navigation habits and those of my fashion -love friends.Anything that occurs to your brain can be found, in effect.Today, it is equally easy to find a Prada skirt of the spring of 1992, a five -digit vintage rolex or a couple of shoes you just saw on the street.And if you think you can't find what you want, you can hire a "search engine" in Threads Styling to travel the world until it is yours.

Everything has been said: the emotion of hunting is still there, more or less, but much of the mystery has disappeared.Anyone with a wifi connection can do the previously laborious and now instantaneous work of tracking what your heart wants, whether an expensive bag or a skirt of a designer who just discovered 30 seconds ago on Instagram.I have made purchase almost quickly.

The ease of achieving what we want - together with the overexposure to which we are subjected to social networks, where algorithms repeatedly serve us the articles we like (and those we follow) - could explain why women in style are goingIn the opposite direction: looking for pieces that nobody else has and cannot be easily searching on Google.Maybe it is an accounts collar collected on vacation or an incredible dress found in a second -hand store without a label.Whose is it?Honestly, I have no idea.Isn't that the maximum sign of good taste, bring something without a brand or influence association?In a recent newsletter, Leandra Medine expressed it like this: "Lately, I thought that not knowing is a new type of luxury."

The Recenta 2021 report of The Realreal has data that supports it.The consignment site classifies the most wanted articles, monitor the demand for specific designers and categories (luxury watches and jewelry are on the rise), and observes broader issues in consumer behavior (last year, he observedA change of "seasonal" purchases, since we supply welcoming knit garments in the middle of summer).In his latest report, The Realreal breaks down his five most popular brands of "high value" (that is, with articles of more than $ 1,000), and the list includes a curious deviation.Chanel is number 1, and secondly is ... nobody.

The demand for what The Realreal calls "jewels without a brand", such as these earrings and this necklace, was imposed on other luxury brands known to occupy the number 2. This classification is not specific to jewelry: people are buying moreBracelets, chains and cocktail rings without name than the last bags of IT brands.

It is surprising and, for this jewelry lover, deeply fascinating.One of the reasons why so many women collect jewelry, brand or not, is because they are personal, timeless and, usually, anonymous, unless it is a super recognizable design.The jewels contribute interest to a set and are less striking than clothes or accessories (unless you get rid of diamonds, of course).In addition, they are always designed to last and be transmitted with love to the next generation.

This is the most significant thing that "Jewelry without a brand" is so important in The Realreal: it is a site in which the names of the designers are often the main point."The brands are usually the engine of everything we do, and this is an area in which it is no longer," explains Sasha Skoda, director of women's fashion and fine jewelry of The Realreal, "every year, our Recent reportIt has been about logomania, and this is literally the opposite. "

In our time of overinformation and total access, what is more luxurious than possessing something that no one else can get, at least not easily?Skoda attributes it to the individualistic spirit of generation Z and millennial buyers: "People have fun with fashion, do not look so much in logos and only want pieces that speak to him and make him feel good," he says, "He talks a lot about looking for objects that awaken joy, and I think that this "trend" of jewelry without a brand reflects it. It is for the love of the piece, and nothing more. "

Skoda also says that it is an extension of the vintage boom that The Realreal has observed lately, with more young customers who buy clothes before the 2000s than their friends probably do not have."Telling someone 'is vintage' when he asks you about your dress is a kind of badge of honor," he says."We are seeing this broader change towards vintage and the only thing, and less need for logos and seasonal pieces."

Calling this "trend" could make it seem ephemeral; For me, it represents a broader change in our values, in which personal style and originality are valued more than IT articles. Kate Nightingale, founder of Style Psychology, a company specialized in the behavior and experiences of consumers, He affirms that the change was underway long before the pandemia: "In the western countries especially, we were in an era of personal growth, in which people began to worry more about experiences and to spend time with their loved ones," He says. "During the pandemic, that intensified. It forced us Deep. Instead of asking ourselves "I have the last bag?" We wonder "how does this bag feel me? What beneficial organization I supported when I bought it? Have I done something positive for the environment? The bag is becoming a symbol of social value, "she concludes, and not only a symbol of prestige or acceptance.

More surprising were Nightingale's observations on how the unique and nameless pieces reflect our fundamental need for control: "Even before the pandemic, there was a feeling of wanting to have more control in our lives: control how our data were used, which was used, whichWe shared on social networks, "he explains.(The desire to have something unique, anonymous or, better yet, personalized is, in a way, an expression of control. The sensation of control is a basic need and is key to our general security, and the pandemic shook that. It was madeImportant to recover some control, and buy pieces that nobody else has, or that are totally exclusive, creates an illusion of security in our minds. "

It is also possible that fashion consumers are increasingly cunning.The turn to the "stealthy luxury" was already underway before 2020, when the brands began to adopt a quieter and more minimalist aesthetic, and the designers thought of longevity and timelessness: "Those who buy striking logos tend to bedriven by the ego, "says Nightingale."While the people who buy unidentifiable items - the pieces that you may only recognize if you are aware - are simply not so worried about showing their status."

It is possible that customers of the Z generation and the millennium generation realize this, regardless of their real "social status."Money and prestige are no longer essential to influence, and most young buyers are as concerned about their values as an excellent fashion.In addition, today anyone can buy a logo, especially because the resale and savings are increasingly accessible.The unique personal style, on the other hand, is much more difficult to achieve.It cannot be achieved with a single purchase;It is about knowing yourself, having confidence in their choices and enhancing their creativity.And that is what you really feel like an aspiration.

Article originally published by Vogue Us, Vogue.com