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Butler is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice focuses on the intentional removal of informational excess through a subtle, minimalistic approach.

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You could one day wash your clothes by exposing them to light, if pioneering materials developed by Australian nanotechnology researchers prove successful.

A team of scientists from RMIT University in Melbourne have developed a cheap and efficient way to create textiles fused with nanostructures capable of degrading organic matter when exposed to light.

Their techniques pave the way for the creation of clothes which could be cleaned of daily grime simply by being put under a lightbulb, or even worn outside during the day.

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The technology behind the idea isn't new - the team worked with copper and silver-based nanostructures, which create 'hot electrons' when exposed to light. These electrons then release energy, which enables the nanostructures to degrade organic matter.

Such structures have been created before, but usually only on a small scale, in costly and time-consuming processes.

The RMIT team found an easier way, by growing the structures directly onto textiles. By dipping the materials into a series of solutions, they were able to grow stable nanostructures on them within 30 minutes.

When exposed to light, some of these treated materials managed to spontaneously clean themselves within six minutes.

The next step for the team is to start testing their "nano-enhanced" textiles with organic compounds which would be relevant to consumers, like wine or tomato sauce.

Unfortunately, the university's Dr Rajesh Ramanathan says he has much more work to do before we can throw away our washing machines.

However, he did say: "This advance lays a strong foundation for the future development of fully self-cleaning textiles."

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Scientists have invented 'fabric that cleans itself with light'

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You could one day wash your clothes by exposing them to light, if pioneering materials developed by Australian nanotechnology researchers prove successful. A team of scientists from RMIT University in Melbourne have developed a cheap and efficient way to create textiles fused with nanostructures capable of degrading organic matter when exposed to light.

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When it comes to responsibility, there’s always more to be done. Today 83% of our products are already made from sustainable materials. We are 100% committed to doing better.

Here are our goals for the upcoming years:

2021 – use 99%* recycled or sustainably sourced material by year's end.

2021 – have 90% green score** on denim washes and 5% post-consumer recycled cotton in all denim.

2025 – use only reusable, recyclable or compostable plastic in our packaging.

2040 – be 100% climate positive.

*and continue working hard to reach the last 1% that we are currently working on.
**according to Jeanologias Environmental Impact Measurement tool.

Our goal is that all our materials to be sustainably sourced by the end 2021. This is an ambitious goal and it will require a lot of detailed work finding more sustainable solutions for even the smallest details. It could very well be that we reach 99.9%, instead of 100%, solely because a screw in a pair of sunglasses cannot be 100% sustainably sourced but we will work our hardest to find the best solutions so that we make our goal as soon as possible.

We are also taking actions to eliminate unnecessary plastic packaging and use 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable plastic in our packaging, by 2025. As a part of H&M group, we have a goal of achieving a climate positive value chain by 2040. What does that mean? Basically, reducing more greenhouse gas emissions than what our value chain emits.

Want to know more? Read here

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When you think of futuristic clothing, you probably imagine lots of metallics, holographic accents, and textures. In fact, the sci-fi imagery that springs to mind is coming back into fashion, as evidenced by some recent runway trends (Figure 1).

While we can't say for certain what the fashion of the future will look like, many of us hope that clothing a few years from now will have some greatly enhanced function, making use of science to create cleaner, safer textiles. One way to achieve these goals is to use nanotechnology to do things like kill bacteria or remove dirt.

Nanotechnology in the clothing industry is not a new phenomenon. Beginning in the mid-2000s, many clothing companies started incorporating silver nanoparticles into their products. Silver nanoparticles are antimicrobial, which means they kill the bacteria that cause bad odors. By including these nanoparticles in fabric to prevent odor, the resulting clothes need to be washed less frequently. These nano-infused items range from socks to t-shirts and are still popular today. To learn more about the environmental implications of silver-nanoparticle impregnated fabric, visit our previous blog post here.

There is a lot more new technology beyond antimicrobial nanoparticles coming from the field of nano-fabrics. Other desirable clothing characteristics that could be achieved with nanotechnology include self-cleaning fabrics, water-repelling textiles, and clothing that can reduce odors by chemically changing the compounds that cause bad odor. These innovations would take advantage of nano- specific properties, particularly the high surface area per volume ratio of nano-sized materials that increase the exposure of active surfaces to the surrounding environment.

Some of these more futuristic-sounding features are already in development. Recently, fabrics coated with silver and copper nanomaterials were produced that can degrade organic matter, such as food and dirt, upon exposure to the sun. These nanomaterials absorb visible light, producing high energy "hot" electrons that can break down surrounding organic matter. The nano features are helpful because the increased surface area of silver or copper metal drastically increases surface-exposed sites that can form the "hot" electrons to help break down food and dirt. Incorporating these nanomaterials could thus help create clothes that clean themselves!

Nanotechnology can also be harnessed to produce water-repelling, or hydrophobic, materials. This application draws its inspiration from nature: many plants have foliage that is hydrophobic because of nano-scale structures on the leaves. You can observe water-repelling plant leaves on a dewy summer morning. Water droplets on a leaf tend to ball up into spheres instead of being absorbed into the surface (Figure 3). This phenomenon is called the "lotus effect" because it is especially potent for the leaves of the lotus plant.

The hydrophobicity of the lotus leaf also makes it self-cleaning; dirt that initially sticks to the leaf surface is often washed away by beads of water that roll off the plant due to its hydrophobicity (Figure 4). After studying the physical structure of lotus leaves, researchers understand that their superhydrophobic nature is partially due to the presence of nanostructures, which create a rough surface that repels water.

Researchers are working to exploit the lotus effect to create artificial superhydrophobic fabrics. Imagine how convenient it would be if rain was completely repelled by your umbrella, to the point that you could wrap it up when you get inside- no having to shake it off or leave it open to dry! New nanofabrics can do just this because they contain patterned nano-silicone spikes. Silicone is naturally water resistant, and the use of nano-sized patterns makes the material even more hydrophobic. When a water droplet comes into contact with the surface of these materials, it balls up and slides off instead of being absorbed.

Nanotechnology can also be used to chemically target and eliminate odor-causing molecules. Whereas the silver nanoparticles mentioned earlier prevent odor formation by killing bacteria, a second generation of odor-busting nanoparticles work by chemically targeting and modifying stinky compounds. Whereas things like fabric or room sprays merely mask odor, fabrics modified with these new nanomaterials could break down the source of the odor, making them better and more efficient at deodorizing. One group of researchers found that copper coated silica nanoparticles were effective at eliminating odor arising from ethyl mercaptan, which is a stinky chemical typically added to petroleum gas (which is odorless) to enable us to smell gas leaks. Interacting with the copper-silica nanoparticles modifies the ethyl mercaptan molecules and binds them to the surface of the particles, so there is less ethyl mercaptan left to smell bad. This second generation of odor-reducing nanoparticles may be more environmentally sound than antimicrobial silver, because the mechanism of odor elimination is targeted towards specific compounds as opposed to general bacterial toxicity.

So, will nano-fabrics be the future of clothing, enabling us to all have self-cleaning, water-resistant clothes that we only have to wash a few times a year? Only time will tell. The field of nano-fabrics is still very much in its infancy and it still faces some challenges. For example, washing clothes that contain antimicrobial silver releases nanoparticles into the waste water, giving them a limited effective lifetime as the nanomaterial washes out. Perhaps more important is the potential environmental risk of this nanoparticle release into the environment, which has incited continued debate and controversy, as metal nanoparticles can dissolve into toxic ions when exposed to environmental conditions. Newer nanofabric technologies may carry their own concerns, which have not yet been thoroughly studied. However, the potential benefits of nano-enhanced fabrics makes their use worth exploration. And with continued scientific advancement that will allow us to address environmental concerns, this sector of nanotechnology can only continue to grow.

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

REFERENCES

1. Soutter, W. Nanotechnology in Clothing. AZO Nano, 2012. https://www.azonano.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=3129.

2. Osborne, H. Self-cleaning clothes edge closer as scientists create textile cleansed of dirt by sunlight. International Business Times, 2016. https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/self-cleaning-clothes-edge-closer-scientists-create-textile-cleansed-dirt-by-sunlight-1551240.

3. Anderson, S. R.; Mohammadtaheri, M.; Kumar, D.; O'Mullane, A. P.; Field, M. R.; Ramanathan, R.; Bansal, V. Adv. Mater. Interfaces 2016, 3(6), 1-8. DOI: 10.1002/admi.201500632.

4. Nanowerk. Nanotechnology solutions for self-cleaning, dirt and water-repellent coatings. 2011. https://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=19644.php.

5. Evans, J. Nanotech clothing fabric 'never gets wet.' New Scientist, 2008. https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16126-nanotech-clothing-fabric-never-gets-wet/.

6. Singh, A.; Krishna, V.; Angerhofer, A.; Do, B.; MacDonald, G.; Moudgil, B. Langmuir 2010, 26(20), 15837-15844. doi: 10.1021/la100793u

7. Mole, B. News Brief: Wash removes nano germ-killers https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/news-brief-wash-removes-nano-germ-killers.

8. American Chemical Society. The impact of anti-odor clothing on the environment (press release) 2016. https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/presspacs/2016/acs-presspac-april-13-2016/the-impact-of-anti-odor-clothing-on-the-environment.html.

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When you think of futuristic clothing, you probably imagine lots of metallics, holographic accents, and textures. In fact, the sci-fi imagery that springs to mind is coming back into fashion, as evidenced by some recent runway trends (Figure 1). While we can't say for certain what the fashion of the future will look like, many of...

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These facilities are the results of an innovative partnership with HKRITA to accelerate research on textile recycling, to speed up the development of a closed loop for textiles, with the purpose to safeguard the planet and our living conditions. In September 2017, only one year into the four-year long partnership, HKRITA presented a technological breakthrough with a hydrothermal method for recycling cotton and polyester blends into new fibres. Blends are the most common, yet unrecyclable, type of textile in the world.

One year later, September 3, 2018, a new pre-industrial size facility scaling this technology was opened at a ceremony joined by the Hon Mrs Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-Ngor, The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), and Mr Nicholas W Yang, Secretary for Innovation and Technology of the HKSAR. The purpose of the facility is to invite fashion brands and stakeholders worldwide to see, test and implement this technology within their own operations. As a non-profit the H&M Foundation works to drive change for the global fashion industry, which is why HKRITA will license the results widely to make it available to all and enable a bigger impact.

Erik Bang, Innovation Lead H&M Foundation

"This is a significant step towards a new fashion industry that operates within the planetary boundaries. As we scale up and make this technology freely available to the industry, we will reduce the dependence on limited natural resources to dress a growing global population," says Erik Bang, Innovation Lead H&M Foundation.

In addition, a miniaturized Garment-To-Garment Recycling System and retail shop selling the recycled garments opened. Customers can bring their unwanted clothes, and watch the container-sized system recycle their garments and make new fashion finds. "Seeing is believing, and when customers see with their own eyes what a valuable resource garments at end of life can be, they can also believe in recycling and recognize the difference their actions can make," says Erik Bang.

The Garment-To-Garment Recycling System is the result of a collaboration between HKRITA, the H&M Foundation and Novetex, with the support of the Mills and located at the newly repurposed former textile mill The Mills in Hong Kong.

Edwin Keh, Chief Executive Officer of HKRITA

"After successfully developing revolutionary recycling technologies, we have devoted sustained effort to put them into practice. Our recycling systems represent the industry's well-applied innovation efforts. These not only revitalise a decades-old major industry, but also do it most sustainably for the benefit of our community and as a responsible global citizen," says Edwin Keh, Chief Executive Officer of HKRITA.

The H&M Foundation is projected to invest 5.8 million euro with HKRITA over four years. The investment is made possible through the surplus from the H&M group's in-store garment collecting programs, which is donated to the H&M Foundation. The H&M Foundation allocates 50% of the total surplus to research on textile recycling and the other 50% to projects focusing on equality and inclusion of marginalized groups.

