TikTok Neutralisation: Isabella Franks on Perfection, Conformity and Fashion

Exploring the pressure to look perfect, the repetition of online aesthetics, and the space left for individuality.

In a digital culture shaped by rapidly changing trends and carefully constructed images, the pressure to look a certain way can extend far beyond appearance. For young women in particular, online aesthetics can become expectations, turning personal style into a constant negotiation between individuality and the desire to fit in.

Isabella Franks, a second-year Fashion Art Direction student at Manchester Metropolitan University, explores these tensions through a self-directed photography and styling project accompanied by a written essay titled TikTok Neutralisation: The Rise of Populism and Conservatism in Fashion.

Working across photography, styling, makeup and digital editing, Franks uses repetition and visual contrast to question the idea of perfection promoted across social media. Her models share similar makeup, hairstyles and poses, creating an intentional sense of sameness. As the images develop, smudged makeup and uneven hair interrupt that polished uniformity, suggesting the instability beneath an idealised appearance.

Her editing choices further develop the concept. Vibrant colours and heightened exposure sit alongside a contrasting visual treatment and a noise filter, disrupting the flawless finish associated with heavily curated online imagery. Rather than presenting perfection as an achievable ideal, the images invite viewers to consider what might be lost when appearance becomes a standard to reproduce.

The project connects its visual language to a wider discussion of trend cycles, femininity, conservatism and conformity. In Franks’s accompanying essay, she considers how popular aesthetics can influence the way young women present themselves, and how the pursuit of online approval may narrow the space for experimentation and individual expression.

Through this combination of image-making and critical writing, Franks approaches fashion photography as more than a study of appearance. The work becomes a way to question the cultural expectations that shape it, asking where personal identity ends and the pressure to conform begins.

Presented as part of ICONNER Magazine’s Community Editorials, the project brings together an independent creative’s visual practice and written perspective, opening a conversation about the relationship between fashion, social media and individuality.

Project credits