It’s July already, and we’re halfway through 2025 (time flies!). We’ve seen countless trends come and go in fashion, tech and lifestyle, but a few have stood out from the rest. It’s safe to say that everything from ‘butter yellow’ to the ‘Labubu dolls’ was experienced by the social media audience.
Let’s dive into some of the trends that are having their moment this year!
Butter Yellow
From fashion to home decor, butter yellow is everywhere as the soft, creamy shade continues to dominate summer palettes. Brands from KitchenAid to Vogue, naming it the colour of the season, demonstrate quite how widespread its reach has been. Whilst it started as a trend, it’s more than just a seasonal fad. Butter yellow has spread into the mainstream and shows no sign of slowing down! We believe it’s here to stay beyond its 2025 stardom.
AI Characters
The adoption of AI is a cultural shift that we are all a part of. This year, social media was taken by storm as everybody and their dog jumped on the doll trend, creating fun miniature versions of themselves. From individuals to brands, everyone used tools like ChatGPT and Copilot to re-package themselves as literal pocket-sized dolls and action figures. This was meant to mimic popular dolls like Barbie and seemed like harmless fun. Although that was a fleeting trend, AI characters are gradually becoming an integral part of the ecosystem. Companies like Meta and ByteDance are creating AI hosts to showcase products with precision and consistency. For brands, AI is transforming e-commerce by becoming a frontline representative that can serve 24/7. The AI revolution has begun, and 2025 is only the stepping stone to it.
Labubu Dolls
A Labubu doll is a popular collectable doll known for its unique appearance. It has a mischievous grin, big ears, and a furry exterior. Designed by Hong Kong-born artist Kasing Lung in 2015, Labubu is a character from ‘The Monsters’ story series. It has regained popularity and is being sold by Pop Mart. The rise of the ‘ugly-cute’ Labubu is also known to be a recession indicator with a twist on the “lipstick effect”, where consumers turn to small, affordable “luxury” when the economy takes a hit. Labubu’s surge in popularity highlights a shift in consumer behaviour, where aesthetic and emotional items replace traditional luxury spending, drawn from a craving for control and joy amid uncertainty. We can only hope that Labubu is a fleeting 2025 trend (for economic reasons, it surely has nothing to do with personal preference!).
Community-driven Model
2025 is about having the main character energy. After an overload of influencers with exaggerated and unrelatable lifestyles, social media users are once again romanticising everyday moments. Mini-vlogging is back with snappy 20-second montages. This showcases the mundane parts of life, such as making tea, walking to the train, or grocery shopping. Users are keen to engage with raw and relatable content; it is more about presence and slowness in daily rituals. This has led to the rise of UGC content creators and focused communities.
You’d find a hyper-niche community for almost everything. For example, ‘neurodivergent girls in corporate’, ‘solo travelling as a 20-something year old’, ‘stay-at-home mum of a toddler’, etc. There is a cultural shift among users seeking a sense of community and relying on user-generated content for purchase decisions. From Pinterest-y outfits and interior inspiration to lifestyle choices, social platforms like TikTok and Pinterest are fast becoming a search engine tool. This is particularly true among the younger generations. We discussed Gen Z breaking the marketing funnel in our last blog.
As we enter the second half of 2025, it also marks the beginning of Generation Beta, the successor to Gen Alpha. That means Gen Z is already two generations old! While generations evolve and trends fade, their influence remains woven into the fabric of culture. What begins as a trend can often become key markers of the economy, socio-cultural shifts, and what we perceive the future to look like.
Which of these do you think is here to stay well into 2025 and beyond? Connect with us to join our conversations on social.