For more information

Erik Bang, Innovation Lead H&M Foundation
erik.bang@hmfoundation.com
+46 72 173 16 22

NOTES TO EDITORS
Technical information
The recycling technology consist of chemical and hydrothermal treatments, to recycle cotton and polyester blends into new fabric and yarns. Today, the polyester can be extracted as fibres, ideal for spinning and making new fabrics. The cotton is extracted as cellulose powder, and can be applied to functional products or regenerated fibres. HKRITA is now focusing their research on improving the quality of the separated fibres and cellulose powders, to develop more sustainable solutions for the industry. The new facility is located at the Novetex Factory in Tai Po Industrial Estate, Hong Kong.
The partnership
The H&M Foundation initiated the partnership with HKRITA in September 2016. It is backed by an estimated 5.8 million euro of funding, with HKRITA conducting the research and work to commercialise the outcomes. The Innovation and Technology Fund of the Hong Kong SAR Government also provides additional substantial funding and support. The total project investment is estimated to around 30 million euros during the four-year collaboration (2016-2020), which makes it one of the biggest and most comprehensive efforts ever for textile recycling. To date, September 3, 2018 the H&M Foundation has donated 3.5 million euro to HKRITA. Learn more.

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RECYCLING FACILITIES TAKES FASHION INDUSTRY ONE STEP CLOSER TO CIRCULARITY

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Today, the H&M Foundation and The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) open two first of its kind textile recycling facilities in Hong Kong. The award-winning hydrothermal recycling technology is for the first time put into practice at scale. In addition, a miniaturized Garment-To-Garment Recycling System is opened for the public.

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If there's one thing Palace Skateboards has done over the past eight years, it's break the rules. When it comes to fashion and style, anyone in the industry will tell you there's a way things are done: a convention; rules and regulations. Like any other field, the art of making and selling clothes is a method that's been perfected through trial and error over decades. Cast your mind back to when Kanye first entered fashion and began an internship at Fendi. One of the reasons many people in the industry were so frustrated by this news was the fact that West hadn't gone through the conventional channels to get there, and as a result the idea of him receiving the real experience of an internship at an Italian fashion house was patently absurd. Though we all might hate the dogma of any industry, we often equally resent the people that fail to respect it.

On the other hand, every so often something comes along which seems to fly in the face of all convention, flouting every preconceived notion of how things should be done. And gets away with it. More than that, makes a killing.

This, in my eye, is the central phenomenon of British skate brand Palace Skateboards. From humble beginnings selling t-shirts in a handful of London stores, Palace has erupted into one of the biggest streetwear brands in the world.

But far from approaching their success with greater levels of professionalism, the Palace team has only gotten more belligerent; clapping back at negative comments on Instagram, exploiting every new release as an opportunity to take the piss, and using their online store's product descriptions less as a space to sell product, and more as a space to insult their customers (and their mothers). If they carry on at this rate, Spring/Summer 2018 will just be a load of t-shirts of dudes giving you the brown eye, and it'll sell out faster than ever.

Nonetheless, beneath their obnoxious exterior, there's a lot of depth to the Palace backstory. With that in mind, here's a comprehensive guide to one of the most interesting brands in skateboarding and streetwear today.

PWBC: The Origins of Palace

In the late '00s, Lev Tanju and a number of other London skaters were living in a squat flat in Waterloo near London's iconic Southbank skate park. Ironically referred to as 'The Palace', the squat's regular inhabitants became jokingly known as the 'Palace Wayward Boys' Choir', a play on the Victorian religious charity organizations you'd expect to read about in a Charles Dickens novel. When Tanju decided to start his own skate brand down the line, the name was obvious; Palace.

The Palace Logo

From the Nike Swoosh or the adidas 3-stripes to Apple's iconic bitten apple, the most effective logos are simple, clear and distinctive. The Palace logo is no exception in this regard, and was designed by legendary London illustrator Fergus Purcell aka 'Fergadelic'. Having previously designed for labels like Stüssy, as well as his own brands Tonite and Silas, Purcell is no stranger to creating strong, compelling graphic designs. I actually interviewed him a few years back and he explained the situation quite simply: Lev Tanju came to him with a brand completely planned out, and all he needed was a logo. Drawing from his vast knowledge of pop culture and comic books, Ferg came back with a modified take on the Penrose Triangle featuring 'Palace' branding on each of the impossible object's sides. The Palace logo was a triangle designed by Fergadelic - a 'Tri-Ferg'. Then Rihanna wore it and the rest is history.

The VHS Aesthetic

One of the things that immediately set Palace apart from other skate brands in the scene was the distinctive lo-fi aesthetic of their videos. At a time when the skate industry, like everyone else, was pushing ever further toward HD 1080p video and surround sound, Palace suddenly popped up with a series of short, grainy videos that looked like they'd come straight out of the '90s. Tanju's reasoning for this choice was that, when he watched classic '90s skate videos, there was something about the raw, low quality that the newer technology seemed to lose. He clearly wasn't the only one who felt this way, as the style proved a hit with viewers and became a core element of their early identity. Combined with the laid-back, "who cares" attitude of their videos and DIY aesthetic, Palace's early videos looked like the kind of footage you'd film with your mates with a crappy handicam on the weekends, and captured the essence of street skating.

The Slam City Skates Connection

Another thing that the Palace brand had going for it from the early days was its connection to legendary London skate store and distribution company, Slam City Skates. For over 25 years, the Slam City team has been the de facto gatekeepers of the London skate scene (and maybe even the whole UK). Being founded by a bunch of London skaters meant Palace was sure to get support from the Slam City team, which is pretty much the best co-sign you could ask for, and Slam City co-owner Gareth Skewis is also joint-owner of Palace with Lev Tanju. The result was a combination of Lev's creative vision and Skewis's unparalleled knowledge of the skate distribution business. Has it worked out for them? Duh.

The Reference Points

At its core, Palace is a skate brand, but like many other labels, they incorporate a wealth of references into their designs that celebrate broader elements of British culture. Tracksuits, shellsuits and windbreaker jackets pay tribute to the sportswear silhouettes that will be familiar to any working class British person and are a popular choice of clothing for the Palace skaters.

More flamboyant parts of the brand's collections, such as their penny loafers and chelsea boots or the quite literally fruity shirts and trousers of their most recent drop, pay homage to Italian fashion labels like Moschino, Versace and Iceberg that were the UK club culture uniform in the late '90s and early '00s (reiterated through nods to Italian luxury sportswear a la 'Palazzo' and so on).

Lastly, the history of dance culture, from the original Chicago house scene, to the UK's '90s rave scene right through to the present day, features heavily in the brand's designs. On the more obvious side, you've got pieces like a Palace logo tee covered in Mitsubishi ecstasy pills, symbolic of original rave culture, or the occasional psychedelic all-over print that look like they've come straight out of the glamorous days of UK Garage. But take a closer look and you'll find much deeper references; in one of their earliest collections, the brand released the 'Rockin' Palace' t-shirt, featuring a flip of the logo for Rockin' House Records, an early Chicago House label founded by dance music pioneer Rodney Bakerr.

The Music

Palace's interests in music goes beyond fashion and logo flips, as well. The brand is well-connected to The Trilogy Tapes, an independent London record label run by Will Bankhead. Bankhead is probably one of the most knowledgeable people on dance music in the UK right now, and every so often The Trilogy Tapes and Palace cross paths for a vinyl release.

In 2014 they released a 12" by Chicago House legend Theo Parrish, followed by a split release by Mix Mup and Kassem Mosse, and then a 12" for Syrian dance music extraordinaire and general legend Omar Souleyman featuring remixes by Rezzett on the reverse. There's an Omar S. Palace T-shirt floating around from a few years back as well which is, frankly, nothing short of fantastic.

The Palace Skate Team

Though the brand is pretty quiet about their day-to-day operations, one thing that Tanju has made clear about Palace Skateboards from the beginning is his ultimate goal: to make enough money to be able to pay his mates to go out, skate as much as they want and not have to worry about anything else.

In this regard, he's been true to his word, and the Palace skate team is a mish-mash roster of pros, amateurs and close friends that all feel the benefit of being part of the UK's coolest skate team. At the center you've got UK skate icons Chewy Cannon and Benny Fairfax, Lucien Clarke and Blondey McCoy (faces of most of the brand's recent campaigns), as well as Charlie Young, Danny Brady, Shawn Powers, Olly Todd, Torey Goodall, and Rory Milanes. Other regular faces in the brand's videos include Karim Bakhtaoui and Gabriel 'Nugget' Pluckrose.

2009: The Early Days

Palace first emerged onto the London scene very unceremoniously in 2009, popping up in a handful of boutique stores like The Hideout (R.I.P.) with little more than a whisper. Initial designs like the brand's now iconic Versace and Chanel flips sold out to those in the know, and within a year ripples started to spread throughout the city. Other stores that were quick to pick it up include Present in East London's Shoreditch and Liverpool's iconic Lost Art skateshop.

If I remember correctly, the brand's original Tri-Ferg tees were reversible with a different color design on the reverse, so if you ever see a reversible Palace tee going for cheap on eBay, snap it up. Don't do it if it's expensive though, Lev will just laugh at you on social media. You were warned.

2011: Supreme London Opens

Comparisons between Palace Skateboards and New York's original irreverent streetwear label are a dime a dozen these days, but the connections were present even in the early days, and many people theorized that the brand was deliberately following the Supreme model, or was maybe even part-funded by Supreme.

When Supreme opened their first European store in London in late 2011, many noticed that the Fall/Winter 2011 lookbook was modeled by Palace rider Lucien Clarke, and over the next few years Supreme would continue to focus its attention on British skateboarding culture, much to the benefit of Palace. Not only that; footwear aside, on the London store's opening day, only two brands were available to purchase at Supreme: Supreme, and Palace. That's the kind of promotion that money can't buy.

The Palace 'Pop-Off' Shops

In the early days Palace was only available from skate stores (and the occasional boutique store), all of whom quickly sold out of product. The brand would also occasionally open an online store on their website for special releases, but trying to buy stuff from there was always a nightmare. From late 2012 to 2013, Palace first began dipping its toes in brick-and-mortar retail with a series of brief pop-up stores in London known as their 'Pop-Off Shops' or 'Palace Retail Powerslide'.

In one of the first flashes of what would become the brand's trademark irreverent sense of humor, flyers for the events promised 'fully untrained staff' and 'posh new high-end shit'. Needless to say, the ventures proved to be a success and soon led to a more permanent fixture...

The Palace Shop in London

In April 2015, barely six years since the brand first launched, Lev and co made big steps when they announced the opening of the first ever Palace shop in London. Located in the heart of Soho on Brewer Street, the store's plush marble flooring made clear references to the opulent Italian fashion labels that London's youth wore during the UK Garage days (such as Moschino, Versace and Prada), and brought to the fore the brand's unparalleled knack for taking the piss in the best way possible.

Located just around the corner from Supreme, the Palace shop has continued to benefit from the cross-pollination of hype between the two labels, with one clever adjustment; Supreme releases new product on a Thursday, so Palace releases theirs on Saturdays, giving the youth two days to run back home, drop off their bags and grabbeth more pea from Mumsie in time for the drop. Like clockwork.

The Palace Shop in New York

Having firmly conquered London in little more than two years, the choice was obvious when it came to the location for the next Palace shop. NYC is arguably the streetwear capital of the world, home to dozens of brands, sneaker stores and, obviously, skaters.

The latest chapter of Palace Skateboards continues in the brand's ostentatious style, featuring a wall-sized velvet flag, marble flooring throughout, a giant TV screen at the background and, obviously a P-shaped fountain, obviously with a brass cherub who's obviously holding a P whilst obviously taking a pee whilst obviously taking your p. Tanju's japes have gone meta with this one.

How the Drops Work

Though the brand was a little bit more unpredictable in its infancy, these days Palace follows a relatively straightforward release schedule, releasing four seasonal collections a year; Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. Spring and Fall tend to be a little bit larger, but recent releases have seen the brand dropping pretty hefty collections throughout the year, to be fair.

Collections tend to release in a handful of drops throughout the season, announcing at the beginning of the week and releasing on Saturdays, launching at 00:00 GMT on their online store and the following morning at brick and mortar locations. Try to cop from the safety and comfort of your bed, and if it all goes wrong, wrap up warm and prepare to camp. Isn't choice a liberating thing?

