This Is A Trend Forecast
Well folks, here we are. It’s the end of the road. Just kidding… we all know the year is, say it with me, *socially constructed* and that the world will not reset in approximately 36 hours. However, as with anything of the sort, it’s nice to celebrate the end of 2020 and look ahead to 2021 with a few thoughts on the year to come.
As my close friends know, normally at this time of year, I would be preparing for one of my New Year’s Eve parties, putting in place the thematic details, mixing the playlist, and chilling the champagne. Well, not this year. I hope next year I can throw a great big ‘High Noon at Midnight’ party.
For this final issue of the year, I predict 21 trends for 2021, across the spectrum of High Noon’s topics — start-ups, social media, fashion, media, business culture, etc. What have we seen in 2020 that will continue in 2021? What will fizzle out? And what vague traces simply must come to fruition next year? Skip to The Long Read to find out. And leave a comment telling me what trends you think we will see next year.
Thank you again to Shai Goodman, Spencer Whaley, and Griffin Wynne for contributing to Issues 15, 18, & 19, and Tenlie Mourning for guest editing Issue 20. In case you don’t remember what I wrote in my very first High Noon letter (listen, I didn’t recall either!), here it is again:
Most of my friends know that I have been obsessed with magazines for, well, the past decade really. My large stack of Kinfolks became something of a running ribbing with some of my college friends (slow living turned into an un-asked-for personal brand). Since those early seeds, I've been searching for ways to practice the work of curating and editing. High Noon is the first iteration of that.
High Noon is a publication featuring the most interesting content from around the web; I am not a niche person and so High Noon is not a niche publication. Many elements of culture will have their day in the sun. It's a dinner party conversation for your inbox.
Having contributors was part of the plan for this publication from the very beginning and it’s been a true pleasure to fulfill that instinct; I remain more convinced today than ever that a) a collection of voices makes for a more interesting reading experience and b) in a way, this has become “a dinner party conversation for your inbox.” Cool!
With all that said, I’ll get on with it and wish you all a very Happy New Year, hopefully filled with success and reunions! Until then, see you at noon. 🌞
xx SCREMES (Shawn)
The Roundup
Links to things you should be reading this week
What has the pandemic done to the fashion-adjacent economy? • When you’re a Coppola, getting the family in on the creative action is par for the course. • Olivia Nuzzi does the best any reporter could hope to get to the bottom of the Four Seasons Total Landscaping event. • VHS tapes are becoming unwatchable, but archivists are racing to save them. • This house for sale in Vermont is quite possibly the most iconoclastic listing I’ve ever seen. • The Bacchanalian poet Rachel Rabbit White documents her days of ‘wellness.’ • The ‘90s are back; long live the ‘70s.
The Long Read
The week’s keynote story
Only going to read one thing? Read me.
Report: A 2021 Trend Forecast | Shawn Cremer | High Noon Original
What will 2021 bring? Obviously no one knows, but if any of these 21 things do come to pass, you heard it here first!
Consumer Culture
For better or for worse, we will see a glut of creative agencies launching brands — products — of their own.
There will be a rise of pop-up, limited edition, and destination-based experiences across categories.
Dining-As-An-Experience (i.e. supper clubs, private spaces, chefs collaborating with artists and brands, etc.) will dramatically increase.
Department stores will be over as we know them, with only the most iconic flagships staying afloat…
…and in their place, experiential, shorter-term, destination-based multi-retailer shopping centers will rise.
The professional-managerial class will continue to work from home, but companies will maintain offices and double down on office perks…
…but previously enticed workers will no longer stay at large well-funded companies just for the perks.
Media & Brands
With KUWTK leaving the air, the D’Amelios will ink a reality show deal.
The prestige television limited series will continue to dominate and overtake traditional seasons format.
Blogs will make a come-back in a real way, with long-form writing (both fiction & non-fiction).
The aesthetics of Y2K nostalgia, 1970s groovy, and Memphis Style employed in (especially digital) branding will grow so big and implode, like minimalism & the millennial style did in the past year and a half.
Fashion
Conventionally quirky style (i.e. mixed patterns and a clog) will go out of vogue.
Despite all the talk this past year, the majority of major brands will want to go back to the traditional fashion schedule and shows…
…but enough small and medium brands and one or two of the big names (my money is on Prada, Hermès or Dior) will rebel and continue pushing forward the shift toward a more truly holistically sustainable.
If CC (no not that one; this one) is to be believed, the miniskirt will reign supreme.
And in menswear, skirt and dress-like items will trickle down from haute couture to middle-brow but somehow (third eye not fully open on this one) it will be just so weird.
Ways of Living
Fewer people will go to college, prompting a rise in apprenticeships in skilled work categories.
People will continue to increase their investment in home (over clothes, transportation, etc.)
People will have a post-lockdown whiplash back to lots of dining out, but it will settle out into a long-tail trend of more at-home hosting and cooking.
The Roaring ‘20s will finally get their due with a renaissance and revolution in social culture. Vague, but it has to be said.
Rihanna will finally release the album (this one I’m taking the long odds on, but a boy can dream, right?)
Watch
In honor of it being almost NYE, I return to one of my favorite videos that set the theme for one of my favorite NYE parties to date, 2014 into 2015.
Cheers
To welcome in the New Year, I concocted an effervescent and enchanting little cocktail I like to call the Scremes Strongwater…