A new year brings new beginnings. For Styles Desk, it also comes with an old hobby: Predicting the fashion and lifestyle trends that might emerge in the coming months.
Last January, when we thought about what 2023 might hold, some of our thoughts turned out to be rather prescient. Supersize lies (hello, George Santos). fake fashion items (hello, super fake bags). and an appreciation for “normal normal” people (hello, blue-collar TikTok), to name three.
Others did not bear fruit. Butters never took off. neither do pet rats.
The challenge with seeing the future is that you can’t. As much as yesterday’s trends can provide clues to tomorrow’s, there will always be those things that come out of nowhere.
Our predictions for 2024 contain well-supported assumptions and others that may sound improbable. But one nice thing about January 1st is that it’s a day when almost anything seems possible. — Anthony Rotunno, fashion news editor, Styles
Music, fashion, movies, higher education: All were heavily influenced by Taylor Swift in 2023. Her relationship with Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs also put the spotlight on football — and put an athlete alongside one of world’s most popular bachelors, turning many NFL aficionados into armchair fans. Will this excitement, combined with interest in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, set the stage for a jock renaissance? — Wilson Wong, resident editor, Book Review
Everything comes rosettes
We peaked last year. Now the rosettes are up. More appear on items by Sandy Liang, the designer whose girly aesthetic partly made bows so popular. The red rosette is pushed as a lapel accessories and as a whimsical choker by fashion blogger Leandra Medine Cohen. And Rosette, a new clothing label in New York, is entirely dedicated to the soft rose-like design. — Marie Solis, chamber, Styles
The aging of social media
Gen X and older millennials who grew up without the internet will stop their nostalgic rhapsody about life before cell phones, when people read books on the subway and talked to strangers while waiting in line and made plans they couldn’t cancel through messages. They will begin to abandon social media and recommit to being charming and witty and interesting in real life with real people in real places. — Melissa Kirsch, associate editor, Culture and Lifestyle
Fancy glassware makes a statement
Not even glasses are immune to gender identity debates. But a push by bartenders to ditch outdated ideas about the gender of cocktail glasses is underway. Does it mean men who have stuck with their glasses since college will start opting for the sophisticated Nick-and-Nora glass more often? A Nick-and-Nora communicates a sense of occasion: It’s narrower than a coupe, wider than a flute, and has a striking silhouette — think an upturned bell — that can make anyone feel like their beautiful bar. — Louis Lucero II, chief staff editor, Styles
Smart watches are entering Primary Schools
Many parents remain resistant to introducing smartphones at a young age — and for good reason. However, more people seem ready to get smartwatches after companies like Apple made it easier to control children’s accounts. Expect to see more devices on elementary school wrists and more school districts trying to adapt to a world where kids play games while watching and sending confusing audio messages. Some have already banned the devices from classrooms. — Farah Miller, Deputy Strategy and Business, Culture and Lifestyle
Theme dressing is becoming a red carpet staple
Hollywood never found a good idea it didn’t want to spin a sequel – or 15 – off of. The strategic red carpet rollout for “Barbie” has already inspired themed attire at premieres and photo shoots for movies like “Wonka” (so many shades of purple) and “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.” With movies like “Dune: Part Two” and the “Mean Girls” remake coming out this year, imagine the possibilities. — Vanessa Friedman, fashion director, Styles
Grand Theft Auto VI Hype becomes inevitable
The next installment in the ultra-violent Grand Theft Auto franchise won’t be released until 2025. However, a trailer released last month has received more than 128 million views — and has led to heated debate over whether the teaser’s high-fidelity graphics will be truly representative of the game play. (Fans have also noticed that GTA VI, which takes place in Miami, references the graphics of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, its 21-year-old predecessor that was heavily inspired by South Florida.) Tune in for a lot more dialogue now that the thirsty players are focused attention. — Mike Isaac, technology reporter, Business
Less virtuous drinks
Low-alcohol drinks are now front and center in restaurants, bars, and even clubs. A focus on virtuous drinking, however, can breed new vices: hard sodas, for example, or heavily caffeinated lemonades. It’s been nearly 15 years since the company behind Four Loko stopped producing the caffeinated alcoholic beverage. Would it be so surprising if this anniversary was used to launch a comeback? — Dani Blum, journalist, So
Butterfly kisses revisited
The explosion of girlhood online in the last year — girls’ dinners, girl mathematics — was, in a way, about the culture-shaking, market-moving effects that can come from forces often seen as unassuming. Could it give new meaning to the butterfly kiss, another small, silly thing with amazing potential? The butterfly effect tells us that seemingly tiny events can have colossal, unpredictable effects in faraway places and over faraway times. Who knows what butterfly results a year of whirlwind lashes could yield. — Emma Goldberg, journalist, Business
Manicure for boys
ASAP Rocky showed up in a new Bottega Veneta one D with broken nails. Drake painted a neutral color on a recent Nike campaign. And in recent years, Harry Styles, Machine Gun Kelly, Lil Yachty and Tyler, the Creator have released nail polish lines. Men, famous and no, they have been painting their nails for centuries. But the practice’s recent ubiquity suggests the men’s manicure is poised to have a bigger cultural moment. — Christy Harmon, photo editing, Styles
Chocolate Lava Bubbles Up
Molten Chocolate Cake — or chocolate lava cake — has been harder, but not impossible, to find since it haunted restaurant menus in the 1990s and 2000s. But in a presidential election year, when some will be driven to seek comfort and others to hedonism, few desserts seem more ripe for a comeback from this classic, warm, chocolatey and indulgent dessert. — Anna Kodé, reporter, Real Estate
Tides Turn for Gen Z
As Gen-Zers have basked in the glow of youth, they’ve also told older generations that everything they do is shameful. (Two words: OK, Boomer.) That attitude may be catching up with them now that Gen Alpha, a younger group, has come online. The new kids are already making fun of Gen Z terms: “It’s not even funny how awesome ‘slay’ is,” one Gen Alpha member he said on TikTok. Some members of older generations are ready for the souvlaki. “Seeing Gen Alpha come through for Gen Z will be the highlight of my millennial life,” one commenter responded. — Callie Holtermann, reporter, Styles