The Collaborations: Palace Skateboards x Umbro

One of the best things about the Palace brand is their completely unapologetic celebration of streetwear and urban culture from a British perspective. From UK Garage and House music to football and beers, Palace has always made a point of celebrating their homegrown culture. In 2012, the Choir pushed this to the max with a collaboration with iconic British sportswear label Umbro.

The capsule collection featured a number of classic athletic pieces, capped off with a pair of football jerseys inspired by the England team's official kit for the 1990 World Cup in Italy. Then they rounded it all off with a grainy VHS tape of the whole gang drinking in a pub and watching the football. Absolutely flawless.

The Collaborations: Palace Skateboards x Reebok

For their next collaboration in 2013, Palace would join forces with another UK sportswear staple, this time on a footwear release. While Reebok might be better known for its aggressive basketball silhouettes in the U.S., back in Britain the brand is defined by its Reebok Classics training shoes. For their first footwear release, Palace recreated the Classic Leather and Workout silhouettes in classic color palettes with some subtle details including embossed Palace logo branding and very gaudy branded laces.

Americans might have been left scratching their heads, but to the UK, it made perfect sense. The two brands would reunite a number of times in the following years with increasingly bonkers promotional videos, most notably a bizarre infomercial starring comedy superstar and absolutely shameless streetwear fiend Jonah Hill.

The Collaborations: Palace Skateboards x Tate

Arguably the brand's most interesting collaborative works to date, in late 2013 Palace founder Lev Tanju was invited by British art institution the Tate to experiment with artworks on display in the Tate Britain gallery and create a new series of skate decks. The three resultant graphics, created by projecting John Martin's 'The Great Day of his Wrath' onto one of the sculptures in the gallery, were put on display in the gallery and, to my knowledge, were never physically released. Check out the video of Tanju explaining his creative process here:

The Collaborations: Palace Skateboards x adidas Originals

With Umbro and Reebok crossed off the list, all Palace needed to complete the European sportswear holy trinity was adidas Originals. In early 2014, they tested the waters when adidas Skateboarding produced a Tri-Ferg-decorated jersey and skate deck for Palace rider Benny Fairfax, followed in September with the brand's most comprehensive collaborative release yet.

Once again, the designs leant heavily on adidas' football legacy, channelling references to a number of classic kits across apparel, outerwear, accessories. True to form, Palace came through with a promotional video celebrating their collaboration with the 'sportswear bigboys', presented by a man who claimed to be (and definitely was) Palace founder Lev Tanju. Other cameos in the video include Benny Fairfax, Blondey McCoy and Fergus 'Fergadelic' Purcell.

The Collaborations: Palace Skateboards x Bronze 56k

Though Palace might be the best known brand in the new wave of independent, self-made skate brands, they're certainly not the only one. Dime in Montreal, Quartersnacks in NYC, Polar Skate Co. in Sweden and loads of other teams around the world are reinventing the idea of skate brands in the 21st century. And though people often put Supreme and Palace alongside each other, Palace's true kindred spirit is arguably NYC's Bronze 56k skate team.

With their tongue-in-cheek graphics, lo-fi production style and raw, uncompromising approach to street skating, the Bronze guys were the perfect skate brand for a Palace collaboration. Joining up in 2015, a capsule collection of apparel and decks featured graphics by Shawn Powers, joint-branded Tri-ferg tees and some much-needed references to white powder. Tee hee.

Beyond Palace: Thames by Blondey McCoy

Over the years, a number of Supreme alumni have gone on to create their own projects; Aaron Bondaroff launched aNYthing, OHWOW Gallery and Know-Wave radio; Jason Dill runs his own brand Fucking Awesome; Angelo Baque has been putting the work in Awake, and so on. It seems fitting, then, that Palace has been encouraging members of its own clique to do the same.

Over the past few years, Palace rider and gold-toothed model Blondey McCoy has been working on his fledgling label, Thames. Inspired by London culture in its purest form, Thames incorporates imagery from Soho nightlife, London sculptures and more into his label, which is stocked in Palace's brick-and-mortar stores as well as Dover Street Market London.

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Palace Skateboards Guide: Everything You'll Ever Need to Know

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If there's one thing Palace Skateboards has done over the past eight years, it's break the rules. When it comes to fashion and style, anyone in the industry will tell you there's a way things are done: a convention; rules and regulations.

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London-based Lucien Clarke has balanced a pro skateboarding career with high fashion modeling, something unthinkable only a decade ago. Following his most recent appearance on Virgil Abloh's Louis Vuitton runway, we caught up with the Palace team member to explore his history, style, and the impact of today's creative culture on skateboarding.
Professional skateboarder Lucien Clarke is emblematic of a wider paradigm shift. On the skate side, the Kingston, Jamaica-born 31-year-old rides for London tearaways Palace Skateboards. But his endeavors in fashion are what mark him out as symbolic of a greater cultural change. Art, music, film, and fashion are becoming younger, more diverse, less traditional. This changing environment encourages cross-pollination, with guys like Clarke coming to embody how freely these worlds now commingle.

This shift positions creators with a background in skateboarding to become involved in mediums previously deemed inaccessible. For Clarke, that has meant more than just having a signature skateboard or sneaker. He's worked with esteemed photographers David Sims, Alasdair McLellan, and Juergen Teller, and modeled in Gucci and Ralph Lauren. He's walked Virgil Abloh's Louis Vuitton runway twice. And all while pursuing his own work in photography and video direction.

"I'd like to think skateboarding and fashion is one entity. I've never seen it as separate worlds. It depends how deep you go into it."

"I think a lot of contributing young fashion designers and street culture trends are known to hugely inspire the luxury fashion empires. For example, the black and Islamic community," says Clarke. "I'd like to think skateboarding and fashion is one entity. I've never seen it as separate worlds. It depends how deep you go into it."

While skateboarding had several peaks throughout the '80s and '90s, there's a common refrain that it's difficult for a pro to receive a reliable salary or aggregate earnings equal to their influence. Another narrowing factor is pruning the sponsorships you accept based not only on their dollar value, but how they might skew your public standing. In the '90s, the idea of creatives like Spike Jonze, Harmony Korine, Mark Gonzales, and Ed Templeton having the profile and influence they do now would have seemed unimaginable, even if Jason Lee did rise to minor Hollywood prominence for a spell. Like peers such as Bianca Chandon and Call Me 917 founder Alex Olson, Palace teammate Blondey McCoy, and pro skater/actor/rapper Na-Kel Smith, Clarke's presence as a respected skateboarder in fashion and art contrasts an era in which the desire to explore other mediums - fashion in particular - was not only corny, but could end a career.

Clarke's generation has entered a different era, where supplementing your income is no longer about amassing corporate sponsorships or being featured in a video game. Nor is it just about branding yourself a creative and exploring visual art. Clarke's trajectory has no lane and is more connected to where his curiosity and impulses take him.

There is no difference in approach whether he's walking the runway or skating a ledge in an Abloh-designed Louis Vuitton vest. Similarly, whether shooting fashion editorials for style magazines or wearing Palace's streetwear, everything is seamless, regardless of tone or mood. Like Clarke's skateboarding, there's a definite objective and focus, but it never feels restrained or planned. He remains casual and lighthearted, and even when assuming a stoic pose while modeling, there's an honesty in his eyes that cuts through any pretension. Failing that, he's quick to throw out a self-aware quip - a hallmark of the Palace clique.

"I think it's important people are reflecting the times and standing on the right side of history, whatever job they're in."

Clarke's path into skateboarding was as organic as his forays into other modes of expression. Having lived in Kingston, New York City, and London before the age of 12, he learned to digest information and new dynamics innately.

"That age was a golden time for me," he says. "I had experienced living in three completely different environments with diverse styles and cultures. The three cities have had a massive impact on this Earth in their own right - a tug of war in every aspect, with skateboarding, music, fashion, arts... it's incomparable. They all shaped me to be the man I am today."

Clarke found himself in London at the perfect moment to discover skateboarding. The city's skateboarding scene developed through the '90s and was thriving as the century closed. Unlike the backyard pools, ramps, and schoolyards synonymous with the early days of skateboarding in Southern California, modern street skating found its identity in urban plazas, partly due to their construction, but primarily due to their locations. From Justin Herman Plaza (commonly known as Embarcadero) in San Francisco to LOVE Park in Philadelphia, exposure in magazines and skate videos framed each as a skateboarding epicenter, a proving ground that bred progression and regional identity. London's major skateboarding hub is a covered area along the Thames beneath the brutalism of the Southbank Centre.

"When I first started skating, none of my mates were into that shit at all," Clarke explains. "I'd just go the Albert Memorial [in Kensington Gardens] with my stepdad every single day in my sandals until someone was like, 'You need some actual supportive skate shoes, brudda.' After a little while, people told me there were much better spots to skate closer to mine, like Vicky benches and Southbank. That's where I really started meeting all the close dear friends I know today."

Both Embarcadero and LOVE Park have been given unsightly facelifts and rendered mostly unskateable (although the former was featured in Supreme's 2018 film BLESSED), but Southbank has remained a staple spot thanks to a grassroots preservation foundation and hefty donations from Supreme and Palace. Key to these plazas throughout the '90s and early '00s wasn't just that they provided a focal point for their local scene, but how they unintentionally influenced skateboarding style.

A colder climate than Southern California meant it wasn't uncommon to see San Francisco skateboarders in hoodies or windbreakers, ushering in the '90s baggy look that was in part influenced by local rave culture. Philadelphia contributed everything from the no-bullshit blue-collar look to rasta-influenced styles, puffy shoes, and track pants. And in '90s New York, despite its plazas lacking as many usable obstacles - the Astor Place Cube was essentially a traffic island lined with metal-edged curbs and a few cuts to launch off - the city's skateboarders weren't afraid to shun skate labels, opting for Hilfiger, Nautica, and Polo Sport, mirroring the hip-hop look penetrating downtown Manhattan.

But don't get it twisted. No matter what you wore, skating these spots came down to your attitude and skill - clothes alone wouldn't get you a pass.

"Nick Jensen, Channon King, Greg Finch, and this kid called Fighty were the lot that really showed me love from the very beginning, showing me around, hooking me up with product - I'd have to learn and land tricks to get anything though," Clarke says of his green days in London's skate spots. "London was very cliquey back then. Same tricks being landed at the same spot would get you shot," he jokes, before backpedaling a little. "Definitely a fistfight."

Clarke's fluidity and quiet determination secured not only product from his peers, but eventually sponsorship from a local skate shop and British brands Science and Unabomber. His next leap was to Element, which not only gave him a paycheck, but also the chance to travel to Sweden, Portugal, Greece, and other destinations around Europe. Finally, fellow London skateboarder Lev Tanju approached him to ride for a new company he had just founded called Palace. It was a brand built to represent their skate crew, the Palace Wayward Boys Choir (PWBC), which Clarke and several other London riders belonged to, although at the time it had only a few T-shirts to its name.

To those in the know, Palace's launch in 2009 recalled the weight and impact of Supreme, but the brand lacked a presence in the United States until New York-based distributor Theories of Atlantis started bringing its product across the Atlantic alongside fellow European labels Polar and Magenta. This initial exposure was significant. Unlike other European brands before them, including Flip, Cliché, and Blueprint, being curated together presented a larger swath of "exotic" skateboard gear, leaving a bigger impression.

Through its off-kilter marketing, including irreverent YouTube videos, surreal product descriptions, and intermittent yet potent skate edits, Palace crafted a distinct and unmistakably British voice, one that spoke louder with every new product and collaboration. Clarke established himself as a prominent face of the brand, not only through his skateboarding and modeling of new drops, but notably by taking the final part of the brand's first video, 2017's Palasonic, in which he skates through London for seven minutes - more than double the length of the average part. Palace and its riders offered a relatable mix of high and low culture that resonated, particularly on the US East Coast. Clarke knew immediately that Palace's impact was pivotal.

"Skateboarding has always been seen as a bit neeky to the outside world until Palace showed up - no thanks to Avril Lavigne," he says. "I used to get the piss taken out of me for being a black skateboarder, but little did they know, being a black skater is the coolest shit ever."

