Potential new brand members: Producing sorority fashion influence(rs) on #RushTok

Sororities are social organizations for women at North American universities with codified standards of dress. RushTok, a portmanteau of sorority ‘rush’, or recruitment, and TikTok, refers to a digital sociality on TikTok, where users share videos related to sorority life. It is best known for ‘outfit of the day’ (OOTD) videos, which are typically created by potential new sorority members to share their outfits for each day of sorority recruitment. Using feminist new materialist theory, I conducted two rounds of intraviews with thirteen RushTok users to explore their experiences on RushTok and their perception of influence and influencers in this space. I analyse the interviews by thinking with the theory of intra-action to map the material–discursive formations that generate influence and make the boundaries of the influencer subjectivity visible on RushTok. My analysis suggests that the OOTD format, style-fashion-dress, communication practices and narrative framing are significant agents or apparatuses in the production of RushTok creators as fashion influencers. As these apparatuses enfold algorithmic, cultural and spatial logics, I consider how they may materialize differently into becoming or not becoming fashion influencers. This process-oriented approach positions fashion influence(rs) as a localized arrangement of bodies, objects and expressions that is not fixed or static but rather always becoming.