She Predicted 2025’s Biggest Fashion Trends — Here’s What 2026 Has in Store For Us, with Mandy Lee

0:01Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Let's Get Dressed. It's your host, Liv Perez. Happy 2026. Hope you all had an amazing new year holiday. Hope you ate all the good food, hung out with your friends and family, did all the things. I am so excited to be back. Missed you guys over the holiday break, per usual. I always feel lost in the world when we don't have podcast episodes coming out. And so I'm so excited to be bringing you guys the first episode of the year. When thinking about what I wanted to do for this episode, I really wanted something that felt exciting in terms of looking forward to the year ahead and what's going on with fashion, but also felt like it gave us perspective on the year that we've just come off of.

0:412025 was a huge year for fashion. A lot of designer musical chairs, designer debuts, new trends. So much happened last year. So I wanted to bring a friend of mine on whose content I love. Her name is Mandy Lee, but you also might know her as the old loser in Brooklyn. That's her handle on Instagram. She is a trend predictor who looks at fashion through a really cultural lens, which I've always loved. The two are so intrinsically tied. So I love how when I go through her content, not only am I learning about fashion, but I'm also learning a bit more about what's going on in the world and how that impacts what we wear.

1:15She very notably has predicted some pretty big trends over the last four years since she got started on TikTok. Before she started making content, she was in trend forecasting. So naturally, she's an expert at this. And I think you guys will be really interested to hear the trends that she has predicted over the years and gotten right. They are so niche and so specific. So when I thought about who I wanted to talk to about 2026 trends, of course, I went straight to her. So in today's episode, we talk about how she became a trend forecaster, what it takes for a trend to happen, like what the perfect storm is, and then also some of her predictions for the year ahead, like freaky footwear, animal prints, some nostalgia, and a bit more.

1:57I know you guys are going to love this. Make sure you follow Mandy on Instagram and TikTok. she's at Old Loser in Brooklyn and let's go get dressed with Mandy Lee. Welcome to the show Mandy. Thank you so much for having me Liv. I'm thrilled to have you. I've loved your content for so long. I love your sub stack. I love everything you do. Thank you. I'm just so excited to have you here and it's going to be our first episode of 2026 too. Welcome 2026. We don't know what it's like in the future. I do. Oh really? No. Honestly you do. If anyone knows what's going on in the future, it's you. So we're just in your world.

2:31It's your world. We're just living in it. How are you? Tell me about what you're wearing. I think everybody's going to be like, wow, tell us the vibes. It's just some background. It's like 20 degrees today. Not loving it. This is Paloma wool. Pants are Paloma wool. Top is Simone Rocha and shoes are sandy. Most of it's real, real though. You're going to have to show us the shoes because I get in so much trouble with the YouTubers. Can you see people? Flexibility? Wow. 5 '1. Advantages here. I'm 5 '4 and it does, I think, 5 '4 and under. We really have, we've got some perks. We can like cheat being flexible too because it's like not anything earned.

3:09It's just being like a little vertically challenged. But I'll take it. Everything's just a little bit closer, you know? Yeah, exactly. Well, I'm so excited to have you on. Of course you're wearing, Simone. And I think We have to get two things out of the way before we dive in. One, your wedding. I'm a married woman. You're a married woman who got married in Simone Rocha, and it was insanely gorgeous. I remember seeing that and being like, well, I'm obsessed with that person. Thank you so much. That was years of manifestation, too. Like, I have been her biggest fan for years. I went to my first show at the beginning of the year in London.