Despite its ubiquitous presence in pop culture, skateboarding has rarely been in a position to drive trends beyond its boundaries - or at least capitalize on them. Because skateboarding's larger industry has been so formed and consumed by one state, California, it has been slow to evolve and expand in line with creative culture as a whole. Clarke, however, doesn't see skateboarding as the preserve of one state.

"California has always loved the Brits: Tom Penny, Geoff Rowley, Carl Shipman, Mark Baines, Curtis McCann, Benny Fairfax," says Clarke. "They were the best in the world in my eyes, so I never thought California owned skateboarding. The industry did."

Part of the industry's lag is down to its unwillingness to be defined as a sport or anything other than a pure idea that cannot be commodified. For decades, native skateboarding fashion was taken predominantly from Southern California surf culture. Utilitarian offerings, including Vans, Dickies, Ben Davis, or anything from a military surplus store, were the go-tos that shaped the aesthetic. In the '80s, Vision Street Wear became one of the first brands to somewhat urbanize skate fashion, although it still relied on pattern-heavy designs, bright colors, and other '80s tropes. Despite the brand's follies, including all-over-print berets, Vision Street Wear did crack the mainstream, offering proof that skateboard style was viable as fashion.

Clarke's style is indicative of the diversifying strides made in the modern era as much as it represents the dominance of London street culture, particularly the English football casuals look associated with the Palace family. Prior to Clarke and the PWBC, few Americans were sporting running pants with garish rings and patterned outerwear, even in New York City. While the rise of football-influenced gear has grown, it's the juxtaposition that's so powerful; think Clarke's patchwork of high fashion, core skatewear, and athletic gear loaded with '90s fashion signifiers such as neon anoraks and mirrored sports sunglasses.

Many of the heritage hardgood companies that dominated the skate landscape for decades apparently lacked the desire to deviate or modernize, so leaner, more tuned-in brands like Palace, Fucking Awesome, Dime, Bronze 56k, and Alltimers have been better able to resonate with those who actually ride skateboards while simultaneously selling capsules at Dover Street Market. Part of that is down to their proximity to present day street culture, but more important are the threads shared by each brand's creative minds.

"It's all very intertwined in a very subliminal way... There is so much going on around us. You gotta just step back and be still and watch."

There's a chance that if you grew up in car-dominated Southern California, even Los Angeles, you weren't exposed to the same stimuli, personalities, and breadth of creativity you'll find in the more walkable cities of London, New York City, or even Montreal. This isn't to create any hierarchy of aesthetics, but rather about the unlikely influences that differentiate local cultures. Part of that is a city life that flattens the boundaries between paintings in a gallery and a tag on a wall, classic film noir and '80s B-movies. Living in a densely populated, diverse, and creative city, all manner of influences seep beneath the skin. Brands like Palace and skateboarders such as Clarke are agnostic of genre or discipline - see the Ralph Lauren collab. Everything is worth exploring.

"It's all very different but the same, if that makes any sense - which it doesn't," Clarke says of his interest in everything from modeling and photography to skateboarding. "It's all very intertwined in a very subliminal way. I have a different eye for things. I got that from skateboarding and years of being in the street and seeing things most people don't [when they] are on their regular route to work. There is so much going on around us. You gotta just step back and be still and watch."

When asked what role humor plays in his perspective, Clarke replies, "You can take things seriously and have fun doing it. I live by that." This is congruent with Palace. The brand exudes the humor and wit of the riders who represent it, exemplified by founder Tanju's sardonic approach to what a skateboarding company can be. Palace can at once collaborate with an institution as august as the Tate Britain on a line of decks inspired by John Martin artworks, while at the same time taking inspiration from watching the Food Network when writing product descriptions.

Palace's success has enabled its riders to not only find new lanes in fashion and artistic expression, but monetize them - something much of the skateboard industry hasn't been able to understand, let alone do. Instead, skateboarding has traditionally provided the source materials for fashion houses and larger brands to co-opt without context. If you look at the impression left on fashion by Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren, all starting from a London storefront in the mid '70s and blown up when punk hit in 1977, it's shocking to think it's taken skateboarding this long to have its own influence on art, fashion, and pop culture. As Clarke explains, the difference today is that the definition of art is much wider.

"I think people still connect with the arts and its many forms, [but] it's just evolved globally like everything else, from its traditional still-life paintings into more broad and different ideas towards expression and aestheticism," he says. "This including fashion and politics. In my opinion, the artist Ai Weiwei's recreated photograph of a dead Syrian refugee was as much about expression and political statement as Virgil Abloh's first Louis Vuitton runway, which included the most black, Asian, and ethnic models to have ever walked for a high fashion brand. I think it's important people are reflecting the times and standing on the right side of history, whatever job they're in."

His response speaks to the sentiment that fashion has more cachet than ever and its presentation alone has become political. Abloh's inclusion of skateboarders Clarke and Blondey McCoy on the runway alongside musicians Kid Cudi, Playboi Carti, Dev Hynes, and other modern creatives is not only an act of disruption, but a milestone in fashion's evolution.

As for the future, Clarke has more skateboarding and more Palace videos to come. Included in this issue of Highsnobiety is a Clarke-shot original photography zine, which he describes as "a mirrored image of me, my travels, and thoughts from the past two months." Like everything he does, it's laid-back, distinct, and inspired by his constantly changing surroundings and the tight-knit group of characters he keeps around him. And although he's reluctant to share too many details, he assures us there's "a lot more coming - not just zines."

When pressed further on this, asked if there's anything he's yet to accomplish, Clarke teases slyly, "Me and Virgil got summin' cooking."
Highsnobiety magazine Issue 18 is available now from our online store and at select premium stockists and boutiques worldwide.

Styling: Atip W

Hair: Blake Henderson Using Bumble and Bumble

Make-Up: Jennifer Mika using Mac Cosmetics

Photography Assistants: Kentaro Murata & Kerfi Sakari

Styling Assistant: Sophie Casha

Clothing & Accessories: Louis Vuitton

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Lucien Clarke Is Cooking Something Up With Virgil Abloh: Read Now

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London-based Lucien Clarke has balanced a pro skateboarding career with high fashion modeling, something unthinkable only a decade ago. Following his most recent appearance on Virgil Abloh's Louis Vuitton runway, we caught up with the Palace team member to explore his history, style, and the impact of today's creative culture on skateboarding.

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15 May, 2019

Feeling overwhelmed by Instagram metrics and how to make it work for your business? Still trying to figure out which Instagram KPIs do you need to track?

You know what you want-an engaged and growing audience, but you're not alone if you don't know where to start.

The data doesn't lie - there are a BILLION users on Instagram every month , and more than half of these are using the platform daily. A whopping 80% of users follow a business on Instagram.

This makes understanding Instagram crucial for your brand and in this guide we're going to breakdown some of core Instagram metrics and show you how to find, track, and apply them to your business.

Want more engagement from your audience? Ampjar turns your followers into email subscribers and then shares your best content automatically.

1. Engagement per follower

If you use Instagram for your business there's no doubt you've heard the word a thousand times: engagement.

Put simply, engagement is a basic way to measure your Instagram account's performance and no matter if you have 2,000 or 200,000 followers it's their engagement that really moves the needle when it comes to business.

What is Instagram engagement?

Engagement is how many individual followers have liked, commented on or saved one of your posts.

While it isn't a matter of absolutes, it's good to have a benchmark to know if you're on the right track.

According to Scrunch , industry standards put an engagement rate of 1% - 3% in the category of average to good, while a rate of 3%+ is very good and shows that the audience is very engaged with the content.

Where can I find my page's engagement rate?

When it comes to how to calculate Instagram engagement rate, divide your total number of likes and comments on a post by your total number of followers.

Let's walk through this step-by-step on how to measure Instagram engagement:

So if let's say you have 6,000 followers, and a post receives 253 likes and 50 comments (=303 engagements).

Divide 308 by 6,000 and x 100 = 5.05.

Your engagement rate, for that post, is 5.05.

Now go and pop the champagne because that's a really good engagement rate.

To work it out as an average score over a period of time use the steps below. This score is more telling of your average engagement rate and allows you to adjust your strategy as you go to ensure you're keeping your audience engaged.

Add all likes and comments on all your posts over a set period - perhaps 30 days. So let's say all posts combined attracted 1036 likes and 234 comments.

1036 + 234 = 1270

Divide this by the number of posts within that period. Let's say 23 posts.

Divide this by the number of followers and multiply by 100 to get your percentage

55 / 3,000 followers x 100 = 1.83

And there you have your average engagement rate over a month.

Why is engagement important for your small business?

Followers are just a vanity metric without knowing the engagement rate.

We've all seen Instagram accounts that gain thousands of new followers every day but if they don't engage with the content then they might as well not be there at all.

We recommend you track increases or decreases in your engagement rate every month - you can do this with a simple Excel spreadsheet with the month and some key notes about your Instagram activity that month. Did you run a competition? Try a new collaboration? Post twice a day instead of once? These simple stats will be crucial in evaluating and modifying your Insta strategy.

This example shows how straightforward it can be. When this brand ran a competition their engagement jumped and stayed that way when working with an influencer.

2. Impressions & Reach

Impressions and Reach are two of the core Instagram metrics to track related to your account's visibility. They are also easy to confuse so it's important to understand the difference before you start measuring them.

What are impressions and reach?

Reach is the number of unique users that saw your post or story. So if 125 users eyeballed your post that is your reach.

I mpressions are the number of times your content, whether a post or a story, was shown to users. So a single user may be delivered your content three times, and may not interact with it at all, but this still goes towards your impressions.

Where do I find my page's impressions and reach?

Head to Instagram Insights and scroll down to see a series of bar graphs that reveal the total impressions and reach.

If you use or similar you'll be able to find this info there as well.

Why are impressions and reach important for your business?

Reach and impressions tell you whether you're getting in front of your audience's (or customers') eyes. If you're not, then this is an issue you need to address-there can be lots of reasons why but knowing what the problem is is the first step.

If you have increasing reach month on month, that means your content is likely making its way to new users - a good thing for any growing business!

3. Instagram Follower growth rate

Everyone wants to grow their followers - each little uptick is a like a dopamine hit to our brains and it's easy to equate follower growth with progress. However, much like the engagement rate, you can learn a lot more by applying a bit of math to your followers count.

Enter follower growth rate.

What is follower growth rate?

The clue is in the title with this one: it's how quickly you are gaining followers over set periods of time. By taking your follower numbers and comparing them over time, it's much easier to see if you're gaining followers at a greater scale (or losing them).

Where do I find my account's follower growth rate?

The easiest way to track follower growth rate is by looking at how many followers you gained in a month.

(To keep it simple you could add as a row to the spreadsheet example above.)

Take this number and divide it by the number of followers you had at the start of the month.

For example:

155 / 2,300 = 0.067

Multiply by 100 to get your percentage.

Follower growth rate for January = 6.7%

Add this figure into your spreadsheet each month, allowing you to measure any increase or decrease and over time analyze any trends beside activity.

Why is follower growth rate important for your business?

This stat is arguably more telling than how many actual followers you have. A small, but consistently growing audience is a very positive reflection on your marketing activity and brand awareness.

How many followers you want or need is totally dependent on your business. A wedding photographer can only attend so many weddings in any one year. On the other hand, if you sell an ebook of your recipes, you can potentially service unlimited customers.

Beware of accounts who rapidly acquire followers-unfortunately, Instagram is still blighted by fake accounts and bought followers. The silver lining here is that some of the accounts you see that wildly successful may be very far from it.

Remember, what success is looks different for every brand.

4. Best time to post

Despite what the I-always-seem-to-be-traveling-crowd might tell you, timing does matter when you're posting for your business. After all, one of your goals should be to maximize your reach so it's advantageous to plan your posting around peak times.

What does the best time to post mean?

The best time to post for should be based on both global trends and your follower data - let's look at the trends first:

Sprout Social recently analyzed data of 25,000 of their social media users and found the best times for brands to post on Instagram were:

They found the least amount of engagement on Instagram occurs:

When looking specifically at Instagram for consumer brands they found:

Where can you find more about the best time to post for your account?

As you can see above, there is a lot of data and studies that can help you plan when to post.

However, to find the best time to post for YOUR business, you need to track your own data to measure success and engagement.

