things right now 027

week of 03.10.25

STOP LOOKING AT THE INTERNET or The Times declares trends dead, again

I feel like I have read this same article at least twenty times. (Each word in the sentence above is a link to a different piece declaring trends dead.) In fact, The New York Times itself first declared the world post-trend in 2015. Ten years ago! I’m well aware trends are my metier and so I have a certain bias on the matter, but to be Bradshaw about it, I have to wonder: if you need to keep saying it, do you really believe it’s true?

The general script goes something like this: The teens are exhausted by the trend cycle. It’s moving faster than ever. No one can keep up. Trends are dead.

Discussing the article over text with Matt Klein, Head of Foresight at Reddit, who is quoted in the piece: “Media recursion. An article about the article about the comment in the article. So detached from reality.”

That last line might be a comment on the phenomenon itself. I feel for the young interview subjects and their exhaustion with the internet. But what I see here is something of a Pavlovian response, a repeating of a script they have quite literally grown up with: You can’t keep up. The trends are moving faster than you. You can’t fit in. Consumerism has ruined your life.

What’s going on here is a lack of a cultural point of view, total submission to the algorithm as a measure of reality, allowing the internet to infiltrate your mind, define your world, and determine your emotions.

When I say stop looking at the internet, I mean that you should stop taking it seriously and start taking it literally. It’s there. It’s real. The churn of wacky content will continue. But you should be more indifferent to it and—I say this without a hint of condescension —you should go outside. Go for a walk. If the trends on your screen do not waft along with the spring breeze, feel free to ignore them.

I certainly do.

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Bedrotting or ‘The Mainstreaming of Loserdom’

I know the title is provocative, but let me make my case first. Over the past few years, something has shifted in the perception of acceptable recreational behavior, or the way people talk about their hobbies: people are gleeful to admit they have no hobbies, no interests, no verve. Somehow, one of the main “hobbies” accepted by the masses is staying home, laying in bed, scrolling on their phones and watching television.

I missed this essay over the summer, but whole-heartedly agree with the sentiment.

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Boom Boom Bus Shelter or Saint Laurent’s Summer 25 campaign

The image below is on every bus shelter in Paris. Very boom boom. Interestingly, I saw this same color combination (grey and maroon) on Drew Starkey at the Vanity Fair Academy Awards after-party and noted it in last week’s things right now. I’m not much of a color forecaster, but there seems to be a pattern here. See: Enfants Riches Déprimés FW25 below.

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The Best Show from Fashion Week or Enfant Riches Déprimés FW25

The show is titled ‘Dictatorship.’

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Balenciaga Suits or their FW25 collection ‘Standard’

The show begins with a focus on businesswear including a re-interpretation of briefcases, which Balenciaga calls ‘Business Bags.’

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