When Algorithms Become the New Trend Shaper: The Aesthetic Production Mechanism of ‘White, Young, and Thin’ in Chinese Social Media and Fashion Culture
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54097/asmsk346Keywords:
Algorithmic Aesthetics, Aesthetic Labour, Brandy Melville, Chinese Social Media, ‘White, Young, and Thin’, One-Size-Fits-Small, Fashion Participation.Abstract
This essay explores how algorithmic platforms generate and reinforce the aesthetic ideal of ‘white, young, and thin’ in contemporary Chinese social media and fashion culture. Using qualitative network observation, visual analysis, brand analysis, and secondary literature research methods, the essay examines how platform recommendation systems interact with fashion practices, thereby constructing and normalizing specific body ideals. Firstly, through the observation of Redbook and TikTok, the visibility of recommended body types and fashion content under non-personalized conditions was analyzed. Secondly, taking Brandy Melville as an example, through its one-size-fits-small strategy, visual branding, and aesthetic labour. Finally, this essay explores how young Chinese women respond to these norms through selective and strategic fashion participation. Through research, the results show that the ideal of ‘white, young, and thin’ does not only reflect personal preferences, but also the result of the interaction of algorithmic visibility, business fashion strategies and repetitive visual performance. This essay believes that this process leads to the homogenization of fashion aesthetics, reinforces size-based exclusion, and limits the diversity of fashion expression.
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