This phenomenon of seemingly meaningless content, dubbed brainrot, has rapidly permeated all corners of the online landscape, including the world of viral fashion trends. On August 4th, 2024, fashion influencer Karsten Kroening posted a video entitled “the fashion brainrot effect” on YouTube. In it, he relates recent online fashion trends such as T-shirts with outrageous graphics or phrases and MSCHF’s Big Red Boots to this brainrot trend. Kroening criticizes these trends, describing them as meaningless and created with the sole intention of generating hype. He then contrasts these items with some of the absurdities of Demna Gvasalia-era Balenciaga: a collaboration with Crocs, a fashion show inside of a McDonald’s, and a Fortnite hoodie. Kroening claims that these examples are not brainrot because they show intentionality; this absurdity is Gvasalia’s way of portraying the hypercapitalist society that influenced his childhood.
However, Kroening fails to realize the intentionality behind MSCHF, which in reality is very similar to Balenciaga. MSCHF is more of an art collective than a fashion brand, creating pieces as statements on capitalism, popular media, and trends. MSCHF uses shock value to critique various aspects of society, similar to the works of Banksy and the aforementioned Balenciaga. Therefore, saying the Big Red Boots lack intentionality because they are only meant to garner attention is inaccurate. They were inspired by the cartoon character Astro Boy, with the specific intention to reflect the simplification and abstraction of reality in cartoons. In an interview with Highsnobiety, MSCHF co-founder Daniel Greenberg described the Big Red Boot as “an absurd, simplified form that conveys the idea of ‘BOOT’ without worrying too much about the particulars of realism.” While the design of the boot is intrinsically eye-catching, that is not the sole purpose of its creation.
Even if the main intention behind brainrot fashion is to seek attention, what’s wrong with that? Fashion is inherently a form of self-expression, and if one wants to be loud with their clothing choices and draw others’ attention, that reflects something personal to the wearer. Through their wild style habits, they are acting on their desire to stand out. It is impossible to claim that brainrot fashion has no intention because it only seeks observation; the aspiration to heed recognition is the intention, and by dressing in a manner to do so, one is conveying part of their personality.
Besides, just like skibidi toilet, some of the most brainrotted fashion is somewhat funny. The “wait i’m goated” T-shirt (specifically the one in Papyrus font) and Praying’s “God’s Favorite” hat have already become immortalized and iconized into our current pop culture. Sure, the humor is lost after the first or second instance of seeing the quote, but those phrases are memorable and have stuck with viewers. Additionally, some graphic tees like the Destroy Lonely x Ken Carson “Bad Bitch Pussy For Lunch” tour T-shirt have become canonized in their respective fandoms. Again, not the most humorous phrase, but it is certainly shocking upon the first instance of reading it on a T-shirt. These ostentatious phrases have ingrained themselves in the realm of fashion memes, much like skibidi toilet is now a permanent fixture of the brainrot content subgenre.
Absurdist art was created with the intention to challenge elitism, but at the time of its birth, art was not accessible to the masses. However, with the age of the Internet, art has been spread to the masses via social media. By gatekeeping the meaning of absurdist art from the masses, it reinforces elitism, rather than combating it like it originally intended to do. Thus, categorizing Balenciaga as absurdist art while simultaneously demoting more accessible fashion like MSCHF and graphic tees as meaningless is an expression of this elitist gatekeeping.
As brainrot fashion is a trend heavily connected to social media, its absurdity can be seen as a reflection of internet culture. Since the dawn of social media platforms, memes and creative content have largely leaned on the use of absurdity and irony to draw humor. The virality of the Internet also leads to inside jokes and references that only frequent social media users understand. There’s a reason why Boomers and Gen Xers don’t understand the humor of Millennials and Gen Zers–the Internet has bred and cultivated a specific type of humor native to social media. Now, some of those who have grown up with this sense of humor are choosing to express it through their style. And just like how older generations don’t understand skibidi toilet, those who haven’t grown up fully immersed in modern meme culture don’t understand brainrot fashion trends.
Perhaps, we should consider that brainrot might not even be that bad to begin with. My generation, Gen Z, grew up with MLG memes, YTP, Vine, and TikTok, and while we face a disproportionate amount of mental health issues, our brains are more fucked up because of societal factors like school shootings, environmental issues, and systemic discrimination than the dumb content we watched as kids. MLG memes and Vines did not inhibit my ability to read or do math. I know 9 + 10 doesn’t equal 21 even if I say that it does. The extent to which brainrot is responsible for actually rotting our brains is dubious. Instead of viewing all these trends as rotting our brains, we should shift our perspective to recognize the benefits of brainrot.
I think the term brainrot is derogatory; rather, we should consider it brain fermentation. In terms of food production, fermentation is a biochemical process in which molecules are transformed into a new product over a period of time. Some of the world’s most esteemed foods and drinks are produced through this process, such as cheese, yogurt, miso, bread, pickles, kombucha, kimchi, vinegar, and sauerkraut. Chocolate before fermentation is bitter as hell. Do you enjoy going out and getting plastered with friends on a Friday night? Thank fermentation for alcohol. Beyond just making shit taste good, fermentation provides multiple benefits, such as improving gut health, adding nutrients, and prolonging shelf life.
Similarly, this genre of content can transform and benefit our brains. Watching brain fermentation can provide a sense of rest and relaxation or humor and entertainment, serving as a perfect break needed in a hectic world. Most importantly though, immersing yourself in brain fermentation is exposing yourself to the cultural zeitgeist of today’s online community. This content transforms us into more interesting individuals, exposing us to forms of absurdism that were once inaccessible and thus expanding our knowledge of art, fashion, and culture. No matter how wildly stupid you think they are, skibidi toilet and the Big Red Boots are real indicators of current trends, and disregarding their significance displays an ignorance of pop culture. And if you don’t agree, I hate to break it to you, but you are not sigma.