You can do this by jumping onto Instagram Insight, hitting Audience, and scrolling down to the Followers section. There, you can check out when most of your followers' peak times are.

It's important to track your times and success and trial any changes for at least a month so you can measure the impact.

Why is the timing of posts important for your business?

By tracking performance at different times of day over a period of time you'll be able to identify when works best for your audience.

It's not all blanket rules or global trends - a gin brand will have different peak times compared to a coffee roastery. A brand targeting mums of young children are less likely to be late night scrollers than brands targeting a teen audience.

That said, it is still worth looking at some global trends to set you on the right path. From there you can tweak and personalize your schedule.

These days there's no need to be physically posting at your peak times-make sure to schedule posts ahead of time!

5. Traffic to your website from Instagram

It's safe to say that the goal of most business Instagram accounts is to drive users from the app to their website. This traffic can then be used to sell to, reengage, and even increase awareness, but your options get a lot smaller if you don't get them off of Instagram.
Related: The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Shop and Checkout
What does traffic to your website from Instagram mean?

Traffic from your Instagram account to your website means exactly how many people convert from scrolling to clicking through to your website.

Where can you find how much traffic is coming to your website from your Insta?

Head over to the Insights tab and look at 'Website Clicks' to show how many people have clicked on the website link in your bio.

You can also take a look at Google Analytics under Aquisition > All Traffic and see how many visitors you're getting from Instagram and Instagram Stories:

Why is it important to track traffic from to your website from IG?

As a brand on Instagram, chances are your main objective is to drive traffic to your website, and eventually sales.

There are more than 500 million people who use Instagram every day-you want a piece of that pie for your business!

There's a few easy, must-dos to increase traffic from your Instagram followers to the website:

Sounds simple but with short attention spans, you want to make finding your website (and a chance to buy) as easy as possible for your followers.

Keep things fresh and change the link as often as you like to direct people to a particular page like a sale or seasonal promotion. Use your caption to direct people to the link - no need for anything more complicated than 'Follow the link in bio'.

Use the 'Swipe up' feature in Stories

It's all about the call to action. In your stories use a simple call to direct followers to your website-"Swipe up to buy now".

Use competitions to direct people to your website

6. Hashtag engagement

We all feel like we need to add in relevant hashtags to every post, but the big question is: Do they increase engagement? Which hashtags resonate best with your audience?

What is hashtag engagement?

Hashtag engagement is knowing which tags drive the most engagement throughout all Instagram posts. For example, we use #growwithAmpjar and tracking engagement will allow us to see every time that tag is used in a post, regardless of the account from which it's posted.

Knowledge is power and a little research can go a long way. You use Insights to find out which hashtags have been performing best and adapt accordingly.

Where can you find what account's hashtag engagement?

You can follow these easy steps to measure hashtag engagement:

Open a post, and tap Insights.

Swipe up for detailed data including where you post was discovered-including those that came from people searching a hashtag.

This stat, as a percentage of your total impressions, is helpful to figure out if your hashtags are working for you (as well as what types of Instagram posts are resonating your audience). Knowledge truly is power-if you don't know how effective a hashtag is then how can you decide whether to keep using it?

Hashtags for businesses need to be specific rather than general if you want them to help you reach a new audience. They can be the chance to help build or tap into an existing community but tracking the data is key.

If you already use , or , their detailed hashtag analytics performance reports will give you the chance to take a deep dive into the stats.

Why is hashtag engagement important for your business?

Which hashtags attract the most attention and drive the most engagement? Finding the answers to these questions will help you refine and improve your strategy.

According to Later, a post with at least one Instagram hashtag averages 12.6% more engagement than posts without a hashtag.

So it's definitely worth looking into hashtags and evaluating which ones work best for your business and tracking this metric as part of your IG strategy.

Don't forget you can also add hashtags to your Stories, making it searchable. So if you tag your Story with #SmallBiz and someone searches that hashtag, your Story will appear just like a post would.

7. Branded tags

A branded tag is the slogan of the Instagram world and watching yours sink or swim will show you a lot about your brand's reach and exposure.

What are branded tags?

A branded hashtag is something that is unique to your business-it can be a spin on your business name, something to do with one of your products or just a tagline you claim as your own! For example, Lululemon uses #thesweatlife:

Here at Ampjar, we use #growwithAmpjar:

An author might use the name of the book as the branded tag just as Sarah Wilson did with her new book #SimpliciousFlow:

How can you find out if your branded tag is working?

You can see if your branded tag is gaining traction the same way you track a regular hashtag: by checking Insights.

Why are branded tags important for your business?

A branded tag is great if you want to encourage your customers to be online ambassadors and tag you when they share relevant posts. If they use your tag it not only helps you find their content, it also helps new audiences see your product!

When someone mentions you in their post you want to know about it. Whether it's 'Hey @Ampjar, love the new features' or 'Hey @Ampjar, my campaign won't send' - exploring the good, the bad and everything in between will help you get to know your audience better.

What are mentions?

Mentions are when someone tags a post with the '@' sign + your account handle, like @Ampjar or @lululemon.

How can you find your account's mentions?

You can track mentions simply by looking at your activity:

Why are mentions important for your business?

While it might not be in the top few Instagram KPIs to follow, there are some pretty good reasons to pay attention to your mentions:

Miappi warns against forgetting that customer service is just as important when it comes to social media.

There are all kinds of alarming stats out there about the power of negative reviews and experiences like this: Americans tell an average of 15 people about a poor service experience, versus the 11 people they'll tell about a good experience. Read more here.

If you experience negative feedback on Instagram, act quickly, use mentions to address their comment and then perhaps jump into DMs or email to sort out the issue in private.

9. Stories metrics

More than 50% of businesses on Instagram produced an Instagram Story in the last month.

More than half of Instagram's 500 million daily active users are on Stories.

Stories can be used in all kinds of clever and inventive ways - to promote sales, give your brand an authentic voice, and create a connection and introduce your team, product or service tutorials.

What are Stories metrics?

As with all things social, you'll need to track your Instagram performance when it comes to Stories, too.

Here are the most common metrics, where to find them, and why they're important:

The total number of people who have viewed your story. Click on the eye icon to see exactly how many people have watched your story and who they are.
Related: How to Know Who Viewed Your Instagram Video or Story
Completion rate shows how many viewers completed your story which is a great sign that you're not only getting their attention but keeping it.

For a simple calculation, divide how many people watched the last by how many people watched the first story, and multiply by 100. This is your completion rate.

Direct messages are a chance for your audience to start real conversations and perhaps even start to build something authentic. This is a good metric to track in order to see if your Stories are resonating with your audience.

Story retention is arguably the biggest Instagram Story metric to watch and shows what percentage of your viewers are watching all your Frames.

You can also dive deeper and see where they exit, thereby allowing you to see what type of content is working or not.

This is the number of times your profile has been viewed and is often the first step before the convert to a follower.

You can easily check this stat by looking in your Insights - under the 'Activity' section.

Winding down

Phew! And this is by no means an exhaustive list of Instagram KPIs but if you jump in and track even a few of these metrics, you'll have a solid foundation to inform your Instagram strategy planning.

Here at Ampjar, we love seeing members of our community succeed and grow their businesses.

Tell us about what metrics you use to track Instagram growth: is it follower growth rate that you value most or perhaps your engagement rate?

Share your successes, learnings and help build each other up. That's what we're all about.

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The Top 9 Instagram Metrics and KPIs to Track - Ampjar

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15 May, 2019 Feeling overwhelmed by Instagram metrics and how to make it work for your business? Still trying to figure out which Instagram KPIs do you need to track? You know what you want-an engaged and growing audience, but you're not alone if you don't know where to start.

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Gen Z Insights - Presented by UNiDAYS | Who is Gen Z

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Who is Gen Z | Gen Z Insights is dedicated to providing content to help brands and marketers connect with Gen Z.

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By Mary Hanbury

Generation Z's approach to brands is part of what sets it apart from previous generations.

When deciding where to shop, their primary motivator is price, according to a Business Insider survey of more than 1,800 Gen Zers.

Since they frequently document their life on social media, they feel a pressure to always have new clothes. That is fueling growth in unconventional forms of shopping, like rental and resale.

Being unique - and balancing that with saving money - is a defining trait of this generation.

Amanda Chernin, age 20, from Delray Beach, Florida, says she shops online almost every day.

She is not loyal to any one brand or store. Instead, she shops wherever is most affordable. She rarely goes to a physical store to try clothes on, and if she ends up not liking a piece she buys, she resells it online.

"Older generations grew up without this technology and being able to shop online," she said. "I literally order something online every day."

While Chernin's approach to shopping might still be alien to some consumers, she is an example of a Generation Z consumer. She is part of the first truly digital generation, which has grown up cradling a smartphone and has never known a time without the internet and social media.

For the past decade, brands have scrambled to serve millennials, the first internet-obsessed generation that's been blamed for killing dozens of industries and forcing retailers to rethink their online-selling strategies.

Now, brands are bracing themselves for the next wave of shoppers, between the ages of 13 and 21, who are gearing up to enter the workforce and become a formidable force in the economy.

Experts say that Gen Z will not be an extension of the previous generation and should not be thought of as millennials 2.0, but instead as a distinct set of people with unique experiences, beliefs, and behaviors. This generation, they say, will fuel a massive change in how people shop.

They don't want to pay full price for anything

Gen Z is thrifty above all, experts say.

"They are very fiscally pragmatic and practical with their money. They are looking for value," Jason Dorsey, a Gen Z consultant and researcher who delivered a TEDx Talk about this generation, told Business Insider.

Dorsey said that value can be achieved in two ways: by shopping for clothing from brands that already have low prices, or by buying more expensive things that last longer.

"I can't afford nicer brands of clothes," Chernin said. "I like to save and would rather have money in the bank than be broke."

"Older generations grew up without this technology and being able to shop online. I literally order something online every day."
Amanda Chernin

Tanner Frick, 21, majors in business at the University of Sioux Falls, in South Dakota. He's a self-described "brand freak" and says he shops at Nike, Lululemon, and Patagonia. "I trust them more," he said, referring to these brands and the warranties they offer.

Patagonia, for example, has an unlimited returns policy on unworn items and offers a repair service for worn clothing.

"In the end it's worth it," he said, referring to Patagonia's relatively high prices. The outdoors retailer sells men's vests that range from $80 to $200 and jackets that cost up to $280.

For others, low prices are more important. This was evident in Business Insider's recent survey of 1,884 Americans between the ages of 13 and 21. This national poll was conducted with SurveyMonkey Audience partner Cint on behalf of Business Insider and ran January 11-14.

When asked what was the biggest factor when deciding whether to purchase items from a particular brand, 60% of respondents said price.

"They don't want to pay full price for anything," Dorsey said, adding that these spending habits were likely passed down to Gen Z by their parents and teachers, who were shaped by the recession.

The median-age Gen Z shopper, currently 17, would have been 6 when the financial crisis began, in 2008. While they were not in the workforce yet, they were old enough to remember it and see how their parents and older friends struggled, Dorsey said.

An obsession with price instantly makes them less loyal to brands.

"There really isn't loyalty like in the past," Marcie Merriman, the executive director for growth strategy and retail innovations at Ernst & Young, told Business Insider.

They "are highly informed and want to take charge of their lives and their futures," Merriman wrote in a recent EY report about Gen Z. "Getting these consumers to be loyal to your brick-and-mortar will be more challenging than ever."

Taryn Merari, 19, a design major at New York's School of Visual Arts, told Business Insider that she rarely shops by brand. She is almost always led by price.

She shops, she said, by the mantra "'What clothes do I need?'"

"If I need leggings, I look for leggings by color or by texture." This way she can get the best deal and the best quality.

Getting a Gen Zer to be loyal to a brand is nearly impossible. Brands need to work extra hard to earn their trust.

Members of Gen Z have largely been made skeptical by their ability to verify almost anything online.

For this reason, experts say that Gen Zers value transparency and authenticity in the brands that they shop from, and retailers are gradually responding to this idea.

Younger brands such as Everlane and Toms have led the charge, but increasingly legacy brands such as American Eagle Outfitters are shifting to offer greater transparency in their products and marketing.

