Cool Shiny Trend Report: Part 2: Micro Trends
Ube + Labubu + blurring makeup: we mapped 111 micro trends
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Last week we brought you Part 1 of our Cool Shiny 2025 Trend Report, focused on Meso Trends, or medium sized trends that might not change the world but have a bit more staying power or impact than Micro trends.
In this, part 2, we’re giving you a big heaping dose of micro trends across 8 categories:
MUSIC | COLORS | FLAVORS | FOOD | DRINK | FASHION | STORES | MAKEUP
A peak behind the curtain: In analyzing trends, we often start small. Not only are microtrends more frequent and fun, they allow us to recognize patterns that ladder up into meso and macro trends. So while it may be easy to dismiss a microtrend as frivolous or fringe, we think they’re worthwhile to pay attention to (just don’t overhaul your closet every time someone on TikTok declares a new micro aesthetic is all the rage!)
Enough preamble, let’s dive in!
📅 BIG BEFORE: Pop girlies: Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish
⛰️ BIG NOW: Milquetoast men: Benson Boone, Teddy Swims, Alex Warren
🔭BIG NEXT: Queer and a little bit feral: following in the wake of the hugely popular Tyler, The Creator, we’re excited to see more ascendant queer artists that don’t fit into a neat identity box and whose aesthetics say they DGAF: Doechii, Jane Remover, Cain Culto
📅 BIG BEFORE: coquette pink, sage green, barbie pink, millennial grey
⛰️ BIG NOW: butter, lilac, mocha brown, cherry red
🔭 BIG NEXT: orange, purple, electric blue, navy
📅 BIG BEFORE: Watermelon, pineapple, pumpkin, citrus, hazelnut
⛰️ BIG NOW: Mango, peach, horchata / cinnamon, lemongrass
🔭 BIG NEXT: Lychee, pistachio, yuzu, guava, tamarind, ube
📅 BIG BEFORE: Seltzer, rose, kombucha, mules
⛰️ BIG NOW: Zero-proof cocktails aka mocktails (ex. Tom Holland’s BERO), aperol spritz, espresso martinis, matcha
🔭 BIG NEXT: Hugo and limoncello spritz, elderflower gin, boba add ons
📅 BIG BEFORE: Burrata, charcuterie, fried pickles, truffle fries, ramen, crispy tuna rice, gelato, sriracha, deviled eggs
⛰️ BIG NOW: caviar, oysters, olives, shakshuka, oat milk, chili crisp
🔭 BIG NEXT: Beef tallow, butter is extra, wraps are back, tanghulu, conchas
📅 BIG BEFORE: Balletcore, crochet, prairie dresses
⛰️ BIG NOW: Cowboycore, Tennis-core, beading, Nuuly, labubu as accessory
🔭 BIG NEXT: clothing charms, low rise jeans, camo
📅 BIG BEFORE: Zara, Lululemon, Anthropologie, Sephora
⛰️ BIG NOW: Brandy Melville, ALO, Altar’d State
🔭 BIG NEXT: edikted, Beyond yoga, trading card stores, FP Movement (Free People activewear sub brand), Terrain (Anthropologie Home + Garden sub brand)
📅 BIG BEFORE: Glass skin, acne patches, lip oil, CeraVe, Miele, Fenty, Rare Beauty
⛰️ BIG NOW: bleached brows, Sol de Janeiro, peptides, peel off lip stain, Laneige, La Roche Posay, Rhode, 2nd generation clean beauty (Merit, Kosas)
🔭 BIG NEXT: blurring effect, amika, powder dry shampoo (Dae and Crown Affair), Josie Maran, fwee
Only time will tell which of these microtrends has the staying power to stick around and which will move through the trend cycle and into our memory banks.
Will URBN, who owns multiple brands in the Store category, continue to see success with Gen Z through nichification? Will you regret those cowboy boots next season? Will Americans learn the word ube?
Tell us what you think and which microtrends we might have missed in the comments or by responding to this email!
Toodles,
Kaley & Megan