How the campus became the new catwalk

Students are tastemakers, and brands are fighting for their hand in shaping college culture

It’s almost September, which means “back to school” season is in full swing. But this year it’s not just British schoolgoers being bombarded with uniform reminders and lunchbox ideas. The classroom comeback now extends to university students. Welcome to a new era of the commodification of the campus.

Previously, it was easy to differentiate between UK and US campus culture. US students had frat parties, drank from plastic red cups and slept in shared dorm rooms. Meanwhile, UK freshers had house parties, drank cans on the bus and congregated in communal kitchens. But thanks to social media the lines are becoming more blurred. Algorithms have influenced everyone to dress the same and now this is affecting campus culture. Social media is peppered with US and UK students doing room makeover tours and library fit checks, and the only difference between them is their accents and labels. Now, as the illusion of campus life becomes more powerful than the reality of it, brands are attempting to monetise it.