Enter: The Age of Relevance
A quick preview of our brand new trend report
MØRNING. Whether its beef between your favourite rappers (Drake vs Kendrick, JT vs Yung Miami), reverent albums (Charli XCX’s BRAT, North West’s Elementary School Dropout), questionable fashion redemption arcs (Kanye, John Galliano), trend cycle collapse (cores on cores) or a prime piece of rage bait (Rishi Sunak’s pre-election TikTok banter) – longevity never felt so lost. Cultural narratives are made up one day, thrown out the next. We yearn for what’s relatable, despite trying on new skins ourselves each day, and instead, we fall for the trappings of the latest digital big mouth.
Enter, The Age of Relevance. Culture relentlessly chases the youth, and the youth chases nostalgia. We limbo between relevance and irrelevance, constructing ever-evolving narratives of how best to behave, of when to display our affection and disgust. Get it right, and be rewarded with attention, or try and fail, and fade into obscurity. Is relevance simply a race to the bottom?
Read on to discover more of the findings from our latest MØRNING trend report.
How did we get here? A cursory scroll will tell you that we are in the midst of a battle, and the generations have drawn their lines. From cringing at millennials, to the mythical pursuit of understanding Gen Z’s behaviour at work, the casual pastime of Boomer hating or the quiet fear of what Gen Alpha might become.
Brands, agencies and industry perpetuate this cycle, pouring endless resources into capturing the ever-elusive Gen Z. Yet in a twist, today's youth chase the past, yearning for a simpler time. In this dissonance, we rush to define the incoming generations and fall into lazy, stereotypical segmentations. Gen Z are woke anti-capitalists right? Yet 55% of US teens say Amazon is their favourite e-commerce site (source: Piper Sandler), and 52% of UK teens say feminism is now causing discrimination against men (source: IPSOS). It's the older generations that are not worth targeting. Yet 92% of Gen X use social media everyday, and this generation is on track to become the most affluent of all time (source: Wavemaker).
In this paradoxical cultural landscape, the pursuit of youth has left us stuck in a cycle of fleeting trends and superficial connections, from Match my freak to Who you think you’re emailing… we hunt for layers of untold meaning.
However, we believe we have entered a new era, where intergenerational pollination is now our most fruitful means of building culture and community online. Archival platforms like Are.na and Tumblr surge, and ‘girling’ is now a universal tool for resistance. “In cultural spaces, ideas reign. We’re less obsessed with how young or how old you are — think Faith Ringgold (1930-2024) or Judy Chicago (1939-) and Ice Spice (2000-) or Olivia Rodrigo (2003-)” says report expert and creative consultant, Karen Wong. The search for individuality has become a game of diverse references, with our commonalities speaking more than our differences.
In cultural spaces, ideas reign. We’re less obsessed with how young or how old you are — think Faith Ringgold (1930-2024) or Judy Chicago (1939-) and Ice Spice (2000-) or Olivia Rodrigo (2003-)
Though it's not all smiles and rainbows from here on out. Capitalism A game has winners and losers, right? And as we trust in the system, continually seeking out the best new narratives, dropping $20 on an Erewhon smoothie one day, boycotting big business the next – our fragmented digital consumption leaves us in a state of limbo. Can we rock our archival Issey Miyake with a Stanley Cup in hand? Rate Kanye’s Superbowl ad, but not his politics?
In the diagrams below, MØRNING Strategy Lead Shadeh captures this new game of online performance, where voyeurism of ourselves and others has pushed us into a stage of peak self design. We are unaware of what we like and why we like it, yet aim to seduce others with digital displays of right and wrong. “The Internet and social media encourage you to have inflammatory takes. But it’s not very vulnerable or interesting when people choose to use the internet that way. Not very productive. It’s cowardice.” says report expert, Tyler Bainbridge of PI.FYI.
The internet and social media encourage you to have inflammatory takes. But it’s not very vulnerable or interesting when people choose to use the internet that way. Not very productive. It’s cowardice.
Who or what will guide us through this sea of uncertainty online? A renaissance of fame.
As we craft our individual identities, the internet has empowered us to construct similar stories and lore around celebrity and pop culture, our parasocial relationships becoming more powerful than those IRL. We adorn ourselves with intricate tapestries of references, and apply this same thinking to our favourite cultural leaders. Projecting our fantasies, from feminist icon @chappellroan to the voice of a generation @kendricklamar. Complexifying and flattening all at once.
We construct myths and meanings that allow us to participate in cultural history in a way that has never been done before. “It’s not a joke — many of us hope at the right moment, Taylor Swift will ask her 284M fans to sign up and vote in this year’s election for the U.S. President. Most musicians don’t have that kind of power to flip a script, but she’s proven time and time again she does” says Karen. Disappointed with our current economic and political systems, we turn to our celebrity gods to embody fantasy and deliver freedoms.
It’s not a joke — many of us hope at the right moment, Taylor Swift will ask her 284M fans to sign up and vote in this year’s election for the U.S. President. Most musicians don’t have that kind of power to flip a script, but she’s proven time and time again she does.
So what do we do now? In the era of great parasocial expectation, creating our own lore is a way to exert power. As the renaissance of fame creates new possibilities for celebrity kingdoms, our authentic connections to our favourite cultural leaders will cement their power.
For any brands reading, don’t be afraid to be brutalist.As mental real estate becomes ever more finite, consumers are silencing brands in the comments and blocking what doesn’t serve. Find your sharpest edges, your most pure point of view, and lean into it. Say it with your chest. SSENSE does this well, flaunting their knowledge of their audience with obnoxious specificity. Or Betsey Johnson’s new product line and visual discussion, Products LTD, which holds the mirror up to us as consumers, and the reality of commodification. if we all have the power to shape our own relevance, what do you have to say for yourself?
So, who owns relevance today? Let us know what you think! Comment below or find us on Instagram, and make sure to download the full report, available on our website Monday. Til next time!
Words: Karen Wong, Tyler Bainbridge, Shadeh Kavousian, Sui Donovan
Editors: Sui Donovan, Letty Cole
How do we get the trend report? This is exciting.