The Gen Z Aesthetic

Mar. 3, 2020

The Tyranny of Terrazzo

Will the millennial aesthetic ever end?

By Molly Fischer

Illustration by Fala Atelier

Illustration: Fala Atelier

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You walk beneath a white molded archway. You’ve entered a white room.

A bask... See more

Related to mental health, young people are exhausted by the internet’s constant connectivity and comparison. Whereas Millennials grew up performing online—curated Insta grids, LinkedIn job announcements (“Some exciting personal news!”), the rise of the personal brand—Gen Zs eschew performance for authenticity. It’s the shift from Kylie Jenner (aspi... See more

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.

K-HOLE and Box1824 captured the new landscape in their breakthrough 2014 report “Youth Mode.” They described an era of “mass indie” where the search for meaning is premised on differentiation and uniqueness, and proposed a solution in “Normcore.” Humorously, nearly everyone mistook Normcore for being about bland fashion choices rather than the grea... See more