3:45I'm also obsessed with London fashion in general. and Simone lent me that dress. And now a year, a little over a year later, it's literally on display at the Antwerp Momu. It's in a museum now, which I cannot believe. Like the dress that was on my body on my wedding is now in a museum. I have to go visit her because I miss her. That all came together two weeks before my wedding too, which is like very me. I'm panicked for you I know right as a former type a bride I'm panicked for you that's like just I feel like I have some sort of like fashion delusion where it's like it will work out yep and it did I wouldn't give that advice though no don't do as I say no no as I do it worked out and we're glad it worked out because it was yeah really really gorgeous thank you yeah of course congratulations thanks so much okay point number two we have to get to tell us where old loser in brooklyn came from okay it was like i am exhausted by this question the backstory on how my account even came to be is i got laid off from my corporate job in may during the pandemic like when the pandemic was like dialed all the way up everyone's freaked out everyone's so scared including myself like I'm a super like health paranoid person I'm in therapy now but like it was really bad so I got laid off and I was like you're joking like I can't like it's just my worst nightmare because I am always someone who is very like tethered to my job and my identity was very much my job and the day after I had literally heard about TikTok during this period of time and I was like I'm just gonna make a TikTok and then all the usernames I was seeing were kind of like crazy weird throwaways.

5:33So it was actually old stoner in Brooklyn. And then they deleted my account in like three hours. So then I remade it with old loser in Brooklyn. And then I started posting videos like later that year, but that it was always a throwaway. And now I'm stuck with it pretty much because I got verified on TikTok and Instagram with that name. And I, I don't know if it's changed, but you used to not be able to change your name. I think you can. And the only reason I'm bringing that up is because Xenia Adance used to be Xenia Overdose. Got it. And she just switched to Xenia, her full name, and she's still verified.

6:09I think you can now, but you used to not be able to. Not that I would change it now. I was about to say no one wants to. But so basically what you're saying is you put your username into TikTok, like you put old stoner in Brooklyn and it gave you like, this isn't available, but here's another option. No, they let me put it, but then they deleted my account. I think I don't, I'm assuming it's because it's like drug related. What I mean is like, was old loser recommended or it was your idea? No, then it was then I just made. Oh, OK. I was like, that would be so crazy if it recommended old loser.

6:38I know, right. But like I was going to confirm, I was feeling like the biggest loser ever. Like I had just lost my dream job. And yeah, it sucked. But it's also a blessing because I wouldn't have made TikTok had that not happened. And look at you now. Yeah, it's crazy. I think it's such a fun defining thing. Yeah, it's pretty great. And my background was in corporate planning and forecasting. I mostly worked in the beauty industry, though. So I did corporate planning and forecasting for seven years, ended with beauty, and then started freelancing in February 2022. And now it's been, yeah, wow, like almost four years been at this.

7:20I really love your content for a ton of reasons. One, I just like adore watching you. I think you're really fun and just super relatable and real. But I also, you bring such a breadth of knowledge to the table while also making it feel relatable. In the past two years, you've become really well known for predicting trends of the year. And last year in 2025, I know you created a piece of content about 2025 trends that you're predicting and you got a lot of them scarily right. Like they were very niche. So I think we should kick the pot off by going through a few of them that have come true. Yeah.

7:54So the way that I do my forecasting is I always start with like the theory, right? And that includes like political, economical, socioeconomics, just all the things outside of fashion that are going to impact fashion because fashion is a mirror of our culture, essentially. Whether you see it that way or you don't, that is how things are created and why people are drawn to certain things. So it always starts with the theory. Always, always, always. But what you mostly see from me on socials is honing in on what that will actually look like. So more like visuals and general themes, but typically that looks more specific, right?

8:40So individual items or categories or these themes, which is kind of my lane is usually talking about different themes in fashion. So the sort of cultural outlook I had for 2025 is this push for extremism in a way. People have an appetite for weirder things. People are more, I think influenced by trying to find like something unique to latch on to. It's just sort of like this attitude we have where there's such a push for authenticity and being genuine and relatable and all this bullshit, honestly, that I feel like people confuse with being unique. you can totally be yourself and be basic like you can be a unique person and shop at Zara like you don't have to be peacocking all the time however I feel like on social media specifically people are looking for this like unique factor because that will signal somebody being genuine or authentic I don't really agree with that but I think that is sort of the attitude that a lot of viewers have.

