For The Love #4: Moving on From Millennial Pink

Young technologists are building a new future on a new set of values. Their values are informed by the first-hand experience of growing up with the perverse incentives of yesterday’s social media and a genuine desire to create a better world — online and off.”

Maturation of the Direct-to-Consumer market—DTC has been around for a while, shopping online is now common so brands can loosen up, and have a little fun.

The rise of community—a more directional aesthetic means that it won’t resonate with everyone. But those that do like it will really connect. This will create a smaller, more dedicated customer base, a community.

This new aesthetic is characterized by disjointed, jarring imagery, including floating clouds and disembodied appendages. I wouldn’t be surprised to spot a melting clock in the near future.

Differentiation—if a new brand is going to stand out from the pack and get noticed, that’s not going to happen with the millennial pink, and (as evidenced by the article in The Cut). People are ready for something new.

There are also some more fundamental reasons this is happening now—lest we give sole credit to Gen Z for pushing brands in a particular direction.