Ayla Angelos is a freelance writer and editor based in London, who’s spent over a decade working in the fields of art, photography, design, and culture. She's particularly interested in championing working-class creatives through her work and has bylines published in It’s Nice That, 

Diverse representation is an expectation, but as individuals no longer allow themselves to be defined in singular terms, there's mounting pressure on brands to understand and sensitively reflect how the intersections between race, gender, class, and ability impact people's everyday lives.

Collective Equity

Today, audiences are shaping the cultural agenda. Empowered to speak up for the causes they believe in, people are actively calling out brands they see as inauthentic. What are the main drivers of this behavioural shift? And how can brands win the trust of these outspoken advocates?

Assertive Audiences

One in three of the wealthiest individuals in the UK has identified as working class, according to a recent survey. 

National Centre for Social Research

 This revelation has sent ripples throughout culture and across generations, with implications felt in various aspects of society, from fashion trends to the type of content we’re consuming online.

One notable manifestation of this phenomenon is the rise of ‘Bloke Core’, a fashion trend that pays homage to working-class roots. Think football-related accessories, denim jeans, Adidas trainers, and vintage football shirts. The origins of Bloke Core can be traced back to the 1970s and 1980s when devoted football fans, known as ‘casuals’, donned their favourite football jerseys to support their teams. 

Innofoot

Interestingly, Bloke Core has not only endured but has also become a source of inspiration for renowned fashion houses like Balenciaga and Prada, which have incorporated elements of this working-class fashion into their designs. 

Mixtape Madness

For London Fashion Week (LFW), Burberry took over Norman’s Cafe, which some have criticised as a mockery of working-class culture. 

Screenshot Media

Burberry’s iconic nova check pattern had once been associated with the ‘chav’ and football hooligan subcultures, but the brand has recently shifted its focus to target a wealthier demographic, alienating a portion of its existing customer base in the process. 

Norman’s Cafe itself has faced accusations of ‘cosplaying’ working-class culture by offering overpriced dishes and having staff wear trendy branded uniforms, which appeals to hipsters. 

The impact of this working-class aesthetic trend also extends to social media platforms like TikTok, where individuals, including celebrities like Charli D’Amelio, have engaged in content that blurs the lines between socioeconomic classes. She posted a video of herself working as a cashier at Walmart, 

, with some expressing frustration at rich individuals pretending to be poor for entertainment, and others calling for an abolishment of 

“can you film me looking poor for ten seconds”

 content. Elsewhere, in Netflix documentary 

which follows David Beckham’s rise to football stardom, he 

calls out his wife Victoria for saying she grew up in a working-class family

 – her dad drove her to school in a Rolls-Royce.

The National Centre for Social Research’s annual British Social Attitudes report reveals that, despite significant changes in the job market and education landscape, the working-class identity remains relevant. 

 Many people continue to identify as working class, citing factors like education, occupation, and income as determinants. According to the report, as many as 77% say that social class affects someone’s opportunities in Britain ‘a great deal’ or ‘quite a lot’. This is slightly higher than the 70% who expressed that view in 1983 and the 66% who did so in 1985. The resurgence of working-class aesthetics and identities in modern culture underscores a renewed focus on class as an essential aspect of social identity. So what’s behind the proliferation of working-class aesthetics, and what can brands take away from this?

A cultural shift from perfection to relatability online

The landscape of online content creation is undergoing a significant cultural shift, as Gen Y and Z increasingly favour authenticity and relatability over the glossy perfection that characterised the 2010s. In an era where photo dumps, TikTok, DIY content, messiness, and chaos are celebrated, brands are taking notice of the power of unpolished and lo-fi video content. Indeed, while 75% of UK Gen Zers had plans to cut back on spending in 2023, 48% of Zers and 51% of Yers reported that authenticity would make them less sensitive to inflationary prices. 

My Customer

One of the driving forces behind this cultural shift is the desire for relatability. Influencers play a pivotal role in cultivating relationships with their audience, serving not only as experts but also as friends within their online communities, resulting in a deep sense of trust and intimacy. 