9:54And a lot of creators want to like fulfill this like genuine sort of like outlook for people to view them as. It's a signal. It's a signifier. I agree. Yeah. And I think a lot of trends are born because people want to signal a specific attitude, taking the temperature of something. That's always how trends get picked up too. So focusing on kind of that theory, I predicted fur and hair and which sounds weird let's get really specific here you predicted pubes coming back and skims launched a merkin this year yeah that was crazy that was insane yeah that was really i mean i still can't believe that happened because a lot of times when i'm making these more specific predictions and not really talking about the theory which is of course super broad and can be up to interpretation because you really can't like like I've been doing this for 10 years you really can't actually look into a crystal ball and predict right you have to base it on the trajectory of like these cultural kind of markers and that can change in an instant like every time an election year comes up it's like well my predictions could be completely opposite it really like those things matter so much when you're looking through the lens of fashion, which again, sounds crazy, but it matters so much.

11:15But yeah, the Pew American thing like really shocked me because I didn't think it would get that big. I remember one of the first things that you said was overall conservatism was going to be a trend. It's interesting to hear those two things in the same sentence. They're obviously polar opposite on the spectrum. But I remember one of the first things you predicted last year was everything's just going to get a lot more expensive, which I loved. I was like, OK, yes, 100 percent tariffs trickling down into fashion. The Chanel bags are now what? Eight grand? Ten. Ten. We're really. For a freaking quilted Chanel flap.

11:48Yeah. Girl. And it's just going to get worse, everybody. Well, Matt could sell me a$10 ,000 Chanel flap, maybe. Easy. Any day. Am I walking in there and just saying, take my credit card. Don't show me anything. Let me walk out the door. Just give me all of it. Yeah. He could sell me anything. He could look at me and be like, sold. Sold, babe. But let's talk Talk about the conservatism a little bit, because I think that trickles down into a lot of different things. I mean, the conservatism is more of like, I think, an influence. I suppose to some it is a trend. I'm very curious. Like, I can't wait to see the reflections post MAGA.

12:26Let's hope that there is a post MAGA era. But I think it's more of an influence. And I think you see it in silhouettes and increased levels of modesty. and protection, but also I think there's a big resistance towards it too. Like one of my predictions for this year, I talked about a few months ago, is exposed bras. It was on the runway quite a bit, not in a sexy way though. Right. That was something I noticed. It was more like hanging, like hanging bras almost. Like over a top or under? Like under. Prada show was a good example. And it reminded me of the like, what, 2014, like for love and lemons, lace bras with the scooped t-shirt.

13:18Yes. It's very that, but for this more like modern consumer. So I think that there's always a push and pull with those influences. There's people who will, you know, go very literally, but then there's also the opposite trend of resistance towards that. somebody can be wearing a bra in like a kind of conservative way but also somebody can be wearing a bra in like a super revealing sexy way so I think there's always like a push and pull with those extremes especially now because I feel like fashion trends are very much on the extreme spectrum you're either sort of like I mean look at what happened with tabbies this year huge I feel like, and that was one of the things that you predicted, especially in like the peep toe genre.

14:05I saw so much of that this year. Tory Burch had them literally everywhere. A peep toe heel became a very big thing. Yeah. Just that whole, I feel like, I feel like shoes got a renaissance. Yeah. I actually predicted toe shoes in 2022. Wow. Not necessarily with the tabbies, but like Balenciaga was doing the like kind of Vibram toes almost. But again, like even when I made that video, I did not think it would get as big as it did. So there's always like a lot of surprise. Like even though my predictions are for the most part pretty accurate, it's always the time, the timing of when that will happen.

14:39And the reach always kind of surprised me. I know they will happen to some varying degree, but like the Merkin, for example, the toe shoes, I really didn't think they would get as big as they did. And now the hair as a design detail, like you're seeing so much pony hair now. You're seeing fuzzy shoes now. You know, last season, fall, winter, 25, so the season that we're currently in, so much freaking fur. Oh my God. So much fur everywhere, fur bras, fur skirts, fur panties, like so much. And it's never really like exactly how I picture, especially when things just like get so huge it sometimes does surprise me when certain things just like absolutely blow up because I always thought the toe shoes and the Merkins and whatever would stay pretty niche but they kind of haven't they kind of have hit the mainstream a few other trends that you predicted that came true this year Celine specifically the Celine logo which I thought was everywhere this year and I love Michael Ryder love pins and embroidery had a big year.

