Consistency beats going viral.

Once the epitome of stealth wealth, Loro Piana traditionally avoided logos and marketing. However, the Italian fashion house got a little louder as the "quiet luxury" trend blew up and Kendall Roy (then Jeremy Strong) became a billboard for the brand on Succession. They endorsed a viral Instagram account, launched NFTs, and put logos on products. Much like finance bros made Patagonia vests a meme, the visibility of nuevo-riche tech titans and fashion "core" culture has demoted the brand from cool to cringe—a cautionary tale on the curse of the modern, social media-accelerated trend cycle.

Anxiety got a little too trendy.

Mental health has become a Gen Z branding topic in the way diversity and inclusion did for Millennials. Look to the sea of anti-depressant themed merchandise and performative anxiety online, and you'll notice a fine line between supporting mental health and outright capitalizing on it. Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty is an example of a brand doing it well—they promote practical mental health tools, eschew box-checking initiatives, and donate significantly to its own Rare Impact Fund, which was built into the brand mission before they launched. Moving forward, brands’ efforts should prioritize expert-backed organizations and community initiatives over merchandise.

NFTs enter their flop era.

Like the dot-com bubble, the overhyped valuation and speculative fervor surrounding NFTs came to a head. According to a recent report, over 95% of collections have lost nearly all their value, showcasing how exuberance can precede a sobering market correction. The sharp decline in the worth of NFTs can be attributed to a fundamental misunderstanding of their purpose. Many individuals and brands approached NFTs as a standalone commodity, rather than a tool that provides tangible benefits to their holders.

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First came clean beauty, now comes clean medicine.

After the F.D.A. declared a common decongestant in cold medicines doesn’t work, all eyes are on OTC medicine ingredients. At the recent WWD Beauty & Wellness Forum, we heard from the CEO of Genexa, a “clean medicine” company delivering the effective active ingredients consumers need without the artificial one’s they don’t. Consumer businesses have tackled this problem in food and beauty—currently the clean beauty market is expected to double from $7 billion to $14 billion by 2028. Mark our words. There will be a similar movement in medicine as wellness priorities home in on longevity and body fortification.

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Consumers want tastemakers, not influencers.

Tired of the copycat trend cycle that's fueled by the influencer economy, consumers are craving true taste and originality. Fan of her eccentric style or not, former Man Repeller editor Leandra Medine has undeniably made a comeback with the launch of a new newsletter, The Cereal Aisle, reviving the notion of a go-to fashion bible with a clear point of view. Courtney Bishop's e-shop concept, Album, similarly cuts through commercial sameness; monthly "tracklists" of items are inspired by the interior designer's favorite music. As influencer marketing loses appeal, true tastemakers will be key for partnerships and promotions moving forward.