UK Parliament

 Meanwhile, deinfluencing, a counter-reaction to influencer culture, has gained traction, particularly on platforms like TikTok. This trend involves creators urging their audience not to purchase popular or viral products, rejecting the consumerist tendencies promoted by influencers. The hashtag 

 has, at the time of writing, garnered 998.2 million views, signalling a growing desire for authenticity and a resistance to the materialistic and persuasive aspects of influencer marketing.

The photo dump trend is another manifestation of this shift toward raw and unedited content. It encourages individuals to share uncurated photos from their camera rolls, embracing the beauty of imperfection and reflecting a broader movement toward unfiltered, unscripted content that resonates with audiences seeking authenticity and a return to the simplicity of a pre-AI filter era. Brands that understand the value of this cultural shift can harness the power of authenticity, relatability, and imperfection to connect with their target audience more effectively.

This search for authenticity is also reflected in those who identify as working class. “There’s an authenticity understood from identifying as working class – the working class makes up nearly half of the UK population and thus their experience is more normalised than other classes,” says Tom Ghiden, managing director at JOAN Creative. “So in the instance of rich people cosplaying as working class, particularly someone who’s navigated their upbringing to find true wealth, represents a clear success story, but also are able to speak faithfully to the experience of a larger swath of the UK population.” 

Interview with Tom Ghiden conducted by author

The glamourisation of working-class aesthetics

Working-class aesthetics have transcended into fashion through charity shops, Depop, and second-hand clothes, and infiltrated various aspects of contemporary society, including the rise of gentrification in neighbourhoods like Clapton, Peckham and Deptford. 

Earth5R

The Standard

 The appropriation of working-class aesthetics by designer brands poses complex questions about privilege, class diversity, and the authenticity of creative inspiration. With the fashion industry largely shaped by privilege and connections, it’s crucial to examine whether upper-class brands should be drawing inspiration from lower-class styles while potentially alienating the very communities they are emulating.

The case of Burberry exemplifies this dilemma, as the iconic British brand faced a period where its check pattern was associated with ‘chav’ culture, leading to a decline in sales among its high-end clientele. To distance themselves from this association, Burberry embarked on a rebranding campaign, reducing the use of the check pattern and enlisting Kate Moss as the face of the brand. 

Nu Fashion

 “The downside is that there is an inauthenticity when the working class is being represented by those who may not truly understand their experience,” says Ghiden. “People are speaking to and building their businesses around insights they cannot properly speak to. Their learned experience is not representative of that which they claim and there are fewer people from true working-class communities finding their way into the marketing industry, meaning we’re not getting people at the table who understand a huge portion of the UK population.” 

The proliferation of working-class aesthetics in a socio-economic climate marked by extreme difficulties for actual working-class individuals, such as the cost-of-living crisis and discrimination, has sparked a wave of criticism and debate, particularly surrounding issues of cultural appropriation and the ethics of commodifying the style of marginalised communities. A notable example of this phenomenon can be seen on TikTok, where the 

 hashtag has garnered over one billion views. The term ‘chav’ is associated with a stereotype that often mocks and belittles the British working class. These TikTok ‘chavs’ are predominantly portrayed as young White women donning fake tan and exaggerated Estuary English accents, which have historical ties to the working class. It remains unclear whether non-British TikTok users posting these videos fully grasp the deeply ingrained connotations of the term, potentially perpetuating a narrative that derides and stigmatises working-class culture.

The issue of ‘nepo babies’, or children of celebrities who follow in their famous parents’ footsteps, adds another layer to this complex debate. Research reveals a significant decline in the number of actors, musicians, and writers with working-class backgrounds, highlighting the diminishing opportunities for those outside privileged circles. 

Sage Journals

 Some 16% of arts workers born in the 1950s had a working-class background, but that has fallen to just 7.9%. This growing disparity in creative fields calls attention to the broader issues of class inequality, emphasising the importance of recognising the barriers faced by working-class individuals.