15:46I loved pins and brooches at the beginning of the year. I have so many that I love and wear all the time. Jonathan Anderson leaving the way Bay, which happened in March. I know. I didn't like writing that. Oh, I like writing that. You got it right. And alternative animal print, which I think is so interesting. I was never an animal print girl ever. And this year I've seen so much of it. I saw that Tory Burch pant and jacket set. I was obsessed with. Yeah, she does good oh so good i feel like i've already said toriy borch three times in this episode that's okay i mean i've been working with toriy for three years like the best we can we could have about toriy i love her stuff but that specific it wasn't like a zebra it was like what was it's called the flame i'm obsessed with it it was actually designed by it lives rent free in my brain that's why it's so cool i can't think of her name unfortunately but she designed that print And the things that it came in, so the coat and the dress, it's literally upholstery fabric.

16:46So cool. I have the dress. It's amazing. So one of here in New York also uses a lot of upholstery fabric for garments. And I think it's just the coolest thing ever. It's really neat. I mean, again, like that's innovation to me. Like keep it, keeping it fresh. Totally. Also hiring real people to design things special for you. like Hermes has been doing that all year with animators and artists. And it's so incredible. Like they have taken kind of like a silent stance on being like, fuck AI. And I think it's awesome. Oh, that's really cool. I haven't seen that. I want to get into a little bit how you got here because so many trends that we just talked about came into actualization in 2025.

17:29So tell me a little bit about your background. Like what does it take to study to become a trend forecaster? I mean, I went to school for communications. Okay. Where did you go? I went to Simmons. Cool. I was a transfer student though. So I lived off campus. I also, I'm 34. I started this, I think when I was like 28 or 29, I want to say. So I have lived so many lives before you like people have ever seen me online and I think that is what gives me the most edge with my expertise is I've been doing different jobs in planning and forecasting different industries it's more about the technique that I learned that translates to all industries I had always wanted to work in fashion I grew up in Rhode Island there's no fashion jobs there I lived in Boston for eight years there's really no fashion jobs there I never thought it was going to be possible for me.

18:26I didn't have a safety net to, you know, actually explore my dreams. I started as an analyst at a big tech company in Boston and then moved and transitioned into beauty because I thought it'd be like a good stepping stone to get me to fashion. So I did in-house for a couple of years where I worked on like one brand's entire portfolio. I was there during like a huge packaging shift, which is a really, really big project for really any brand because you're getting new components, you're getting new packaging. It's every single department touching this at once. And you're kind of acting as the project manager in a sense, like saying what's going to sell, what you need to discontinue.

19:08Basically just like being in charge of an entire brand portfolio. And then I moved to a more e-commerce, so multiple brands. You really didn't have control over what the brands were making. And I really didn't like I really, really missed having more control. I was senior manager there. And that's when I that was my last job before I quit. I that's not I didn't get laid off there. I got I quit there when TikTok was really picking up and I saw a future for it. But I basically like translated my planning and forecasting skills into fashion because it's a lot of similar methodology. And having worked in this field for, at the time it was seven years, I really, like it has always been what I wanted to do, what the industry I wanted to work in was.

19:58There's no money in it though, like when you're starting out. Like my first job, I think I was making 38K and I was making more than a lot of my friends. And my last full-time job before I quit in 2022, I was making 95K, which is like again really difficult to like thrive on as in like a single household I think in New York City so I saw the opportunity and I took it what what really inspired me was I wasn't seeing the content that I wanted to see I basically saw a gap in what was being created and I wanted to fill it because that's what I wanted to watch. Short form runway reviews, short form trend reports, predictions that did not exist in 2020.

