Dark Academia as a Commodity
Dark Academia isn’t just an aesthetic anymore. It’s capitalism.
I loved Dark Academia until I realized the undertones of aesthetics.
I will admit before writing this, I’m literally the poster child for Dark Academia, even before Tik Tok made it popular. I dress the same exact way that is exemplified in the aesthetic, I’ve been wanting to go into academia for quite a bit now, I write somewhat angsty poetry, and I just personify the personality that the Internet made up.
Perhaps it’s because I’m a Slytherin and a major INTJ-A, which might explain why I vibe with this aesthetic so much, but I just didn’t understand it as I scrolled through YouTube videos that were like “outfits for Dark Academia!” And then, when I went into the mall, some stores actually were labeling sections as Dark Academia or specific aesthetics, which, as someone who got their degree in Fashion Business Management, I thought this was quite fascinating to observe. It’s showing how social media is permeating into our everyday lives.
As someone who is trying to go to graduate school to study online media and digital spaces, as well as the trade of goods and ideas, Dark Academia is a really fascinating case study because it goes beyond borders. If you search it up on YouTube, you find teenagers all over the world adhering to this aesthetic, sharing their best outfit tips or how to make the most aesthetic Instagram photo. I’m in the age range consuming this kind of culture, but stepping back as a researcher and an observer, I found myself becoming more critical of it and other aesthetics that romanticize certain lifestyles.
The Origins of Dark Academia
In the literary sense, Donna Tartt has been known for being the creator or at least popularizing the Dark Academia aesthetic in literature. She did this in 1992 with the release of her novel The Secret History, which, essentially, is the epitome of dark academia: private school setting, lots of tweeds, etc. Donna Tartt is a novelist well-known for working within this genre, but I would dare to say J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series very much feeds into the obsession with this aesthetic. People are obsessed with the interiors and castle of Hogwarts, how the British students were at what essentially was a boarding school for magic. We all know this generation’s obsession with Hary Potter, so it makes sense that this became quite popular.
The aesthetic really blew up on Tik Tok, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. This introduced it to a mainly younger demographic, young adults and teenagers, who now are rocking the styles and lifestyle that Dark Academia has to offer.
The Dark Side of Dark Academia
The first thing I noticed when observing this aesthetic is that. it essentially romanticizes the lifestyle of the rich. Some say that it evokes nostalgia for a time that has gone away, for castles and boarding schools, but if you look throughout history, these were privileges often reserved for rich white students that were the upper elites of society. By glorifying the lives of these people, you are romanticizing an ugly history, one marred with discrimination, racism, and the systemic systems that are still in place today. It’s similar to how we glorify Ivy League schools, which are known to be gatekeepers of knowledge, socioeconomic and racial discrimination, and being exploitative of minorities.
Something else I worried about right off of the bat is this pressure for teenagers to adhere to an aesthetic and thus basing their entire life on it. While it’s totally okay for students to explore while they’re young, I almost wonder if there’s this pressure that will be applied in order to reach their “dream job” of academia. Academia is not an aesthetic. It’s a lot of sleepless days, stress, and there aren’t many job opportunities in it, especially for the humanities. I understand that a key part of this is the passion for knowledge, but are these kids actually deciding like this, or do they want to fit in an online world?
The aesthetic also encourages reading classic literature, which there is nothing wrong with that. Classic literature is considered classic to be a reason. But something I want people to think about the aesthetic is its origins. If someone is taking this aesthetic way too seriously, we’re broadcasting to millions of people that we should only be reading books of the European tradition. And, to be more specific, mainly by old white men.
In an era where we need to be diversifying our reading lists, Dark Academia is standing for something that upholds what institutions have been preaching all along. It deliberately is erasing the voices of minorities by evoking nostalgia for a time that was actually deeply racist and elitist. There are some really good aspects of Dark Academia, such as how it isn’t forcing stereotypical gender norms. A lot of what is being worn is gender-neutral and women are wearing clothes that are traditionally considered to be menswear. It breaks norms about gender and sexuality, which is really good for youths today. However, we need to acknowledge that the origins of the aesthetic aren’t as rosy as one thinks.
Fashion, Mass Production, Ethics
Another key aspect is the potential of how this might be turned into a marketing ploy or an agent of consumption behavior. Do we need to be producing all of these clothes to curate short-lived aesthetics? As a fashion major who focused on ethics, sourcing, and production during my time at one of the best fashion schools in the world, And the problem with trends like this is that instead of using what we already have in our closets, we go to these mass-produced retailer stores and buy products that are “Dark Academia” based. While thrifting is the best option here, with the demand skyrocketing, people are going to turn to regular fashion retailers to buy the products.
The consumers of these products are also a younger demographic, which leads to my next point: they don’t have a lot of disposable income. They want the cheap prices of fast fashion, and so they feel like they have no choice but to not purchase unethically made clothes. And so we continue this cycle of reliance on cheap labor, which then creates a system of exploitation and ever slavery. Often those being exploited are women, children, and specifically BIPOC women and children from underdeveloped nations.
When the trend is over, too, a lot of these clothes will be trashed. Unfortunately, many won’t decide that Dark Academia is what they’ll wear for the rest of their life. And so when we go out to clean our closets each year, these clothes will be thrown away, thus creating even more environmental impact because of an aesthetic that originated on the Internet.
Concluding Thoughts
There are many merits to Dark Academia, such as the inclusivity and breakthroughs to gender and sexuality, but many often forget how exactly this nostalgia was like. It is not inclusive to BIPOC and world literature and evokes nostalgia for times that can now be seen as problematic. And because it is an aesthetic that is digitally native and very much a trend, the environmental impact for the aesthetic might outweigh the pros of participating in it.
