A new year calls for some bold predictions for the year ahead.
At That Zine Thing we’ve been closely studying all the data, trend reports, and general vibes in the air. Below is our extremely scientific* assessment of what’s cool in 2023:
IN:
Frosted tips
AI-assisted creativity
Every type of mushroom in every possible form
Being old
Thrifting, consigning and upcycling
Flip phones
Buying extremely targeted billboards in your ex’s hometown
Armycore
Girl-next-door core
Analog hobbies
Weird pets (ferrets, racoons, pigs, tortoises)
Miniature furniture
Showing skin
Anne Hathaway
Web3 business models that don’t advertise as Web3 business models
Astrology
Unionizing your workplace
Referring to touchdowns as “tuddies”
Indie sleaze (here to stay)
Roth IRAs
Margaritavilles
New Rihanna
Consistency
OUT:
Social media
Y2K
Ratatouille jokes
Flying when you could take the train
Gatekeeping
CBD
Being a vegan
Requesting songs from the DJ
Time
The metaverse
Body types as fashion trends
Negronis
Wordle
Buying things you don’t need
Phoebe Bridgers
Hyped up cryptocurrencies
Exclusive college acceptance rates
NFTs
Faux-edgy Dimes Square conservatism/religiousness
Having a podcast
At the end of the day, this extremely scientific* list is less about what’s in/out, and more about a fundamental principle of science: being wrong.
As planners, it’s our job to be right about the undercurrents of culture. But the more we insist we’re right (and the more we brag about it on Substack), the less we learn from the trial and error of predicting cultural trends.
So our hottest prediction for 2023? Definitive in/out lists are OUT!