20:48It just was not there. It was on YouTube, but that was more long format. And the trend forecasting didn't exist at all. So yeah, I wanted to fill it because I had the professional experience to do so. And it was also a passion. And I think my track record speaks for itself. I'm very good at my job. I mean, the 2025 trends we just said, there's so many and so much more. I mean, you've been predicting trends for five years now. Yeah. I mean, like to give some background to people who might not know me, I predicted Indie Sleaze, the Tweed Revival, Bloomers, Ballerina Sneakers. This is all pre-2022.

21:28Ballerina Sneakers was a good one. Yeah. I got death threats for that video. For ballet sneakers? Bloomers, Ballet Sneakers, in the same it was actually the same video first viral video I ever made about fashion I think three million under three million views yeah I got like three people messaging me on Instagram being like kill yourself you're delusional and you know fast forward three years guess what the most popular shoe style is hybrid shoes I bought a pair yeah also shout out Simone Rocha once again for being years ahead of a trend. She looked directly into the camera when she said that.

22:06Yeah, I did. I'm breaking the fourth wall here because it's that serious. It's really serious. What's the anatomy of a trend? Like, what does it take? What's the perfect storm for a trend to come together? Oh, wow. That's a really interesting. Oh, nobody's asked me that, I don't think. I think there are a couple of different markers. So again, like what's going on culturally, what the temperature is, and what the appetite for consumers are. That's really huge because if something's really cool, but it's like not available, it's really hard to get, you can't see the vision, nobody's going to buy it.

22:40Like it has to be somewhat available-ish. In 2023, I saw this sort of like whisper of nautical theme. It was really that Louis Vuitton show who I always think is so light years ahead. a lot of people like are not loving Louis Vuitton but I think Nicola is a genius and always very very ahead the streets think that too we just got a double honk we've got some buy-in but yet Nicola's kind of a genius in that way and I noticed like this weird like aquatic sort of piratey situation happening and that's when I first started kind of having sailor on the radar more themes of nautical and that really didn't start manifesting until I would say this year this summer so again it's sort of like it starts with a whisper it doesn't always have to be on the runway I remember my bloomer prediction I actually noticed first from this girl Chloe Philopolis who everyone should follow she's an amazing stylist and I saw that she wore a pair And I was like, that's going to happen.

23:49It's an elevated bike short. The girls are going to love that if they become more available. So those are kind of the whispers that my little birdies send to me. But also I'm a huge nerd and like I cannot help but notice patterns and everything. Like I've always been that way. It's why I was a good analyst and why that job was like a kind of a no-brainer when I got out of school. I majored in communication. So it was sort of this like bridge between being nerdy and being able to like explain why these things are happening. It was a great bridge for me. But that's kind of how I think things will take off is there's a general interest in like a general theme.

24:35And that theme will get whittled down and down and down into specific items or themes or categories. And if they are available enough, whether that's eBay, the RealReal, Etsy, or whatever, that's usually where emerging trends begin. It's not really in the mass market and not even always on the runway. I actually think a lot of consumer trends are driven by street style and individuals. And I think that's happened more in recent years than the runway dictating trends. I think right now it's kind of 50-50. That's super interesting that you said that a lot of the mass trends happen more on like the Etsy's and Pinterest's of the world.

25:16Not Pinterest. Not Pinterest. More Etsy. I'm pretty anti-Pinterest for style inspiration, to be honest. And if you, Pinterest Predicts just came out this week and, you know, as a forecaster, it's not a forecast. I wish they didn't call it that. I wish they would call it like the 2025 wrap up because what they're doing is aggregating search data, purchase data, because now you can buy directly from Pinterest. They're putting it into categories and they're honestly, they're using AI to do it. And they have been for a very long time. It's not a prediction. It's more of a report and a wrap up. Interesting.

25:49I appreciate that these brands are making that information more available though, because to like the average person, it is a prediction. It is something new for them, But like it was lace, it was brooches, things. If you follow Old Loser in Brooklyn, you'd know about three years ago. And what I love about my job is it's not completely data reliant. It's kind of 50-50. It's like you need the data. You need to understand what's happening culturally. That requires a lot of research and analysis. But you need a human element behind it. Or you end up with something like Pinterest predicts where it feels a little bit behind.

