Trends are dead
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
subpixel space • After Authenticity
Now that internet culture is mainstream culture, virtually anyone can create a trend, but vanishingly few make a career from or even briefly monetize it.
The IP Generation
“Social media commoditises culture for views and engagement,” she says. “Therefore, subcultures become stripped to mere aesthetics [and] participation in them requires consumption of material goods.”
The Face • Our obsession with nostalgia is driving a trend revival spiral
If you’re thinking about it from a status perspective, it becomes very clear: The whole reason we adopted trends in the 20th century is because it would associate us with a certain identity and a certain group. And those associations just aren’t getting built if culture moves too quickly.
Dan Frommer • How the internet changed culture — and what it means
When I was younger, I admired trends without questioning their origins. Now, I see them as reflections of the Zeitgeist —whether influenced by environmental shifts, economic changes, or collective emotions.