Last year, the cottagecore trend swept the culture (or at least the TikTok and Instagram worlds), bringing images of open fields, freshly baked pies, peasant dresses and gingham galore .

These romantic countryside vibes persisted into summer 2021, with variations and spin-offs like fairycore and princesscore . But as the season comes to a close, were seeing a rise in a more fall-themed aesthetic: dark academia.

Dark academia refers to a subculture that focuses on reading and learning and draws visual inspiration from European higher education, American prep schools, Greek and Gothic architecture and more.

The genre took hold on TikTok originally in 2020 and has seen a massive rise in Google search interest over the past year and a half. Now, dark academia seems poised for an explosion in the world of fashion this fall.