26:28You're basically saying that like it's for you, it's a sixth sense. Like you have to sense, you have to have your own human interaction to what you're seeing online based on culture, based on what people are wearing. And only a human can analyze that. There are certain markers that can't necessarily be quantified to, you know, feed into the computer or the machine to make sense of why things might be happening like that. unless AI can do that in the future I don't think that it can ever really reach the state of being like super accurate where a WGSN for example which to me is the gold standard company who does trend research and reporting they're light years ahead really they give access to a lot of data but the way that they actually like make sense of that data a human is doing that and only a human can do that really.

27:26And again, like we can't predict the future. I can't predict the future and a machine certainly can't predict the future either. So let's get into a few of your predictions for next year because I do love your human predictions. Okay. My favorite one. I'm just looking at my list and the first one is butt cleavage. We're saying a lot of crazy shit on today's pod I love. Actually, my favorite one that you put out at the end of 2025. You used a phrase that I'm obsessed with, phalange fanaticism. Well, think about what happened this year. It was all about the foot. Yes. We're talking pierced mules, peep toe heels.

28:06Again, I think the shoes got a whole new territory this year. They got to glow up. Yeah. Not even just shoes. It was like the whole foot category, like toe rings, little socks, which I love. I love this trend. It was so me, it felt like my dreams were coming true because things were suddenly becoming available that were like, oh my God, like that is so me. I need it. It's always fun when that happens too, is like when something gets popular, like you were saying with the animal print, it's just like, okay, now I have people like to hate and dunk on trends, which like I get the, I get it. I love trends, but I'm not always on trends.

28:40Why do you love trends? Because it is the most tangible expression of what's happening in culture and humanity. and I think that is so amazing like it's wearable it's a it's a culture on display and everyone participates in fashion every single person my father you're like everyone you have to you can't opt out of getting dressed to go out into the world really unless you're like on a beach in France but like everyone has to opt into it and I think it's just it's literally holding the mirror up to what's going on in the world. And I think it will make sense. This is my favorite quote about fashion ever, ever, is Lynn Yeager quoting Sally Singer.

29:24And she says, if you want to learn about fashion, you have to learn about everything around fashion, art, politics, music. And I think that is just like the most accurate thing ever. And a lot of people in fashion really need to hear that sometimes because fashion is a byproduct of everything around fashion essentially all these key indicators is what actually influence the decisions of creative directors influence trends so that's why I love fashion so much and that's why I love studying trends so much because it is culture on display I love that response back to phalanges so hands feet yeah back to phalanges Well, yeah, the background on that was, again, kind of this taste for the oddities and this kind of the word grotesque has been a theme when I'm thinking about these things for a couple years now.

30:21And I think grotesque things are actually what people are being drawn to because it's special, it's weird, it's unique, it's unusual. And I think that's providing comfort to a lot of people in a way. but yeah the foot was the foot was the hot body part of 2025. Cynthia Erivo at the Wicked premiere last year wore a Tom Brown with those beautiful hands and that to me it's it's like this appetite for surrealism that I really like. Yeah I think and the the hand prediction is like not just gloves because like gloves are gloves have been big since 2020. Totally and I do love your collection of rainbow gloves thank you a plus i love a glove yeah but it's not just the glove it's the glove like as an alternative accessory not even on your hands and then there's i'm seeing some themes of hands and gloves as motifs like on a belt on a bag clutch i think perenza schooler did it like 10 years ago and it did have a moment in like the twee era of fashion 2021 old loser in Brooklyn prediction was the trend or the twee revival.

31:33And I think we keep seeing little trickles of that coming in and out. And the hands were one of them. And I think that people are really going to latch on to that following the like foot fetish we've had this year. It's interesting to hear all of these things that we've talked about that are quite, we can put it in the category of surrealist to an extent. And then the Pantone color of the year comes out. Oh, boo. Boo. Boo. Cloud dancer. Yeah. I have a lot of thoughts. It's not, again, the color of the year for me. Again, it's not even it's not a prediction either. Like it's just it's like a pathetic.

