Slightly controversial aesthetics cater to the leading edge of consumer culture, a large population willing to spend money in order to maintain its status. As this group consumes, the cultural Overton window shifts to accommodate more and more radical aesthetics, which lose their novel status as they become normalized. The cultural normalcy... See more

Gen X Soft Club as a response to today’s chaos

Why now? Perhaps because overexposure to fast trends, filters, and social media perfection has caused a new kind of aesthetic fatigue . Gen X Soft Club returns as a quiet, empathetic response that speaks of intimacy and vulnerability. It’s not a trend meant to show off, but one meant to rediscover a

... See more

Taste has historically been reserved for conversation about things like fashion and art. Now, we look for it in our social media feeds, the technology we use, the company we keep, and the people we hire.

It makes sense that norms are shifting in this direction as Gen Z’s influence spreads. Raised on social media, with access to once illicit bad-taste touchstones like Rocky Horror just a click away, they’ve largely replaced IRL subcultures with a constellation of aesthetics—cottagecore, dark academia, Y2K—to be performed, then discarded or demoted... See more