TikTok’s New Fashion Trend: Businesscore

Trends in TikTok are wildfires—they spread fast but they also come and go fast, extinguished by the other coming trends that would replace them. When it comes to fashion, TikTok has been a pioneer in setting trends, developing aesthetics that are unique. They call it core— a suffix that basically denotes a kind of style. The rise of micro-cores coincides with the rise of hyper-specific internet aesthetics. There has been hundreds of fashion core in the platform, but the recent addiction is Businesscore.

What is Businesscore?

@m0rra the word “core” gets thrown after everything i swear😭… #fashiontiktok #businesscore #pov #foryou ♬ Aces – dkj

Well, Businesscore is basically an aesthetic that gives out the vibe of a… well, business wear. It’s an updated version of corporate attire, fitted for the trends of Gen Zs. It mixes the outdated coat and tie with other recent aesthetics like streetwear and futurist style. The aesthetic takes monochrome pieces like white collared shirts, black boxy blazers, and leather jackets. It transforms them into a look of their own when layered together.

Businesscore mainly started in the resurgence of wearing neckties. The punk movement wore neckties as an anti-thesis to the corporate, pairing it with tattered shirts (think, 2000s Avril Lavigne). But in this case, businesscore never neglects the corporate vibe. It embraces it but tweaks other details to make it fresher and more fit for the teenagers.

Monochromatic and dark colors are IN

Needless to say, businesscore is fond of monochromatic colors. It embraces the boring color blocks of the corporate world, but pairs it with sleek and edgy accessories and substitutes. Mostly only black and white—with black being more dominant. It incorporates itself to gothy streetwear—cause if goth likes blacks, then so does the world of businesscore. The rhetoric of this choice is to convey how lifeless the corporate world actually is, when it comes to colors—but at the same time, finding elegance and formality in this monochrome. Afterall, the goal is to bring the chic formality to the streets.

Anatomy of the style

Check out any examples of the niche businesscore trend in TikTok and you will find an amalgamation of Needles track-tops paired with suit trousers next to Arc’teryx jackets, topped off with dad’s old Prada tie. The movement takes classic corporate dressing elements such as crisp white shirts over white vests and combining them with a modern streetwear twist. You can see teens substituting the coat with a black puffer jacket, and the black shoes dropped for black boots—but the black oversized slacks are still there. This aesthetic has ‘business up-front, 2023 in the back’ energy.

For women, daddy’s old oversize office coats could be worn with micro skirts if you’re in a quick dinner date. For those who are more creative, these office coats, slacks and white collar long sleeves could be botched to create stylish cropped tops. Or you can rip or tatter them to add a punch of grunge in your corporate dream style.