Q̾u̾i̾c̾k̾ ̾F̾i̾r̾e̾: Why are we seeing horses everywhere?!
The MØRNING team unpack why horses are having a moment right now
MØRNING! Welcome back to 🔥QUICK FIRE🔥, our new fortnightly dispatch of insight and opinion, straight from the MØRNING studio.
This week, we’re chatting horses. More specifically, how they seem to be galloping through our feeds and thoughts more regularly than usual. Why, you ask? Theories incoming…
I recently spent an evening scouring eBay for miniature horse figurines (lol) to gift my girlfriend, who developed a sudden obsession with horses earlier this year. The next day, I met a friend for coffee who was wearing a silver horse charm around her neck. When I sat down to watch Youtube that evening I was immediately served a video essay by a channel called Horses (while we’re here, highly recommend the Rasputin one). It was that same week I found out that our Creative Director Rhi was already researching a horse-themed trend as part of our trend report.
Yes, yes, it’s a classic case of “once you see it, you can’t unsee it”. But I refuse to believe all this synchronicity is just confirmation bias. All the signs suggest that we’re in the middle of a subtle but pervasive 🐎𝒽o𝓇𝓈𝑒 𝓂o𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉🐎.
Let’s examine the evidence:
Exhibit A: Beyoncé, who was ahead of the game last year with her Renaissance album artwork, ft. megabedazzled stallion
Exhibit B: The internet’s favourite fashion girly Bella Hadid, who’s deeply established horsegirl x spiritual x wholesome x cool aesthetic must’ve had some hand in pushing horses into the collective fashion girly conciousness
Exhibit C: Kendall rounding out the Carter-Knowles x Kardashian-West x Hadid trifecta of influence with this otherworldly Stella McCartney shoot from August
Exhibit D: The entire bimbo / fairy core meme circuit, which heavily references horses, exemplified by this iconic @brainpain500 meme (it’s giving 90s mystical tie-dye t-shirt)
Exhibit E: Honey Dijon waking Victoria Secret’s much-hyped new-gen show alongside a furry friend
Exhibit F: The irreverent and mysterious Berlin-based DJ horsegiirL, who’s viral summer track My Barn, My Rules (note the mystical, fairycore-esque cover art) has earnt her a Dazed interview and sets with Boiler Room and Heavn
Exhibit G: (genuinely exhilarating) videos like this, that have exposed the TikTok generation to thrills of horse riding from the comfort of their bedrooms
But why horses? Why now? “Horses speak to this movement towards myth making, lore, and fantasy”, says Rhi. “Considering we’re knees deep in a pick-your-player era, this feels like a direct reaction to recent doom vibes. We’re seeing something softer, more ephemeral and beautiful emerge as people are playing out their own fantasies”.
Horses represent a collection of qualities that feel particularly appealing given the circumstances: freedom and escapism, strength and bravery, purity and goodness, nature and mysticism. If nihilism and dystopia is the Pessimists’ antidote to the mundanity and artificiality of modern life, then horses are the Optimist’s version. As Rhi puts it, “people just want to escape into their silly little fantasies and LARP their way through the world”.
Hate to romanticise trends (but you know I will anyway): this is a beautiful example of how a truly organic trend can answer our collective interests and desires so perfectly that it springs simultaneously from multiple sources. Pretty cool, really.
I wasn’t even sold on horses myself before I wrote this, but consider me influenced. Next time I’m feeling …~ᵉˣⁱˢᵗᵉⁿᵗⁱᵃˡˡʸ ᶜʰᵃˡˡᵉⁿᵍᵉᵈ~… you can catch me cantering around the imaginary fields of my mind (or obsessively scrolling this TikTok feed).
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What do you think? Are horses speaking to you right now? (if literally, please get in touch asap). As always, let us know in the comments below, or chat to us over on IG.
And if you wanna learn more about our silly little trend predictions: we’re hosting a very special webinar next Thursday 12th October at 4pm to present our inaugural trend report Fake vs Fake. Join us as we explore the state of truth and reality in a truth in a surrealist society, and how our concept of real and fake is constantly being challenged 🪞 Sign up here - it's time for a reality check 🪞
Words: Letty Cole
Surprised to not see Mojo Dojo Casa House referenced, Ken also loves his horses!
This part is so interesting “this is a beautiful example of how a truly organic trend can answer our collective interests and desires so perfectly that it springs simultaneously from multiple sources. Pretty cool, really.”