Aerie, American Eagle's lifestyle and underwear brand, is a good example of this. It was applauded by customers for its decision to ban any photo retouching in its ads in 2014. And this has shown up in its financials: In early June, the company reported earnings for the first quarter of 2019. Same-store sales at Aerie were up 14% during the quarter, which marked its 18th consecutive quarter of double-digit growth.

Meanwhile, competitors such as Victoria's Secret, which has been more resistant to changes in branding, have suffered. Same-store sales of the Victoria's Secret brand were down 5% for the first quarter.

Anya Ortakales, 17, a high-school senior at Kearsarge Regional High School, in New Hampshire, compared Aerie and Victoria's Secret to show just how important the brand's message is in her decision to shop there.

"It's very important to show that anyone can buy stuff like that and look good in it," she said, referring to Aerie's undoctored images and the "real women" it features in its ad campaigns.

"It makes me feel better about buying from Aerie and supporting them," she said.

Chad Kessler, global brand president at American Eagle, recently expressed his excitement about Gen Z becoming Aerie's target shopper.

"Gen Z wants to support and participate in brands that they believe in and that reflect them," he told Business Insider. "They are loyal to brands that they feel understand them and reflect their values. We have always been a brand that stands for inclusivity, diversity, and youth empowerment, and I think that resonates with this customer."

But there is no guarantee that these shoppers will stay loyal, experts say. Gen Z is more fickle than previous generations, and if brands are slow to engage or if they break their promises, these young shoppers will move on.

They also do not use brands to define their identity like past generations may have done.

"The rules of dress when millennials were younger and the ways that they determined the appropriate things to wear were about the brand and what the brand was. As long as they were in the right brand, they felt confident," Merriman said. "That brand represented more of who they were, and it made them feel safer or more secure in their decisions."

Merriman said that the reverse is happening now. Gen Z is creating its own personal brand.

"It's not the brand leading the consumer; it's the consumer using the brand or the product in whatever ways they want," she said. This is partly driven by the influencer community, she added. Traditionally, a brand image was determined by the company and how it chose to market it.

Now, a brand image is increasingly about how it is perceived and marketed by the influencer who wears it.

Living life in pictures means you need a lot of outfits

Gen Z may be more sustainability-minded than previous generations, but they also face constant pressure to wear new items given that they are likely to be the most photographed generation.

In the past, this would have been easily remedied by fast fashion, and for many it likely still is. Fast fashion that is created cheaply and discarded quickly contributes to waste, however. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, 26 billion pounds of textiles end up in a landfill each year. Shoppers with an eye on sustainability and who also want to wear unique clothes have given rise to nontraditional modes of shopping such as rental and resale or thrift.

Rent the Runway, which was recently valued at $1 billion in a $125 million round of new funding, is paving the way in clothing rental. Its core subscription service, targeted at an older demographic - women in the workforce - plays into the hands of customers who not only crave newness but are more conscious about sustainable living and preserving the environment. This positions it well to appeal to Gen Z shoppers in the future.

"There are kids at school who think it's stupid to shop at American Eagle because then you all end up with the same clothes. They go to the smallest stores they can find, that they know no one else is shopping at, so they know they have something different."
Anya Ortakales

"Gen Z lives their life in the cloud - their content, entertainment, and music all exist in the cloud with unlimited choice," Rent the Runway CEO Jennifer Hyman told Business Insider. "We are offering them the exact same thing for their physical lives."

Hyman said that Gen Z is one of the first groups to adopt this new style of shopping and to feel that it is the norm.

Legacy brands have adopted similar services. Express recently launched its Express Style Trial service, which allows consumers to rent up to three items at any given time for a monthly fee.

And in March, American Eagle launched a near-identical clothing-rental subscription model known as American Eagle Style Drop.

For $50 a month, members can rent up to three items at a time and make an unlimited number of exchanges. The shipping costs are covered each way, and dry cleaning is free. If customers decide they like a piece, they can purchase it at a discount of 25% or more.

"There is a trend toward clothes having a second life or being used again," Kessler said. "This is part of their focus on quality, value, and thoughtful purchasing, and I think these [rental services] are just different ways for them to participate."

Gen Z is thrift-shopping for the same reasons. Online resale site ThredUp recently estimated that one in three Gen Z consumers will buy used clothing in 2019.

"There is an obsession with freshness," Karen Clark, the vice president of marketing communications at ThredUp, told Business Insider, adding that the company posts 1,000 new items online every hour.

"They want to flip their wardrobe, but they want to do that without doing damage to the environment," she said.

Chernin, for her part, turns to Poshmark when she wants to sell a piece of clothing she no longer likes or has use for. Poshmark, which allows users to list and sell their own clothes, is said to be preparing to file for an IPO later this year, The Wall Street Journal reported in April.

Jessica Pruitt, an associate manager of marketing at Buffalo Exchange - a thrift store that buys and sells used clothing at 49 stores across the US - told Business Insider that the store has seen an uptick in Gen Z shoppers as the stigma around resale fades.

Secondhand shopping also affords Gen Z the chance to dress in unique ways. They use thrift to build their own identity and create their own story, Lennox Thomas, Goodwill NYNJ's executive vice president for retail operations, told Business Insider.

Ortakales has found that some of her classmates have become so "obsessed" with creating a look that "sets them apart" that being unique has become a trend in and of itself.

"There are kids at school who think it's stupid to shop at American Eagle because then you all end up with the same clothes. They go to the smallest stores they can find, that they know no one else is shopping at, so they know they have something different," she said.

Ortakales said she believes that this desire to be unique stems from the important societal and cultural changes that have occurred during this generation's upbringing, which has made them more accepting of diversity.

"My generation is so focused on accepting people that are different that there's this mindset that if you do want to follow what other people are doing, it's frowned upon," she said. "We are trying so hard to make sure everyone feels included and accept everyone, so you have to be different to be involved in that."

Reporting by Mary Hanbury
Editing by Madeline Stone, Cadie Thompson, Matt Turner, and Alyson Shontell
Design by Samantha Lee and Skye Gould
Photography by Hollis Johnson
Graphics by Shayanne Gal

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Gen Z is leading an evolution in shopping that could kill brands as we know them

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Generation Z's approach to brands is part of what sets it apart from other generations. When deciding where to shop, their primary motivator is price.

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Similarly, Canadian designer duo Fecal Matter frequently produces one-off Gothic, subculture-inspired pieces and has over 50,000 fans on its Depop profile. "We take it back to the individual. [They can] express themselves creatively without the limitations that they might find elsewhere," says Semple. "You don't need to teach Gen Z about the necessity of being inclusive and diverse."
Musicians are the new influencers
Gen Z shoppers also prize event-specific merchandise like concert T-shirts for their marriage of exclusivity and cultural currency. Streetwear customers see musicians as the most credible people in the industry, according to a Hypebeast survey. At the same time, such garb allows customers to express they were at a cultural event like Coachella, where Kanye West sold "Sunday Service" hoodies and T-shirts. (Warner Music bought merchandise maker and retailer EMP for $180 million last year in a bid to capitalise on this movement.)

"I think there is more value in [event merchandise] than going and buying a limited edition," said one respondent to Livity's survey. "By nature of it, it shows that you've been there."

Musicians are also increasingly following in the footsteps of West and Rihanna by setting up their own streetwear labels. DJ Peggy Gou established Kirin in collaboration with Farfetch's New Guards Group, while Justin Bieber has quickly found success with Drew House. Bieber's limited-edition products sell out in minutes, and what co-founder and creative director, Ryan Good, calls "cheap $5 hotel slippers" are trading hands for up to $400 on resale platforms. "Two guys asked my buddy if they could buy the Drew House shirt off his back in New York while he was walking down the street," he says.

But brands can also do well by associating themselves with individuals seen as having authentic links to music culture, says Ciesay, founder of London-based Places + Faces, which transformed a hip hop photography project into a pop-up and party organiser with a strong merchandising arm.

For instance, Louis Vuitton's menswear collections and Off-White are particularly treasured by Gen Z because of Virgil Abloh. "Kids feel inspired by these people that we've grown up with, or seen on a day-to-day basis, that are now linked with Louis Vuitton," says Ciesay. "Luxury brands might have the top designers designing for them and have the best materials, but if there's no story to them, there's nothing for people to buy into."
To receive the Vogue Business newsletter, sign up here. Comments, questions or feedback? Email us at feedback@voguebusiness.com. More on this topic: Is streetwear finally ready for women? The next billion-dollar streetwear brand Matthew Williams is using blockchain to tell Alyx's story

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Vogue Business Data & Insights Team in Partnership with Klarna

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Gen Z wants something very different from streetwear

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Similarly, Canadian designer duo Fecal Matter frequently produces one-off Gothic, subculture-inspired pieces and has over 50,000 fans on its Depop profile. "We take it back to the individual. [They can] express themselves creatively without the limitations that they might find elsewhere," says Semple.

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While Gen Zers feel personally responsible to make a difference and 76% believe we will have made headway on important issues in five years' time, 90% also believe companies must drive action on social and environmental issues.

Nearly nine-in-10 (87 percent) of Gen Zers are worried for the environment and the planet, according to the 2019 Porter Novelli/Cone Gen Z Purpose Study. The study, which surveyed US youth ages 14-22, examines this emerging generation's expectations of and attitudes toward company involvement in social and environmental issues - and the actions they are willing to take to positively impact topics they care about.

"The events of the past year show the steadfast determination of Generation Z to make their mark," says Porter Novelli CEO Brad MacAfee. "This research not only reinforces what we're seeing in the marketplace, but also how companies can engage this generation that is so driven to change the world for the better."

Tired of the divisive narrative that has taken over the national news, 94 percent of Generation Z believes our country needs to come together to make progress on important issues. In fact, 85 percent would rather focus on the positive progress we've made rather than the negative.

This generation feels profoundly influenced by events that have impacted them directly in recent years. 86 percent say events such as the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in 2018 have made them care more about issues affecting them. This cohort feels they are the key to change moving forward. Nearly nine-in-10 (87 percent) percent are inspired when peers includingEmma González andGreta Thunberg take stands on issues; and just as many (88 percent) say their generation has the power to change the world for the better. And even up against increasingly insurmountable and urgent problems, Gen Zers remain hopeful - with more than three-quarters (76 percent) stating they believe in five years' time, we will have made advancement on important issues.

Looking to align with Purpose-driven companies

While they feel personally responsible to make a difference, the vast majority of Gen Zers (90 percent) follow the growing consumer trend of the past few years in believing companies must take action on social and environmental issues - and they're holding these organizations accountable: More than nine-in-10 (93 percent) say if a company makes a commitment, it should have the appropriate programs and policies in place to back up that commitment; and three-quarters (75 percent) will do research to see if a company is being honest when it takes a stand on issues.

Companies that demonstrate authentic Purpose to this astute demographic will be rewarded, as Gen Zers use Purpose as a core filter in deciding which companies to associate with. Like Millennials just before them, 83 percent of Gen Z considers a company's Purpose when deciding where to work and nearly three-quarters (72 percent) factor in a company's Purpose when shopping.

"In the ever-increasing war for budding talent, companies must understand that Purpose is a strong filter for Generation Z," says Alison DaSilva, EVP Purpose & CSR at Porter Novelli/Cone. "Gen Zers are not willing to check their values at the workplace door, so companies need to clearly communicate how they are making an impact to appeal to this driven but discerning generation."

Priority issues among Generation Z

While Generation Z feels unprecedented urgency around many pressing issues, the environment (26 percent) is the top priority that they want companies to address. This issue superseded poverty and hunger (19 percent), which led in 2017, as the one issue they want companies to solve for. Other ranked issues include:

When looking specifically at the hot-button issues of today, Gen Zers feel companies must do their part to solve a myriad of topics. Although environment is a priority, it is not exclusive: Job creation (91 percent) is at the top of the list, followed by racial equality (90 percent),sexual harassment (90 percent) andgender equality (89 percent). Other topical issues include:

Notably, the research saw a significant jump among two specific topics: The percentage of Gen Zers who saw gun control and LGBTQ+ rights as priority issues for companies to engage around both grew roughly 15 percent from 2017 (from 68 percent to 80 percent for gun control and 65 percent to 74 percent for LGBTQ+ rights).

