Fashion Futures Research & Consumer Insight Publication

The Meme Catwalk is a combination of a research project and a consumer insight publication carried out by Gaia De Rossi. This project explores the evolving intersection of luxury fashion, professional sports, and meme culture. This research publication was the base for the findings further explored and developed throughout Gaia’s Major Project. This research merges cultural theory with digital ethnography, it is a deep examination of how the culture behind athlete “walk-ins” have become performative spaces where authenticity, aspiration, and visibility intersect. Through the utilisation of interviews, consumer insights and ethnographic analysis this project reveals how social media transforms fashion into symbolic capital; a space where humor, virality, and identity performance redefine both the aspects of cultural relevance and branding in the digital era. The project as a whole fundamentally shifted Gaia’s previous understanding of how digital culture can reframe the relationship and intersection betwee luxury branding and authenticity. Ultimately, it also highlighted how there are many persistent limitation is the traditional brand communication frameworks when working in spaces that are fast-paced participatory online formats.