As anyone who wore leopard two years ago will tell you, popularizing a trend is often painstaking work. More often than not, a trend starts out as a ridiculed idea. (For context, some ventures that were once mocked and rendered useless: Uber, AirBnB, Apple.)
But it takes a certain spirit to not care about what society has to say and to trudge forward. Which is why we respect the early adopters, those who help set the trends rather than letting the trends set them.
As the next decade slowly approaches, we wonder what trends are bubbling underneath our noses. What do we have to look forward to in 2020? We attended the Decoded Future summit, hosted by Stylus, in New York City to find out. Here are five things to keep an eye out for in the upcoming year.
Undertourism
Rather than go on yet another pollution-filled cruise to the Bahamas, we want to introduce you to the idea of undertourism. This antithesis of overtourism centers around leaving a lighter footprint on the world by visiting the overlooked and under-explored places. So rather than booking another trip to the Grand Canyon how about you visit Nebraska? You can avoid crowds, save money and contribute to local economies. On top of that, people are using different modes of transportation like trains to get around and traveling with less luggage. We know it is hard for you to not bring all of your toners and serums when traveling, but streamlining your travel helps limit our impact on the planet.
No-Social Social Events
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DROP YOUR PHONE! Unless you are reading this article on your phone, in which case we want you to keep scrolling. People nowadays are desperate to connect with others in real life. Brands are now working to enforce the experience of life by demanding devices be left at the door for certain events. Take Adidas’ “you had to be there” pool party at Coachella, where guests had to place their phones in portable locked pouches upon entering. The idea was to eliminate the personal distractions and focus solely on the party. Comedy shows have recently begun to implement this pouch system as well, so footage does not get leaked. Good riddance to the hundreds of hands in the air recording 30-minute-long Instagram stories that everyone always skips anyway. No one wants to hear you singing in the background, Sharon.
The Rise of Imperfection
Societally, we have thrown out our past idea of “perfection” for the pursuit of truth. People are candid on social media about their struggles, and campaigns are starring real people of all shapes and sizes. But more than providing proper representation, brands are now going the extra mile to embrace what is imperfect, i.e. Gucci Beauty’s gap-toothed lipstick ad. This shift to imperfect can be seen in fashion as materials that were once deemed gross — blood, dust, urine, waste, human hair — are now being repurposed into commercial goods. We can ramp up our sustainability efforts by swapping wasteful plastics for materials that are readily available and underused. The fashion industry is leading these efforts as we can see with Kanye West’s new algae sneakers and Shahar Livne’s bio-leather sneakers made from slaughterhouse waste.
Mixed Reality
The movies warned us. Technology is getting more and more sophisticated by the day. As we enter a world of mixed reality, we begin to see more and more AR, VR, 5G and biometric technology infused into the everyday. 5G specifically is a thousand times faster than 4G, plus it offers higher resolution and lower latency. In layman’s terms, this means that digital experiences will feel more real than ever before. Six N. Five, the contemporary design studio, helped legitimize CGI as a new medium for self-expression. In February, they unveiled a new furniture concept that combined exaggerated shapes with holographic materials. The collection is not available for sale quite simply because it is not real.
Digital Fashion
Ask any influencer about their day to day and they will make sure you know how much work their job entails. A well-curated feed is no easy task, especially when fans are looking to you for fashion and beauty advice. They often find themselves drowning in clothes and makeup to constantly stay on-trend and produce relevant content. Technology is hoping to fix that capitalistic loop by introducing digital fashion. If you are using a digital platform to showcase your clothing, why can’t you buy a digital “dress” that can simply be rendered over your photos? It is far cheaper and way more sustainable than constant shopping trips in the flesh, especially if you shop at fast fashion retailers. This radical idea challenges everything we know about buying, owning and wearing clothes. This is not available to the masses yet, but the idea is that customers of digital clothing provide a photo to the creators for them to custom-fit the digital garment. In May, the world’s first blockchain dress sold for $9,500.
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