32:12I'm sorry, but it's a pathetic corporate. Tell us how you really feel. No, pathetic corporate gimmick. Boo. I've had a problem with Pantone's methodology or lack thereof for years and years. It could be really spot on. There's a lot of potential there. They used to have fun and take risks. But, you know, I just think it's interesting to have that come out during a time where I feel fashion specifically. I don't like the like maximalist minimalist conversation, but I just feel like things are back to an era where like fashion's fun again. I didn't like seeing a lot of like kind of the same simplicity down the runway.

32:46Like there's more color. There's more like silhouettes. I'm here for all of it. It's just I'm like, really, that's the color yeah to me like balenciaga spoke like that to me feels so exciting and there was so much color in that show ppp yes i loved it yeah it was good okay it's okay you're allowed to say i hated it no no no and i would if i did but no i liked it is that's unreal that you just said that i'm gonna start saying that you go ppp's i can't pronounce i'm no i'm shit it i'm american yeah But I loved the colors in that and I loved the silhouettes and I loved the gloves and it was exciting to me for a brand that previously I couldn't really relate to.

33:25I think that's another part of like another part of my excitement. Not a Demna fan? It just didn't resonate with my personal style. I could appreciate it from afar, but it wasn't something that I could see myself going in and wearing. But it's just so antithetical to what I feel society is at right now cloud dancer i agree i wouldn't my professional advice would be to not take that to mean anything because it doesn't coloro and wgsn is the gold standard for color trend predictions that actually like hold weight and have meaning behind them i really think pantone is the whole color of the year thing is just a gimmick what is a color you think for 2026 wgsn's prediction is what is it's a not tranquil transformative teal it's this like of course it was going to be a blue no it's like a deep green a deep blue green almost like emerald-y not not quite this more jewel almost that makes sense to me yeah my color predictions for 2025 that i posted in january i think were a little early there was a deep purple in there a deep moody purple yep a bright bright cobalt blue sky blue periwinkle ish and then pea green were my color predictions those all hit i think everything with the exception of the periwinkle will be a little bit bigger into next year but like what i'm not gonna say white because it's not a color that goes in or out every fucking apartment in new york city is painted white yeah it's the landlord special I had someone message me and be like it's escapism and I was like no no it's fascism actually it's crazy it's the beigeification of the world which is on it is a fascist indicator I hate to get that deep into it but it is that deep like we've mentioned this entire conversation like fashion is actually that deep but yeah I think sometimes I do feel like WGSN is a little too early though I think that teal color won't really manifest until like the back half of 2026 into 2027 if at all because it kind of reminds me of serena joy from handmaid's tale maybe that's why they picked it because it is kind of like a little on point for what we're dealing with in america anyway but i think these like bright jewel kind of tones are where where things are heading in the more cool toned family a few other ones that were on your list for this upcoming year the pillbox to aviator hat pipeline apron styles let's get into both of those yeah the apron one's interesting because i think there's you know in the video i mentioned how my first thought when i hear an apron is sort of this like trad wipe obsession that we've had but i got a lot of comments and i've kind of changed my tune i almost wish i said this and thought of it in the video i'm always trying to like lessen the blow when i say something that could be taken controversial which i really need to like work on but it's the kind of positive spin on the apron is it signifies more of like craftsmanship and workmanship and real life jobs a lot of people have issues with mitcha prada for like always referencing that but i don't find that a problem like why wouldn't you be inspired by regular people when you design clothes like well there were so many aprons at mimi and it just feels utilitarian i love it i mean i think it's really cute and it again is a callback to me of the tweet era i remember so people who don't know what that means could you yeah i think like 20 2008 to 20 i'd say the end of that would be 2014 very overlapped with indie sleeves just kind of like a cuter version so i think the peter pan collars you got a ukulele you're zoe deschanel with bangs very that the era that raised me Yeah, the owl pendant necklace, that was twee.

