A college acceptance letter, a sweet sixteen birthday party, the first day of high school, a young girl’s first ear piercing at Claire’s. Rites of passages act as an essential part of the transition from one stage of life to the next. Yet with the growth in prevalence of social media and fast fashion sites, that transition begins to fade: the line between tweenager and teenager now blurred. Claire’s, a company that used to be an important part of an adolescent girl’s development, sees the effects of this shift.
Claire’s Holding LLC, the parent company of Claire’s and Icing, filed bankruptcy for the second time on Aug. 6, 2025. The company plans to sell its North American stores to Ames Watson, a private holding company. While Ames Watson will keep a vast majority of Claire’s and Icings open, up to 400 locations still stand subject to liquidation. Now what does this tell us?
During the early 2010s, a noticeable increase in social media usage among young people took place, and with this came a decline in mall culture and the rise of e-commerce. Modern retail stores had new competition and needed to adapt to the online market.
The rise in social media also caused the rapid cycling of fashion trends, and consequently fast fashion sites like Shein or Temu. Before, trends stayed in style for approximately 10 years, and old looks resurfaced after roughly 20. But starting in the 2010s, when a trend lasts longer than a couple months, it seems lucky.
Sure, Claire’s adapted to the increase in e-commerce. They created an online website and advertised themselves on social media. However, they neglected to change arguably the most important part of a business, their products. Instead of creating up to date items that matched the wants of this new demographic, they kept with their old shtick.
Who the brand presented themselves as originally is not what it needs now. On account of the lack of change on their behalf, Claire’s sees a massive loss in profits and their sister store Icing reaps the effects as well.
Although the business survives through its new ownership, the likelihood of the company’s existence long term remains low. The owner of the company was never the problem– change was. If the new parent company does not do something to revamp the brand soon, who knows how long it and its sister will continue to exist for.
Rites of passages are important. With the newfound lack of children truly being kids due to social media, the young girls of the generations to come might not get to experience a key rite of passage for those before them: getting their first ear piercing at Claire’s.