"As a generation that sees a school shooting every twelve days on average and the rights of their LGBTQ+ friends become compromised, it's no surprise they are looking to companies to engage on and influence these issues," DaSilva says. "Gen Zers are seeing the impact of many of these issues first-hand, and they are determined to change the course."

Taking action for impact

Generation Z does not expect companies to go it alone; they're willing to roll up their sleeves and participate. Around three-quarters of Gen Zers stand ready to support companies that care in a variety of ways, including: sharing their positive opinion about a company doing good (85 percent), buying a product with a social or environmental benefit (84 percent) and learning what they can do to make a difference (84 percent). Engagement spans both on- and offline actions:

Sign a petition (82 percent)

Boycott/refuse to buy from a company (77 percent)

Research if a company is helping or hurting society or the environment (77 percent)

Share social or environmental information with social networks (77 percent)

Take an online action to trigger a donation (76 percent)

Social media as a change driver

As truly digital natives, Generation Z uses social media not only to learn about issues, but to make a meaningful difference. 91 percent say they use social media to learn about and participate in issues they care about. They feel so well-informed, in fact, that more than three-quarters (77 percent) say they know more about important issues than their parents or guardians.

This generation sincerely feels social media engagement can drive change. 80 percent feel they can have an impact on issues by using social media, so much so that 64 percent believe supporting issues online is more effective at making a difference than doing something in their communities. They view their engagement on their social channels as a powerful way to motivate others to care (35 percent). They are less motivated by more self-serving reasons such as making themselves look like a good person (7 percent). Other motivations include:

It shows others what they care about (17 percent)

They want to be a part of the conversation about the world around them (15 percent)

It shows they are informed (9 percent)

Over the past two years, Generation Z's habits and preferred social media platforms have changed. While Facebook remains relevant (61 percent vs. 66 percent in 2017), it dropped in importance. Now Gen Zers are more likely to turn to YouTube (64 percent vs. 50 percent in 2017) as the priority channel, followed by Instagram (63 percent vs. 51 percent in 2017). Other channels include:

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Gen Z Believes in Its Own Power to Make Change, But That Companies Must Lead the Way

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While Gen Zers feel personally responsible to make a difference and 76% believe we will have made headway on important issues in five years' time, 90% also believe companies must drive action on social and environmental issues. Nearly nine-in-10 (87 percent) of Gen Zers are worried for the environment and the planet, according to the 2019 Porter Novelli/Cone Gen Z Purpose Study .

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By Kate Taylor

As Generation Z reaches voting age, American politics is set to evolve based on their demands.

Instagram and social media play a massive role in how Gen Z gets their political news, in many ways mirroring the cable-news divisions of older generations.

Gen Z is united on some topics that have typically divided the US, including climate change, legalizing marijuana, and social issues.

But in Business Insider's survey of more than 1,800 people between the ages of 13 to 21, the majority did not identify as either conservative or liberal.

In 2018, students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, watched a gunman murder 17 of their classmates. The teenagers mobilized.

"Every single person up here today, all these people should be home grieving," Emma Gonzales, then 18, said at a rally after the shooting. "But instead we are up here standing together, because if all our government and president can do is send thoughts and prayers, then it's time for victims to be the change that we need to see."

Over the past year, the Parkland teens have helped organize one of the largest youth protests since the Vietnam War. They created a #NeverAgain movement on social media, confronting politicians and organizing rallies, protests, and marches. And they're turning up at the polls in numbers.

Midterm youth-voter turnout was up 47% in 2018 from 2014, according to estimates from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, or Circle.

"Someone else may be in power, but this country belongs to them," Stephen Colbert said on his late-night show.

It is tempting to see the teens and young 20-somethings of Generation Z as a united, progressive force, rising up to challenge a divided country. The reality is more complicated.

While Gen Z is united on some issues, including climate change and legalizing marijuana, political rifts remain.

Social media, including Instagram, one of the most popular places for Gen Z to get political news, is helping deepen and amplify these divisions, sparking concerns in some young Americans that the country is simply entering a new era of political strife.

Instagram is front-page news

One of the biggest differences about Gen Z, according to experts and members of the generation, is the role social media plays in shaping beliefs.

Social media is the top way Gen Z finds out about news, with 59% of respondents listing it as a top news source in Business Insider's poll of more than 1,800 people between the ages of 13 and 21. The national poll was conducted with SurveyMonkey Audience partner Cint on behalf of Business Insider. It ran January 11-14.

More than half the people surveyed said they checked Snap, YouTube, or Instagram daily.

Parkland survivors, for example, organized and amplified their message on social media. Gonzales has more than 1.6 million followers on Twitter, while a Twitter campaign by Parkland survivor David Hogg helped persuade more than a dozen advertisers to slash ties with Laura Ingraham's Fox News show.

But for most Gen Zers, Instagram, not Twitter, reigns supreme. About 65% of respondents said they checked it daily, with many Gen Zers citing it as a major source for political news specifically.

While Instagram provides an easy way to get political headlines, it can condense the news into polarizing memes. Instagram accounts, such as conservative americans, republican.s, and stump_president_trump, tend to represent a single political point of view, often mocking the other side. More bombastic posts get the most reactions, helping perpetuate the division.

"Social media has the ability to take out a snippet of an entire presidential speech that somebody gave and give you 30 seconds to two minutes that can completely sway somebody's opinion on that candidate," Katy Foster, 21, a right-leaning college student in South Dakota, said.

"There's no time for most people in Generation Z," she added. "You're just being so caught up with everything. Especially being a college student, I don't have time to watch an hour-long debate. I will be swayed, honestly, by a two-minute video, which is sad to say."

Almost universal agreement on legal weed and climate change

Some issues have united Gen Z to a degree that transcends the norms of older generations.

Some 54% of Gen Zers believe the Earth is getting warmer because of human activity, according to a report from Pew Research Center, a similar proportion of millennials who believe climate change is caused by people's actions.

And among Republicans of all ages, Gen Z stands out.

"Gen Z Republicans are much more likely than Republicans in older generations to say government should do more to solve problems, and they're less likely to attribute the Earth's warming temperatures to natural patterns, as opposed to human activity," Kim Parker, Pew's director of social-trends research, told Business Insider.

Only 18% of Gen Zers polled who identified as Republicans said they believe the Earth is warming because of natural patterns, compared to 30% of millennial, 36% of Gen Z, and 42% of baby-boomer Republicans.

"We see younger generations being more concerned, and part of it is a realization that they're going to have to inherit a lot of the decisions," Melissa Deckman, a political science professor at Washington College, said. "So I think you see more priority among younger generations to say, look, we're growing up in a world that's a lot less stable when it comes to the planet."

Legal marijuana similarly brings together Gen Zers on the left and right, according to Kyle Lelli, general manager at the debate and polling site Tylt, who says that roughly 70% to 80% of the generation supports legalized weed, according to the service's polls.

The most diverse generation

Gen Z is the most racially and ethnically diverse generation in America, with just 52% of 6- to 21-year-olds identifying as non-Hispanic whites, according to Pew. They're also more diverse in terms of understanding gender, with 35% saying they know someone who uses gender-neutral pronouns, substantially more than any other generation.

According to Pew, 62% of Gen Z sees diversity as good for society, in line with the millennial generation and significantly higher than Gen X (52%), boomer (48%), and silent (42%). Some 59% believe forms should include options other than "man" or "woman," significantly more than the 50% of millennials who believe the same.

"One thing that's distinctive about Gen Z is they are the most diverse generation yet, and most comfortable with changing cultural norms around things like gender identity," Will Jordan, a senior associate at the Global Strategy Group, said.

"This comes at the same time that Democrats as a whole have become more liberal on race and gender issues, which makes Democrats more hospitable for Gen Z, at least in theory," Jordan added. "The Democratic Party has also simply grown more diverse over time, in line with national trends, while the Republican Party has grown whiter."

Members of Gen Z are generally anti-Trump and more likely to be informed on social issues. But when it comes to labeling themselves, Gen Z doesn't necessarily see itself as a generation of Democrats.

"I know that that's apparently what my generation is supposed to be, the progressive generation. But I would say that in my generation there is more outwardly spoken political division," Foster, who is right-leaning, said.

Foster added: "This generation wants - everybody wants - to have a say. Everybody wants to be heard."

While roughly half of the respondents to Business Insider's survey did not label themselves as either liberal or conservative, the remaining Gen Zers we polled were almost evenly split between the right and the left.

With this division come tensions that many teenagers and young adults believe to be as significant as or even greater than those of past generations.

Respondents identified political divisiveness as one of the top issues plaguing America right now, above environmental issues, gun control, or terrorism.

"There definitely is animosity between the two sides, in terms of people my age," Charlie Ciporin, an 18-year-old from Connecticut, said. "I do think that there is a pretty big political divide."

Ciporin recalls the difference between his all-boys high school and the nearby sister school the day after the 2016 election. While students at the somewhat conservative boys' school were pumped about Trump becoming president, the all-girls school, which many boys attended for certain classes, seemed to exist in a different reality.

"You walk into the girls' school and everyone's crying," Ciporin said. "People are just going crazy. Teachers are stopping class to talk about it. It was insane the difference that it made, just walking the 10-minute walk in between the two buildings. It was just, like, completely different worlds that day."

"This generation wants - everybody wants - to have a say. Everybody wants to be heard."
Katy Foster

Among certain Gen Zers, provoking a reaction is seen as a political statement in and of itself.

For example, while younger Republicans are more likely to voice support for LGBT rights and acknowledge racial inequality, political correctness is also seen by many as a threat that needs to be addressed. More than half of Gen Zers say that too many people are "easily offended these days over the language that others use," according to Pew.

"A big part of the ideology for young conservative people is the anti-PC movement, which I think can hold some validity sometimes," Ciporin said. "But often it's just taken a little too far, and they'll just post pretty offensive memes and rhetoric."

"The other day I saw a post saying, like, in some places it's harder to come out as a conservative than as gay, which I didn't really agree with," Ciporin, the president of his school's gay-straight alliance, said. "A big part of this Instagram culture is just being, like, edgy and anti-PC, just for the sake of it."

Gen Z 2020

As members of Gen Z take in the political landscape through social media, they're desperate for change.

More than half of Americans age 13 to 21 believe things are generally going poorly or very poorly in the US, according to Business Insider's poll.

When asked to identify the most important issue facing the country right now, the top response was President Donald Trump. This particular question in the poll prompted respondents to fill in any answer of their choosing. Respondents used adjectives such as "stupid," "disgusting, and "incompetent," while one person accused Trump of "caging up literal children."

"Trump thinks he can do whatever he wants and doesn't care about who he hurts," another wrote.

Gen Z also feels overwhelmingly let down by the American government. Some 70% of Gen Zers believe the government should be doing more to solve problems, according to a poll conducted by Pew in late 2018. That figure is significantly higher for Gen Z than for any other current generation, with 64% of millennials and less than half of baby boomers believing the same.

With the 2020 elections approaching, politicians are targeting Gen Z. Already, many presidential hopefuls are following in Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's footsteps and boosting their Instagram presence. But it will take more than a few Instagram Live sessions to win over this politically opinionated generation.

Gen Z is seeking politicians who can address issues that are personally relevant to them and to people they know, whether that means LGBT protections, addressing climate change, fixing income inequality, or legalizing pot.

With the majority unwilling to identify with either political party, there is an opportunity for politicians on both sides of the aisle to connect with Gen Z voters. But don't expect this generation to solve America's division issue in 2020.

"We often place a lot of hope in this new generation to kind of fix problems and to change the nature and dynamics of politics," Deckman said. "And at the end of the day ... we will look at turnout numbers and find, of course, younger people still aren't out voting and organizing."

Reporting by Kate Taylor
Editing by Madeline Stone, Cadie Thompson, Matt Turner, and Alyson Shontell
Design by Skye Gould and Samantha Lee
Photography by Hollis Johnson
Graphics by Shayanne Gal

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America's teenagers skew a lot more conservative than most people realize, and they get most of their news from Instagram

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By Kate Taylor As Generation Z reaches voting age, American politics is set to evolve based on their demands. Instagram and social media play a massive role in how Gen Z gets their political news, in many ways mirroring the cable-news divisions of older generations.

