The summer of the 'VSCO girl' may be over, but retailers and the VSCO app itself are still reaping the benefits of the craze that swept Gen Z

• Generation Z helped bring a new term into widespread acceptance this summer: VSCO girls, teens heralding brightly colored outfits and environmentally friendly items.
• The term comes from an aesthetic associated with the popular photo-editing app VSCO, who told Business Insider it played no part in launching the trend.
• Even after the trend has died down, VSCO saw its downloads jump, and some retailers selling items associated with VSCO girls have seen sales increase dramatically.
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Way before the "VSCO girl" became the internet darling of this summer, there was a photo-editing app named VSCO helping teens and influencers add filters to images and shape an artsy aesthetic behind the scenes of their Instagram accounts.

VSCO is essentially a minimalist version of Instagram: a place for editing and sharing photos without the pressure of like counts and engagement metrics. Although VSCO has sustained itself since its launch in 2011 on its steady presence as an insider's trick for better Instagram photos, its brand shot into the stratosphere this summer on the coattails of the VSCO girl.

The VSCO girl has been described as everything from the Tumblr cool girl of 2019 to a 90s-meets-surfer-girl vibe, all while accompanied by accessories like scrunchies, pastel t-shirts, reusable water bottles, and metal straws. 

But there's still no clear explanation as to what first drove the VSCO girl's popularity, which started to spike at the beginning of June. VSCO spokesperson Julie Inouye told Business Insider that the company played no role in the trend going viral, and said that the VSCO girl trend originated "organically" from teens on the platform who are being "unapologetically themselves."

Teens are VSCO's key demographic: More than 75% of VSCO's userbase is under 25, Inouye told Business Insider.

However, there's little doubt that the boom of the VSCO girl has become an advantage for the photo-editing app.

The trend has translated to nearly 200 million total VSCO downloads, according to app analytics tracker Sensor Tower, with 13 million new app downloads during the summer period between June and August - a 20% increase compared with the numbers from the prior three months, Sensor Tower told Business Insider. 

And in Google search trends, "VSCO" gained traction at the start of June, and maintained a fever pitch throughout the summer. Even in November, it still remains a more popular search term now than it was before the VSCO girl summer took off.