“Millennial desperately clinging to their simpler youth starter pack,” states one meme by @PatheticFashion, featuring a bedazzled Motorola flip phone, Uggs and flared bootcut jeans. Another, by @Socks_House_Meeting, reads: “Are you a knitted Bally baddie”, alongside a collage that includes a Le Labo Baie 19 scent, an Adidas x Wales Bonner Samba shoe and a Bally balaclava.
Starter pack memes are collages of images and text that illustrate — and often poke fun at — a stereotypical person, place or mindset. Typically satirical, they distill cultural clichés, trends or niche behaviours into highly shareable snapshots. First popularised in 2016 by @PoundlandBandit, the format has been embraced by a new wave of accounts in the last two years, including the aforementioned, plus @NolitaDirtbag, @TheFakeRothko, @Real_Housewives_of_Clapton and @ToteBagFanAccount.
