This Gen-Z influencer is one of the established and breakout names informing fashion and, more importantly, culture today. More from the series →
TikTok creator
Agus Panzoni, who is Argentinian, had her dream job at trend research agency WGSN, until she needed to get a new visa in 2019. She wondered how she’d find a new job in such a niche industry, and it occurred to her to use TikTok as a portfolio of sorts, to showcase what she’d done for her former employers. The intention was to get a new, similar job, but she never went back.
Instead, 25-year-old Panzoni eventually took a job at Depop, where, as a category manager, trend forecasting is not her main focus. As such, she’s free to use TikTok to share her observations on trends, fashion and sustainability. Her unique perspective resonates with fellow Gen Zers on TikTok, where she has an audience of 245,000.
Being a trend forecaster, she said, is about constant observation and finding the patterns that allow you to form a narrative around a trend. For example, Panzoni coined the term #subversivebasics, which she defined as “basics that rebel up to the point of losing their utility.” The hashtag #subversivebasics, which helped fuel the thousands of DIY tops TikTokers are now making from tights, has 50.8 million views. In her first video on #subversivebasics, Panzoni is wearing a style by Clarissa Larrazabal, who she said is at the forefront.
It’s a trend that “has it all,” Panzoni said, referring to the fact that it encompasses buzzy concepts like upcycling and DIY.
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Panzoni brings her awareness of Gen-Z values and fashion’s sustainability issues to her outlook on trends.
“[When I] speak about trends, I don’t like to give them an end date. Because that’s when it becomes all about consumption,” she said. As she tells it, there’s “a whole movement” discouraging people from “style shaming,” with the intention of elongating styles’ lifespan. To move toward a more sustainable fashion industry, nothing should be “so last season,” she said.
Though trends and sustainability don’t typically go hand-in-hand, Panzoni has found that her posts about emerging innovations in sustainable fashion, like mushroom leather, are among her most successful. Her recent post on mushrooms, as a trend taking over your “house, medicine cabinet and your wardrobe,” has been viewed over 150,000 times.
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“If a trend resonates with you, and you want to go for it, then go for it. But if it doesn’t, let it go,” she said.
To see all 13 Gen-Z names changing fashion, click here.
