Generation Z has grown up with a smartphone in one hand and an iPad in the other. So how come a craze for weaving plastic bands has taken playgrounds by storm? Where yo-yos and football stickers have gone before, loom bands are the kids’ craze of 2014. What exactly makes a Gen Z craze?

With international fashion brands making competition on the Australian high street even more intense, a new generation of home-grown brands are building fiercely loyal style tribes both online and off. But can these emerging fashion cults fend off global competition?

Since 2011, Dolls Kill’s candy-coloured rebellious clothing has proved a hit with the Tumblr set, with sales reaching $7.5 million in 2013. But how has this brand managed to sell ‘bad acid trip’-inspired miniskirts by the bucket-load without any traditional marketing?

The Dutch are often characterised with Calvinistic values such as 'down-to-earth’ and ‘practical with a twist’. But as teens embrace the wacky and the wonderful, how is this juxtaposition reflected in Dutch fashion and design? And is ‘avant-garde’ really for everyone?