The Algorithm Wants You Ugly, Unbothered, and in Thigh-High Boots

This year at Paris Fashion Week, the best-dressed men didn’t look perfect—they looked wrong. Exaggerated silhouettes, awkward proportions, and Saint Laurent’s controversial thigh-high “Joe” boots replaced traditional polish with something stranger, louder, and impossible to scroll past. The new aesthetic order is clear: beauty isn’t the goal—it’s the glitch.

On TikTok, #uglyfashion has surged past 100 million views, and Saint Laurent’s thigh-high boots have become the men’s equivalent of the Miu Miu micro mini skirt—a mildly scandalous runway item turned celebrity obsession.

Pedro Pascal, Alexander Skarsgård, Cha Eun-woo, and designer Marc Jacobs have all embraced them, signalling an era where algorithmic virality outweighs traditional elegance.

Kiko Gaspar, a PR specialist and founder of Kiko Gaspar Communications, has been closely tracking this visual rebellion. “Flawless doesn’t go viral anymore. Unhinged does. The algorithm rewards discomfort—it loves what stops the scroll, what feels wrong enough to talk about,” Gaspar notes.

Fashion’s most significant moments are now engineered to feel deliberately off: bleached eyebrows, glitchcore makeup, haunted hair, and silhouettes that seem dreamt—or dumpster-dived.

Diesel’s cracked-screen SS25 campaign, Doja Cat’s red Swarovski crystal skin at Schiaparelli, Bella Hadid’s surgical-core bandages, and Julia Fox’s bathroom-tile couture aren’t gimmicks; they’re precision PR—images built to trigger reaction, not reverence.

Gaspar explains, “We’re not witnessing the death of beauty. We’re witnessing its dethroning. This is post-glam: fashion as psychological expression, not seduction. It’s a rejection of the idea that perfection equals relevance.”

Even AI has accelerated the trend. With hyperreal filters from Remini and FaceApp making faces indistinguishable from 3D renderings, audiences are craving something real, even if it feels wrong.

Unibrows, acne, bad posture, and even clothes that seem ‘accidentally ugly’ are now celebrated as identity statements. “When AI can make everyone look flawless, the only way to stand out is to look human, and humans are messy,” Gaspar says.

Influencers like @uglyworldwide and viral aesthetics, such as the feral girl movement, have embraced this shift, leaning into looks that reject traditional beauty standards entirely.

“This isn’t about rebellion anymore,” Gaspar adds. “It’s about irreverence. Beauty isn’t something to fight—it’s something to ignore. People want to be unforgettable, not photogenic.”

What’s Next?
“More chaos. More clashing references. More outfits you can’t buy because they’re not sold—they’re summoned,” Gaspar predicts. “From psychological moodboarding to glitchcore styling to offline weirdness, the trend cycle is folding in on itself like a Telfar bag in a laundromat. And at the centre of it all? An audience that isn’t trying to be beautiful, just impossible to forget.”

In this aesthetic uprising, the goal isn’t to look good—it’s to be remembered. As Gaspar concludes, “Pretty is what you used to show your crush. Now? You show them your trauma outfit.”