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16 seconds. That's how long it took for Rimowa's suitcase collection in collaboration with streetwear brand Supreme to sell out, despite its starting price of 1600 US dollars. Both labels announced the collaboration by simply posting a picture of the product on social media, alongside its release date -- a mere three days ahead.

This sales tactic, which consists of releasing a limited-edition product or collection in small quantities at select retail locations, without much advance warning, is what we have come to know as a "drop". The basic idea is to create a sense of urgency and the illusion of scarcity among consumers. Yes, illusion: after all, the products are not necessarily expensive or difficult to make.

Supreme is perhaps the king of this retail strategy. Founded as a small skate shop in New York in the 1990s, the company is currently estimated to be worth one billion US dollars. As a result, other players in the fashion industry are dipping their toes into the drop model as well: Gucci, Adidas, Nike, Louis Vuitton, Alexander Wang and Opening Ceremony are just a few examples of brands experimenting with this tactic. 2017 was named by The New York Times as "the year of the drop", and the trend is showing no signs of slowing down in 2018.

Burberry is the latest brand to jump on the bandwagon. The British label famous for its signature tartan print announced a series of monthly drops this week: on the 17th of each month, starting today, new products will be unveiled on the company's Instagram and WeChat profiles. Each release will vary in scale and availability, and customers will only have 24 hours to buy the items. According to a company statement, Burberry's goal is to "excite customers with new deliveries and frequent communication". Unsurprisingly, the first Burberry product to be "dropped" is a sweatshirt.

When heritage brands such as Burberry decide to follow a retail strategy made popular by streetwear labels with a young customer base, several questions arise: why have product drops become so popular? Is it a sustainable sales tactic in the long run? Will it work for the likes of Burberry as much as it does for the likes of Supreme? FashionUnited spoke with a group of fashion scholars and experts to better understand the phenomenon.

Fast fashion + social media = drop culture

When it comes to the reasons that led to drops' rise in popularity, all experts were unanimous: drops are the retail response to our high-speed times and reduced attention spans. "We are living in an 'on demand' society where we expect instant gratification, constant novelty and brands to cater to our demands with urgency and immediacy. Pair that with a growing desire of exclusivity and access to something unique and we have the ideal scenario for such a trend to occur," explains Ana Roncha, Course Leader of the Master's degree in Strategic Fashion Marketing at the London College of Fashion. Nick Paget, Senior Menswear Editor at trend forecasting company WGSN, agrees: "drop culture is centered around our shortened attention spans and getting the next selfie with the most current items." Danilo Venturi, Director of Italian fashion school Polimoda, expressed the same idea: "the new generations do not have a sense of history and geography, everything happens here and now, and this outlook is reflected in their approach to buying."

Although streetwear and sneaker brands are often credited with starting the trend, Roncha argues fast fashion companies like H&M, Zara and Primark are the actual forefathers of drop culture. "There is a closer match to that market [streetwear], yes, but in my perspective the need and underlying premises actually started with the concept of fast fashion. That's what made us all used to frequent product deliveries. It created a sense of urgency to buy, to go in store every week and buy straight away as the product might not be there the week after." Streetwear brands just added a pinch of secrecy and further exclusivity to the formula.

Another point with which all experts agree is that social media is central to drop culture. "Brands are struggling to get coverage on traditional media these days, so they have to do things to stand out on social media and cut through all the noise. How do you make sure you're heard in this new, buzzy world?," said Alison Levy Bringé, Chief Marketing Officer at data analytics firm Launchmetrics. "Fashion weeks give brands an average of 800 percent more exposure than they get the rest of the year. In my opinion, drops are a way to reproduce the same excitement." It works: Rimowa's announcement of its collaboration with Supreme had 4 times more impact than their regular posts about other products, as measured by Launchmetrics.

Not only do sudden product drops generate more social media buzz, they also help brands to form an engaged community. "Customers need to be aware of launch dates and times, they need to be part of an exclusive crowd that is well informed ahead of the launch,'' notes Roncha. "It's like a cult gang. Young consumers want to feel like they're part of a group or movement. It's a means of expression," adds Bringé.

Fashion companies are not the only ones benefiting from drop culture, however. In an age when digital influencer is a profession and many people base their sense of worth on the number of likes they get on social media, selfies featuring these "rare" fashion items are the new status symbol. "Social media carries an inherent expectation and high stake in terms of posting new and exciting content every day: wear something different, inspire and be inspired", explains Roncha. "Showing how well informed we are about brands and having access to products that only a few have gives one a lot of credibility and status amongst his or her peers".

It also looks like drop culture is effective even among those who do not aspire to be the next social media star. Consumers tend to trust people they know a lot more than traditional advertising, which means influencer content is still perceived by many as good old word of mouth, even though it is well known they earn a living by posting sponsored content. "Ads on TV used to be restricted to certain times. Now we're exposed to social media all the time, we get so much more caught up in the trends because we see it in our feeds constantly," says Bringé.

Drops are not for everyone

Just because drops have turned some retailers into money making machines, it doesn't mean the same will happen to every brand adopting a similar strategy. "Drops only work when consumers feel they are authentic to the brand identity and values. If it feels like something imposed and it doesn't resonate with the customers' values, it falls flat," explains Natascha Radclyffe-Thomas, Course Leader of the Bachelor's in Fashion Marketing at the London College of Fashion. "Your strategy should be aligned with your target audience", emphasizes Bringé. Nick Paget is on the same page: "what your customer should take from any collab or limited drop is that you understand them even better than they thought you did."

That's why Burberry's recent announcement has raised a few eyebrows. "Luxury is intended to offer products with a longer lifespan. It values craftsmanship, heritage and time (to produce and to consume). Some luxury labels, such as Gucci, are using drops to reach a younger audience with high disposable income, but for other fashion houses where values such as tradition and craftsmanship are an intrinsic part of their brand identity, opting for drops can possibly alienate a big part of their audience," says Roncha.

But Joanne Yulan Jong, founder of brand consultancy firm Yulan Creative and author of the book The Fashion Switch: the new rules of the fashion business, thinks reaching out for younger audiences is crucial for long-term survival. "Luxury brands are having to move to this model to stay in the customers' line of vision. It seems strange for them to do this, but it's an investment that will reap benefits further down the line." Whether Riccardo Tisci was right in his decision to turn a British heritage brand into this direction, it remains to be seen.

One should also remember that, although drops are popular among millennials and generation Z, there is a considerable number of shoppers who still value convenience over novelty, even among younger generations. "Let's remember that a trend always denotes a counter-trend," adds Danilo Venturi. "We're also seeing a growing number of retailers who prefer to slow down and offer an experience."

Consumers who value sustainability aren't likely to be excited about this model, either. Paget suggests: "a lot depends on how deeply your customers adopt a more sustainable attitude. Do they want to hold on to artisanal pieces for seasons to come, which will probably get better with age and wear, or does the novelty of the new win out, with the drop of each new and hyped capsule collection tempting them to buy more and dispatch what they already own?"

Venturi, from Polimoda, is even more emphatic: "there are better ways to define your identity than with a new cell phone every year and a new dress every week - and, for the industry, there are more reasonable ways of generating profit. We must begin a dialogue about a new link between craftsmanship and technology. Let's drop the drops!"

The future of drop culture

Will we, though? The million dollar question is whether product drops will continue to be successful in the long run, or the fabricated newness and scarcity will, too, get old -- ironically enough. For Venturi, there's no doubt about it: "sooner or later, consumers get tired of everything: this is the driver of change and fashion is about change."

Roncha is not so sure about that. She thinks this sales tactic will not go away anytime soon. "It will evolve, as everything does". Radclyffe-Thomas, her colleague at the London College of Fashion, gives some examples of how drop culture will change: "one way the drops are changing is how consumers themselves are strategizing to be successful getting hold of the goods, so you see people paying others to line up for them outside stores, or even using bots online to make sure they're not left empty-handed. Maybe that will become the new status symbol? Being 'too cool to queue?'"

Regardless of what happens to drop culture, one thing is certain: brands will continue to be challenged to find new ways to grab consumers' attention and keep their customers excited.

Images: Supreme Facebook; Balenciaga pop-up, courtesy of Selfridges; Off-White for DoubleF, courtesy of DoubleF.

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The business of hype: why so many fashion brands are now doing "product drops"

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16 seconds. That's how long it took for Rimowa's suitcase collection in collaboration with streetwear brand Supreme to sell out, despite its starting price of 1600 US dollars. Both labels announced the collaboration by simply posting a picture of the product on social media, alongside its release date -- a mere three days ahead.

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School of Sustainability - The leading online destination for men's contemporary fashion and streetwear. Shop at our store and also enjoy the best in daily editorial content.

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Now a prominent trend in fashion, the queue outside certain shops as they release new collections - otherwise known as "the drop" - has become the most significant decider of success for a brand, with the raucous hype it generates outweighing other forms of traditional marketing.

At the London branch of Supreme, the cult skatewear firm driving this trend, its weekly Thursday collection drops have resulted in three-person-deep queues snaking around surrounding streets, while the desperation to bag an item once inside could lead to scuffles and queue jumping.
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The lines became so raucous that Westminster council threatened Supreme with closure, resulting in the introduction last year of a new ticketing system, which shoppers must sign up to for a chance to enter the shop on drop day.

As a result, its highly anticipated collaboration with the Japanese streetwear label Undercover and US hip-hop group Public Enemy, featuring the artwork from the band's 1990 album Fear of A Black Planet, went on sale on Thursday in a positively orderly fashion.

Four hundred pre-registered shoppers were allocated a time slot between 11am and 6pm to attend the Soho shop. Early arrivals were directed to a holding area out of sight down the street, to be escorted, at 11am, with passports checked and cross-referenced, in small groups to stand outside the shop, where mobile phones were not permitted. Shortly afterwards, seven people at a time were allowed inside, with up to 15 minutes to peruse and purchase.

Outside the understated black shop facade, anyone who was seen to be dawdling - inquisitive tourists included - were moved along by a coordinated team of security guards.

The aim of the strategy, a Supreme employee explained, was to give fans what they wanted without diluting the spirit of the drop which, with its top-secret meetings to get tickets, has become a sub-culture of its own among devotees of the brand.

"The level of fervour surrounding 'preme has grown exponentially of late, so the complicated method of obtaining access to a drop definitely makes it more covetable to newcomers," said Byron Hawes, author of the forthcoming book Drop, which documents the culture around the launches.

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Public Enemy in 1988. The collection features artwork from their 1990 album, Fear of A Black Planet Photograph: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

"Supreme's hype game is so strong that nothing can truly dampen it. The general feeling of hype, community, and camaraderie remains."

Loyal shoppers arriving for Thursday's drop expressed mixed views. "It's a lot easier and a lot more difficult," said 19-year-old Victor Chapman, a Supreme fan since he was 13 who used to camp outside the store before the new system was introduced. "If you were camping, you would just get there early and get in and get what you wanted, and now you have to get your ticket or you can't go in."

The system has helped curb the infamous resale market, with some people buying in store and then selling at inflated prices on the internet. "Big drops gather a lot of attention from resellers and it's especially worse with sneakers," said 18-year-old Jiajia Hang, who spent about £400 at Thursday's launch. "People would come to drops and push in to try and get a pair, but with this line-up system, that sort of stuff doesn't happen any more."

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Hawes recounted rumours that Supreme attempts to counter the resale market by tracking resellers who, when they try to get tickets to drops are "given 'sucka numbers', which are late in the day and won't allow admittance to the shop at all".

Supreme's ticketed queuing did, however, jar with long-time fans, said Hawes. "Old heads have been hustling for ages, so it doesn't really change their opinions, although I've spoken with lots of cats who've collected for years, and now feel that Supreme is over, what with all the suburbanite hype."
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'Supreme's hype game is strong': cult brand tries ticketed fashion

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Now a prominent trend in fashion, the queue outside certain shops as they release new collections - otherwise known as "the drop" - has become the most significant decider of success for a brand, with the raucous hype it generates outweighing other forms of traditional marketing.