37:27And remember how mainstream that was? It was incredibly. And now what we're seeing is literally all of those things in a more modern way. Every time I reference a revival, it never will look exactly like that. The indie sleaze, the twee, we can never replicate the culture of that time again. So it will never come back exactly like that. You had to be there. Yeah. And even though there are so many influences from those periods of time, it looks different and things are being styled differently. However, that apron, I have a like, literally I can like reach out and touch it of Chloe Sevigny wearing this like rickrack apron thing.

38:07And that's what it reminds me of is this like second coming. But I think the more positive spin kind of turning away from the conservative angle is this like celebration of like women who are you know like baristas or in construction or artists or chefs or something like the everyday kind of woman I think a lot of menswear and like gorp core and more technical utilitarian styles are taken from people who actually do those jobs and I don't want to get into the 2026 general theory because it would we would be here all day but I think the big, big shift that will be happening in fashion that brands will have to keep up with is being, you are required now to have some value in your product and have it be able to span multiple uses and multiple situations.

39:03And I think a lot of that more everyday consumer, what they're looking for, what they're interested in will translate into the luxury market. So cargoes pockets straps belts that's why the belt bag is so kind of like on the rise popular right now it serves an actual purpose whether it's like to look fashiony or not it it actually serves a purpose i think brands really need to focus on that and give consumers that or i think it's going to be tough in the in the future but that's kind of my theory for what's going to be trending in the next couple of years, in addition to like making specific clothing for certain weather, I had to come in here and Uggs because I really don't have that many shoes that are like super insulated for 20 degree weather.

39:54I'm just sitting there like, why? I mean, I feel like we're better than that as a society. Like we need to like think about our life and what's to come in the future. So I think sun blocking, sun protection built into clothing, Big time. UPF clothes need, we need more of that. I have a friend who has a brand called Claudette and it's amazing, but I would love to see it more in fashion. Yeah. Like we need cuter things. And yeah, this kind of like sense of protection against surveillance, against the weather, against the elements, that's going to play a huge role, I think, in fashion to come. What I'm really betting on though is this like big boom that's going to happen for snow and rain.

40:36Aviator hats. Yeah, aviator hats, like I mentioned, but I just see so much potential in these categories for technical wear. Chanel and Simone Roche this season both showed raincoats, like plastic raincoats. And it's only two examples, really, but I'm betting on that taking off because people need that like I need that as a person like you know I don't know I just I think that that's really the the kind of general theory for the next couple of years is making sure things serve an actual purpose and providing solutions for your customers especially if you're a luxury brand because I think unfortunately the whole conversation with Mew Mew about their quality as shit.

41:26Yeah. I mean, you got to fix that, guys. Like, what are we doing? People are paying$18 ,000 for a jacket that busts open in a few days. It's not even going to need to be, it's going to need to be above and beyond just a well-made product, but a well-made product that works for you, it's going to be so important, I think, in the future. I could see a lot more of that. You walked in today with like a very, is that JW Anderson? It is, yeah. Yeah. it was like a it's like a what are they called it's like a neck band neck band but it had this like beautiful zip on it and I think I've seen so much more of that like guests in residence this year made these like bandana cashmere bandanas that were scarves you could tie around your neck they were very cute and they sold out right away and to me that was an indicator that people are looking for utilitarian accessories that are also fashionable they're not just like you know a unique low neck warmer like it's something that feels like a fashionable accessory that's also there to keep you warm.

42:21I wouldn't be surprised if we see so much more of that. My big words for this sort of theory are protection, purpose, multifunction, and wearable wellness. Wearable wellness is a good one. Yeah. I mean, it's, I mean, like, and again, it's looking at everything that's impacting a consumer, what's going to actually make them make a purchase. And this goes beyond just the fashion girly space. You know what I mean? Like the average The everyday consumer is looking for these things. Yeah, totally. I love these predictions. Yeah. I love hearing from you. You have such an analytical, really thoughtful approach to fashion.

43:00And I think you're amazing. Thank you so much. I mean, it's like really fun. Thank you so much for coming on. We have to have you back. I want to hear more about all the things. And you have to predict for us every year at this point. We'll have a postmortem next year. It's true. Oh my God, that's a great idea. We'll see you guys at the end of 2026. Bye.

43:21Thank you.