Teen girls are spending big, She tells them what to buy

Demetra Dias is your typical American 17-year-old. Brands are betting their futures on her.

By Chavie Lieber. WSJ. July 31, 2024.

Demetra Dias is looking for the perfect Fourth of July outfit. It’s a Thursday in June, and she’s standing in the room she’s turned into a walk-in closet, surveying her vast collection of baggy jeans, chunky sweaters and cotton tube tops. Carefully, she assembles her color palette: a red tee from White Fox, white linen pants from Abercrombie & Fitch, a blue miniskirt from Urban Outfitters, an American flag sweater from Brandy Melville and a white crochet top from Zara that she found at a thrift store.

“So many people have different summers,” Demetra, 17, says. “I’m trying to find the vibe.”

On her bed, covered in floral-patterned sheets and a pile of Jellycat stuffed animals, she places the pieces into neat stacks. Paper butterflies hang in midair, suspended from the ceiling. She tries on the first outfit: an American flag hoodie and white miniskirt. Then she applies some light-pink lip gloss, stands her iPhone against a vase, opens TikTok and hits record.

“I’m going to film another one because I don’t like that,” she says, reviewing an early take. “I feel like more movement is better because then you’re not, just, like, there.” She tries it again with a hair flip, then a twirl.

“Sometimes it can take a while, like if I’m having a bad-hair day or if I don’t like something, and sometimes it can take less,” she says, wrinkling her nose at the latest take.

An hour and 20 minutes later, the 16-second-long TikTok is done. She posts it that evening, when her engagement is highest, and by the time July Fourth rolls around a couple of weeks later, it has nearly 3 million views. There are over 800 comments, mostly variations on one theme.

“where’s the first hoodie frommm ?”

“Fourth top from?”

“hi demetra!!where is your red shirt from btw your so pretty”

In many ways, Demetra is your typical American teenager: She takes science exams, does gymnastics and spends weekends with her boyfriend. Petite with long, brown hair and sun-kissed skin, she’s the kind of girl many tweens and teens want to be—a few million of them, in fact.

“Girl everything you wear is perfect,” one fan wrote recently on a video Demetra posted about pajamas. “Ur literally look like the sweetest person ever ily,” commented another.

Demetra has been on TikTok for years, but last August, she started posting fashion videos on a second TikTok account that her friends couldn’t see, in the hopes that she could build a following. When a back-to-school shopping haul from the store Brandy Melville went viral, a switch flipped.

She started reaching out to companies to see if they had products she could promote. Edikted, a fast-fashion brand popular on TikTok, was the first to send her free clothes. Then, in September, she got her first paid deal through a direct message on Instagram: The app BeReal offered her $190 for a single mention.

Now, every week, roughly half a dozen boxes arrive at Demetra’s doorstep in northern New Jersey, filled with pajamas, hair sprays, perfumes, sneakers, tank tops and hoodies, in the hopes that she will post about the products. She has done sponsored TikToks for Steve Madden, White Fox, Princess Polly, PacSun and Hollister. Her going rate is around $20,000 a post. Demetra declined to share her annual income.

On top of school and an active social life, Demetra has new responsibilities to juggle. There are commitments to fulfill for brands, expectations from marketing departments that she has to meet or exceed, hundreds of comments to respond to. She’s thinking about how much of her money she should put away and how much of her life she wants to share online. Recently, she says, an anonymous troll account has appeared that makes fun of Demetra and her boyfriend. A week ago, she posted an emotional video addressing an instance of online harassment.

Episode 3724 - Jan 5 - Tiếng Anh - Các cô gái tuổi teen đang chi tiêu lớn - Vina Technology at AI time

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Episode 3724 - Jan 5 - Tiếng Anh - Các cô gái tuổi teen đang chi tiêu lớn - Vina Technology at AI time