HYPERREALITY OF WOMEN’S IMAGES IN TIKTOK FASHION CONTENT: A STUDY OF GENERATION Z WOMEN

Abstract

TikTok's development as a space for visual expression has helped shape how Generation Z women represent themselves and perceive fashion in their everyday lives. Fashion content presented through endorsement videos, such as outfit of the day (OOTD), get ready with me (GRWM), and haul videos, functions not only as a medium for product promotion but also constructs idealised images of women through clothing styles, silhouettes, colours, materials, branding, and styling techniques. These representations create a form of hyperreality in which fashion images presented in digital spaces are perceived as ideal references for appearance and identity formation. This study aims to analyse the hyperreality of women’s images constructed through fashion content on TikTok and examine how Generation Z women perceive these representations. This research uses a qualitative approach, drawing on representation theory and Jean Baudrillard’s concept of hyperreality as its main analytical framework. Data were collected by analysing fashion videos on TikTok and administering questionnaires to Generation Z women. The findings indicate that TikTok fashion content constructs images of women through curated, aesthetic, and repetitive visual representations, thereby establishing standards of appearance and lifestyles that appear ideal and realistic. These images then function as identity symbols and fashion references for Generation Z women, while also being linked to symbolic and repetitive patterns of fashion consumption. This study demonstrates that TikTok functions not merely as a medium for disseminating fashion information but also as a space for producing and reproducing the hyperreality of women’s images within digital culture.