How Cute Is This?

The coming year will see more Gen Z embrace kidult lifestyles and ʻkawaiiʼ qualities, after the Japanese word for cute. Kawaii lifestyles are characterised by charming qualities and childlike graphics with colourful and playful elements. Youth are already playing into this in fashion by adding charms and wearing clothing with cute infantile human or animal characters, and this is also taking shape in the rise of the doll craze.

The Cute is commercial, no doubt about it. A proof of that is the MiuMiu phenomena and their records breaking sales based basically on Cute. Besides MiuMiu there are infinite examples of the appealing of the Kawaii aesthetics ruled brands< here the latest Loewe’s collab with Suna Fajita:

To excel at The Cute is harder than it looks (Therefore at Loewe we decided to coop to ensure success).

Here a few directions that can help you navigate this aesthetic in a fresher way 👇️ 

#2 Vintage Cute:

“The Cute” (or Kawaii) is not new at all, as an aesthetic it is a visual wave that comes and goes (and evolves) since the 40’s. Bring Vintage cute aesthetic using filters or old lifestyle elements to add nostalgia and kinematic vibes.

#Transhumanist Cute:

Synthetic creativity is driving youth to seek fashion and beauty options that allow their digital avatars to look like their physical self, and their physical self to look like their digital avatars. This will lead to a rise in transhumanist aesthetics in 2025. Bring the “cute” aesthetic to transhuman characters where humans are blended with robots or animals. Through masks, makeup and imagery bring futurist and fantastic humans and Animalia.

#Embrace Mundane Moments:

Financial constraints and burnout will see youth lean into the average and romanticize the mundane and domestic scenes. Treat culture will flourish, along with appetites for domestic fun and elevating simple home moments through “The Cute”

#Cute World Architecture:

Create Cute displayers for your photo production, store or AI scenery. This trend/direction provides brands with the opportunity of creating characters, Animalia and worlds. The secret with the Kawaii aesthetic is to make it consistent narratives and characters people fall in love with.

#Beyond Pink & Pastels:

Social media – and TikTok in particular – have accelerated the pace of youth trends and online aesthetics in recent years, but in 2025 we will see two broad (but conflicting) subcultures flourish, driven by trend tensions and extreme polarisation: the cuteness movement and the return of emo. Also consider blending them moving from the traditional “cuteness” pink palette.

#Softcore Drama:

Fashion was a natural platform for Surrealism’s high drama. In a feed that doesn’t stop its imagery it’s hard to catch attention. Play with absurd and over-scaled proportions to fix views and get digital attention.

Fun question to start your Monday: all trends have a history, so could it be that The Birth of Venus is the real genesis of The Cute as an aesthetic? 🤔 

Talking to you soon!

Love,

Victoria