All over Instagram feeds are clothes printed with fresh, juicy fruits or people wearing colors like pink and orange to resemble fruits like strawberries and mangos. 

Maybe you have seen Coconut Girls across your Pinterest feed with hibiscus flowers in their hair, puka shell necklaces strung across their necks and wearing vibrant colors like pink, orange and green.The girl you saw at the bookstore wearing a strawberry printed crop top, a flowy maxi skirt and a bow tied around her ponytail— she was a Strawberry Girl.

What is this new aesthetic that you can’t get away from? Without a doubt, the clean girl aesthetic is out, and the fruit aesthetic is in.

Since fruit aesthetics are relatively unknown, there is no certain one which has the responsibility for starting the trend. For example, YouTuber, Dion the Taurus, credited the Cherry Girl aesthetic for starting the trend of fruit aesthetics.

Despite this, the Cherry Girl aesthetic did not start off as its own trend. It was born from the coquette aesthetic, which places attention on bows and takes inspiration from singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey.

Del Rey is known for her Americana, ‘60s inspired fashion, but interestingly enough, the artist rarely incorporates fruit into her clothing choices. Instead, her song “Cherry” is believed to have caused the fruit to be associated with her.

From this inspiration, the Cherry Girl dress code incorporates clothing with cherry prints or dark shades of red. With the trend’s coquette roots, platform Mary Janes or loafers, bows and dainty jewelry are also a must.

Another fruit aesthetic which gained popularity during the summer of 2023 was the Tomato Girl aesthetic, which aims to capture the feel of a Mediterranean summer with fresh linens and bright reds.

Stemming from the Tomato Girl aesthetic, other different sub-aesthetics were born that focus on different fruits like blueberries and strawberries.

In a YouTube video titled “let’s talk about the -cores and ‘girl’ aesthetics,” Mina Le, a fashion content creator, said these sub-aesthetics may have been created out of the desire for people to distinguish their personalities.

“I think also, the idea that there’s a ‘girl’ out there for everyone, there’s a type of girl for everyone,” she said. “[It] falls under this personality quiz type of fun that a lot of people like to partake in.”

Although the fruit aesthetics have allowed for people to classify themselves as different types of fruits, fruits themselves and the sweetness they invoke can also be a useful marketing tactic. This tactic is called sensory marketing. 

Sensory marketing is a type of marketing relying on the consumer’s five senses: touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing, to generate profitable responses from consumers and can provide a memorable experience for the target audience. 

Youtuber ZoeUnlimited discussed celebrity entrepreneur Hailey Bieber’s use of sensory marketing in a video titled “how Hailey Bieber became the favorite again” The video examines how Bieber deployed sensory marketing to generate popularity for her cosmetics line, Rhode Skin.

In short, the usage of sensory marketing prompts consumers to feel happy and excited about certain products, including clothing. A plain white tank can invoke an excited feeling when you notice a small cherry drawing on it. Finding a dark blue skirt that reminds you of a delicious blueberry can do the same.

Although fruits can encourage us to enjoy styling our outfits, Le worries that the trend cycle and its quickness in creating the different fruit aesthetics will lead to overconsumption.

“People like to trend hop and they’ll buy a ton of stuff to fit the tomato girl trend,” she said. “Then next month, when tomato girls are no longer a thing, they’ll drop all their stuff at the thrift store and then buy a whole bunch of new stuff.”

Dion the Taurus explained that these aesthetics can also be used as dress-up prompts rather than lifestyle choices. Choosing to dress up as a Papaya Girl one day and a Mango Girl the next can help you have fun with and add variety to your wardrobe.

“I really like the fruit girl aesthetics; I think they’re fun… they just help personify fruit and nature,” she said. “I think it just is helpful in looking at your clothes differently.”  

To avoid overconsumption, the best advice to follow is take part in trends you can see yourself wearing for a long time. In short, wear what makes you happy—whether that be being an Orange Girl, a Lemon Girl or a Blueberry Girl.

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Hi! I’m Kayla Friedman, A Magazine’s editor-in-chief. My staff and I are committed to bringing you the most important and entertaining news from the realms of fashion, beauty and culture. We are full-time students and hard-working journalists. While we get support from the student media fee and earned revenue such as advertising, both of those continue to decline. Your generous gift of any amount will help enhance our student experience as we grow into working professionals. Please go here to donate to A Magazine.