Is the TikTok Fashion Boom Already Over?

8 Mar 2024

The ByteDance-owned app has big ambitions to be an e-commerce player in league with Amazon with influence in fashion on par with Instagram. Now it’s facing new threats — both from outside and within.

We may be entering the twilight of TikTok’s golden age.

This week, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the US House of Representatives introduced a new bill that would give its China-based parent company ByteDance six months to divest TikTok or face a ban in the US, where it says it currently clocks more than 170 million users.

It’s hardly the app’s first threat from the US government — a similar effort in the Senate stalled last year, and a Montana law set to ban the app in the state was blocked by a federal judge in November — but this time could be different. Already, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has voiced his support for the bill, which advanced out of committee on Thursday with a unanimous bipartisan vote. It could head to a full House vote as soon as next week. This week, TikTok began asking users in select states to call lawmakers on its behalf.

But even as legislators dial up the pressure, TikTok’s greatest threat may actually be TikTok itself.


We may be entering the twilight of TikTok’s golden age.

This week, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the US House of Representatives introduced a new bill that would give its China-based parent company ByteDance six months to divest TikTok or face a ban in the US, where it says it currently clocks more than 170 million users.

It’s hardly the app’s first threat from the US government — a similar effort in the Senate stalled last year, and a Montana law set to ban the app in the state was blocked by a federal judge in November — but this time could be different. Already, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has voiced his support for the bill, which advanced out of committee on Thursday with a unanimous bipartisan vote. It could head to a full House vote as soon as next week. This week, TikTok began asking users in select states to call lawmakers on its behalf.

But even as legislators dial up the pressure, TikTok’s greatest threat may actually be TikTok itself.


TikTok exploded in popularity during the pandemic and has since become a major force not only in social media, but the fashion industry. The app has shaken up fashion’s trend cycle, driven sales and become a crucial marketing tool for brands.

More recently, ByteDance has made moves towards its goal of turning TikTok into an e-commerce power player like its Chinese equivalent Douyin. The company had experimented with shopping concepts on the app since 2021, and in September launched TikTok Shop. The tab inside the app represented its most prominent effort to use its addictive algorithm to drive sales and usher social shopping, tried and tested by the likes of Meta and Amazon, with mostly underwhelming results, into the West.

By sales metrics, TikTok Shop’s rollout could be considered a success. In just a few months, the app became a serious player in the game of pushing ultra-cheap products — taking a share of wallet from Shein, according to Michael Maloof, Earnest Analytics strategy and marketing director.