“This is something that’s been going on for a long time, but there’s been a shift in mainstream media recently which has made more people take notice of the problem i.e the ‘nepo baby’ discourse earlier this year, Labour’s plans to break the class ceiling and level the playing field,” says Natasha Khan, acting managing director at Creative Mentor Network. All of this is happening in the context of a cost-of-living crisis which highlights economic divides and means people are thinking more critically about ideas of class, privilege, and inequality. This misidentification of being working class can dilute the reality of privilege and success. “Sharing altered success stories and associating achievements with just hard work undermines the power privilege brings people in the form of networks, financial security, confidence, and knowledge of the industry,” says Khan. “This not only distorts the truth but also sets an unrealistic bar for those not born into the same privileged backgrounds.” 

Interview with Natasha Khan conducted by author

Evolve your organisation's equity strategy

Understanding the nuances of class identity and its significance can help brands navigate the complexities of consumer sentiment and create more inclusive and authentic marketing strategies that resonate with a diverse audience. “It’s bringing class and socioeconomic background to the conversation, with it not being a protected characteristic (yet), it’s not measured or generally included in conversations around diversity in the same way that the protected characteristic is,” says Khan. “But its impact on someone’s professional journey is being acknowledged more than ever, urging a re-evaluation of diversity in the workplace, which is a good thing.” Organisations such as

 are proactively seeking to address opportunity gaps in the creative industries in the UK, running campaigns such as #MyBreakthrough, where creative practitioners were encouraged to share how they broke into the industry.  Fostering a more equitable culture comes through organisational transparency and insight. “Only when you know the socioeconomic make-up of your organisation will you know if you need to set up meaningful interventions to change it,” says Khan. 

“Classism survives when it’s allowed to hide in the shadows," explained John Osborne, creative director at Creature London, 

the agency ran in 2022 about the class pay gap. The rise of working-class aesthetics signal a shift towards greater openness in how class is experienced and acknowledged in the UK, and that conversation needs to continually foreground community experience, championing working-class pride with the community. “Most brands are talking to a working-class audience, a workforce that mirrors societal diversity can produce work that resonates more authentically,” says Khan. 

 Sophy Vanner Critoph, head of strategy, culture, and communications at Amplify says one of the toughest moves is positioning luxury heritage brands to ‘the every person’, for example, Burberry’s Norman’s Cafe. “Taking over working-class cultural icons, and badging them with your brand isn’t going to win any authenticity points,” she says. “Find commonalities in values and behaviours between brand and audience to create some really interesting places to play in culture.” 

Interview with Sophia Vanner conducted by author

, where the brand is taking a leading role in 

resonates powerfully with British audiences.

, people are increasingly drawn to brands and personalities that exude authenticity and genuineness. As people look for influencers and brands that make them feel understood and heard in challenging contexts, platforming diverse perspectives is more important than ever and also more likely to resonate. Ghiden says fewer people from a true working-class background are finding their way into the marketing industry, meaning there are people at the table who don’t understand a huge portion of the UK population. “Make sure you have people both in your business, as well as on your agency and marketing team who understand and can speak to the lived experience of the working class,” says Ghiden. “We need to pass the microphone to minorities in our marketing circles to ensure we’re creating work that is built on true insights.” 

77% say that social class affects someone’s opportunities in Britain ‘a great deal’ or ‘quite a lot’

16% of arts workers born in the 1950s had a working-class background, but that’s fallen to just 7.9%

 of UK shoppers had plans to cut back on spending in 2023, 

 of Yers reported that authenticity would make them less sensitive to inflationary prices

The landscape of online content creation is shifting, as Gen Yers and Zers favour authenticity and relatability over glossy perfection

The appropriation of working-class aesthetics by designer brands poses complex questions about class diversity

People are thinking more critically about ideas of class, privilege, and inequality, as the misidentification of being working class can dilute the reality of success

Tom Ghiden is managing director at JOAN Creative.

Natasha Khan is the acting managing director at Creative Mentor Network.

Sophy Vanner Critoph is head of strategy, culture, and communications at Amplify.

United Kingdom

Citizenship

Interview with Tom Ghiden conducted by the author

Sociology

Interview with Natasha Khan conducted by the author

Interview with Sophia Vanner conducted by the author

As one in three of the richest individuals in the UK has identified as working class, implications have been felt in various aspects of society, from fashion trends to the content we’re consuming. What’s behind the proliferation of working-class aesthetics, and what can brands take away from this?