Depop Taps Gabriella Karefa-Johnson as 2026 Trends Spokesperson for Circular Fashion

Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, the stylist and editorial voice behind the Substack "Brain Matter" and the first Black woman to style a Vogue cover, joined Depop as its official 2026 Trends Spokesperson on March 13, giving the Gen-Z resale platform a defining cultural voice to anchor its circular fashion ambitions.

The appointment puts Karefa-Johnson at the center of trend forecasting for a marketplace that now counts more than 43.5 million users. Her role goes well beyond brand ambassador territory: she will work with Depop's team to predict and identify emerging trends by pulling from both qualitative and quantitative platform data and tracking major cultural moments before they reach the mainstream. That also means monitoring the social media conversations redefining circular fashion's place in the broader industry.

"Depop operates like a living fashion archive and has always been a space where personal style, culture, and community intersect," Karefa-Johnson said in the announcement. "It shows how fashion moves when it is freed from seasons, runways, and newness for its own sake, and I'm excited to step into this role as Trends Spokesperson to help frame where personal style drives the trend cycle forward."

In a separate statement exclusively to WWD, she was more personal about what drew her to the platform. "My work has always centered on understanding style as culture, as storytelling and as a reflection of individuality. It's also always focused on bringing fashion to more people and identifying ways in which everyone can feel welcome. I am looking forward to digging into the aesthetics, subcultures and personal style movements that emerge across Depop and celebrating the people behind them."

Steve Dool, Senior Director of Brand and Creative at Depop, called the hire a natural fit for the platform's identity. "Her visionary voice and deep understanding of culture, fashion and community perfectly reflect the core of Depop," Dool said. "Gabriella's perspective will help inspire our community to explore fresh trends in a way that feels authentic, empowering and fun."

Karefa-Johnson has spent years building an audience drawn to her instinct for identifying style as a form of cultural expression rather than a commercial cycle. Her Substack, "Brain Matter," extended that editorial voice directly to readers. Depop, now owned by eBay, is positioning her expertise as a signal to its massive user base that circular fashion is not a side current but the main event shaping how the next generation dresses.