Tweens have moved on from retinol.
Now, the must-have find is a very particular graphic hoodie — no dupes allowed this time.
In fact, half of the young girls at local malls, which also act as a tweenager’s runway, are probably wearing a White Fox sweatshirt, Orange County high school junior Lisi German, 16, told The Wall Street Journal.
The $60 hoodie, which features the brand’s logo splashed across the back in a variety of colors, has quickly become all the rage among the Gen Alpha crowd and is now something of a hot commodity akin to the Stanley tumbler craze.
According to a survey from the investment bank Piper Sandler, White Fox landed in the top 10 brands for teenage girls, per The Journal.
“I thought, ‘That is the cutest thing ever, I need to own one of those,’” 13-year-old Stella Vanderhook, of Newport Beach, told The Journal, recalling when she first laid her eyes on the coveted sweatshirt.
Last year, White Fox hoodies were few and far between, but the oversized sweatshirts now populate school hallways, according to 14-year-old Chicago resident Julia Kropiwnicki.
“Right now, the trend at school is being comfy,” she told The Journal. “Everyone just wears sweatshirts and sweatpants.”
Typically bought in conjunction with matching sweatpants, which are sold for an additional $50, the sweatsuits are worn even in the scorching heat.
Nessa Gulko, 16, attends high school in the matching set, even in the overbearing Florida humidity, because it’s like “wearing a blanket all day” under the harsh air conditioning — although the trek to campus is less than ideal conditions for fleece attire.
“When I walk to school in the morning, I’m, like, ‘Why am I doing this?’” she lamented to The Journal.
The self-proclaimed “trendsetting brand” was founded by Aussie husband and wife Georgia and Daniel Contos back in 2013. Now, more than a decade later, White Fox has become a fan-favorite among A-listers, earning a cult-like following of under-21-year-olds.
Influencers with predominantly Gen Alpha and Z followings, like Alix Earle, have also promoted the brand on social media, which, the Contos duo told Women’s Wear Daily, is where their business began to boom.
The company strikes up deals with young content creators to market their clothes on their social platforms, providing clothing free of charge or payment ranging between $1,000 and $5,000, according to Mike Goldfarb, the CEO of Talent Nation, who works with approximately 30 teen creators.
White Fox, he told The Journal, has partnered with around half of his clients, which is a rarity among prominent brands of which many have a “strict policy not to work with minors.”
“But White Fox and a few other skincare brands are very interested in this demographic,” he noted.
While the hoodies are found in youngsters’ closets, the style is also lauded by parents of Gen Alpha teens, who prefer a baggy sweatshirt rather than the alternative, explained Stella’s mom Laura Vanderhook, 42.
“I do appreciate that she’s asking for this, and not a line of crop tops or low V-necks,” she said, adding that she’s noticed White Fox billboards crop up in California. “There are worse things.”
