Why Is Substack The Perfect Storm For Viral Trends?

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About me: Like Elle Woods I have a degree in fashion merchandising, plus 15 years of experience across buying, site merchandising, and trend forecasting. A large part of my job was working several seasons ahead to predict what people would buy, often to the detriment of my own wallet. I still love tracking trends, but appreciate thoughtful consumption even more. If this speaks to you, enjoy!

Today’s trend report is something slightly different. Instead of delving into specific style themes, I’m digging into why Substack has been the perfect breeding ground for viral fashion trends. This is a subject I’ve been fascinated by since I joined the platform two years ago and it all clicked into place when I started writing my own newsletter. If you own any of the trends I write about below, there should be zero bad feelings attached. Consider this a byproduct of participating in the fashion universe on Substack. (After all, I bought those once viral Ganni flats.)

I joined Substack as a reader the summer of 2024 after seeing some of my favorite fashion journalists mention they were using the platform. I was blown away that I could participate in fashion from so many angles between newsletters, chats, and notes. Living in San Francisco where interest in fashion is almost nil (although we seem to be in a growth phase today judging by the stylish women I see around the city), I felt like I’d finally found a group of people with the same core interest as me.

I came in as a heavy Instagram user of almost 15 years, following about two thousand fashion accounts for my job and for fun. I viewed Instagram as a one-way lens into someone’s life and personal style where I could like, comment, and share, but never expected any real interaction from an influencer or brand. Substack was on an entirely different plane and made me feel like an active participant in what was happening. I could comment on a post and I’d get a thoughtful response back! People were looking for the best jeans in chats and I had thoughts on that! They wanted to know how to shop secondhand and I had so many tips to share!

My strongest memory of my first few months on Substack is what I think of as The Great Barn Jacket Craze of 2024. Barn jackets were everywhere virtually overnight. Fashion writers were wearing them, affiliate links were flying, people were desperate to get their hands on certain brands that were sold out, and the chats were rife with sizing questions. Then the weather turned frigid and barn jackets abruptly fell off the radar in favor of elevated wool coats reminiscent of The Row/Khaite/Toteme. There was barely a whisper of barn jackets last fall and I’m not betting on a big 2026 trend comeback.

The High Sport pant bubbled up around the same time and met a more pronounced fate. 2025 was the year of the Juju Vera Petra necklace with a side of paracord jewelry. Today I cannot escape the Donni pink silk taffeta pants in my Substack feed no matter how hard I try. I call these hypertrends: they suddenly come out of nowhere (often facilitated by affiliate programs and/or brand gifting), saturate the platform, cause a shopping frenzy, and disappear without a trace the next season.

It’s important to note that there’s a core customer for all of these trends who still happily wear them today. There have been multiple Juju Vera pendants in resale threads and there are also people who’ve never wavered on their Petra necklace. I’m interested to see how the Donni pink pants unfold in 2027. The customer is loyal, but this style has a distinct whiff of SS26 that will be challenging to overcome without a major consumer shift towards extending the life of trend-driven items.

When I go to Instagram it’s a completely different story. The pink pants popped up in my feed, but it was nowhere near the same intensity as on Substack. I’ve seen it mentioned a handful of times, mostly from fashion media publications and rarely by creators I follow. You could argue I’ve had time to fine-tune my algorithm to my exact fashion interests. I could argue that I follow a large set of influencers who wear everything from high street to mid-tier to luxury newness, and I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen the pink pants in my feed this spring.

So what’s the driving force behind this on Substack?

Cover image via Fashion Is Psychology.