These trends will define 2026

0:07This episode of Stylish is brought to you by Dan Murphy's. Find out what's new now and next when it comes to trending drinks. This is Stylish, the podcast for all things fashion, lifestyle, brand and beauty. My name is Madison Sullivan-Thaw. My co-hosts are Annika Joshi-Smith and Joanna Fleming. Happy New Year! We are back. We missed the studio. I missed you guys. We are so back, you guys, and I'm so ready. 2026, let's go. The year of the mommy. Oh, the mamacita. Also, guys, it's the year of the horse. I was just about to ask if anyone knew. 2025 was the year of the snake. And so a lot of people are saying that it's the year of, like, a lot of transformation because you're kind of shedding.

0:50So sometimes you can be shedding awful things. You can just be shedding for lighter things. And then the year of the horse is all about bolting forward, like catapulting. So it's supposed to be that you're going into this year feeling lighter, that you're feeling ready and feeling charged to go forward. Okay. Now, what a bloody great year. As someone who is the year of the pig, the year of the horse sounds way better. This is speaking to me because, Jo, your word last year was expanding and expansion and I feel like you're going to catapult straight into that this year. Yeah. I wish I'd known that it was going to be the year of the horse.

1:21Yeah. I didn't know that at the time. I'm going to be a vulnerable, powerful little horse. I can't wait. I'm just going to lean right into being a mommy. Here we go. Mommy, riding on the mommy train. I don't know why I did that. I don't know. Is that a song? No. The song I was thinking of that wasn't loading was, yeah, I'm going to take my horse to the old town. That's me and my daughter. Stunner. Perfect. Okay, today we have a very special episode on the trends that will define 2026. We did this last year and like we did last year, we've teamed up with Pinterest Predicts to collate all of these for you.

2:00This year, Louise Kong, Pinterest creative strategy lead and trend spotter, has selected the top three trends from the beauty, fashion and lifestyle categories and given us her expert opinion on why they'll be everywhere this year. But first, what are we swapping in? Jo, why don't you go first? Because I just did the swap intro. Oh my gosh. Hey, hey, hey, it's all love. It's just a new year, new rituals. Okay, I'm here for it. No, I'll accept. Well, I thought I might do some TV series for anyone that's still on holidays or they're maybe taking time off in Jan. I thought maybe you might want to binge some TV shows.

2:36But I should probably preface that I pretty much exclusively only watch true crime TV shows. But I know a lot of people share those because every time I post about them on my stories, people are like, we want more. It's a very interesting character arc of yours, I feel, though. Yeah, I like it. It makes you feel two-dimensional. Three-dimensional. Three-dimensional. Yeah, I'd rather be three-dimensional. Thank you. That's the one I was going for. 3D is probably a bit flat. I know you're like an onion. I love peeling back the layers because you always surprise me. Yeah. Cleaning, crime, what's next?

3:05Yeah. Yeah, there's a fair bit under there. So I thought I would do some of these TV series recs for you in case you are looking for something and you like true crime. So we recently finished Beast in Me on Netflix, which is more of like a – Yeah, have you watched it? Yes. Yeah, it's kind of like a psychological thriller, I would say. Yeah. Really interesting series. Brittany Snow is in it. Is it scary? No, it's not scary. It's like creepy, but it's not going to give you a fright. There might be moments where you get a little bit of a fright, but nothing too crazy. So that was a really good one on Netflix.

3:40I love a UK crime drama. Oh, my God, Sam, I love the accent. Yeah, we just get reeled into them so quickly. So we watch them all the time. I have a few recent ones that we've watched that aren't necessarily new, but they're ones that we've watched relatively recently. Those are The Fall, Happy Valley, Line of Duty, which has six seasons, by the way. And I don't know why I didn't watch Line of Duty earlier because it is genuinely such a good show. Broadchurch as well is one that I watched years and years ago, but I can go back to it because I've got such a bad memory. I can go back to these shows and watch them again and I'm like, I don't remember that happening.

4:16That shocks me from you. Yeah, no, terrible memory. Okay. And still drama but not crime is The Split, which is about divorce attorneys. Yes. And Nicola Walker is a really popular UK crime. She's often a lawyer or a cop or a detective or something like that. So I really love her as an actor. But that's another one for you if you're not quite into the crime but you like something that's a bit dramatic. Yeah. Cool. That feels a bit more me. Do you like gangster kind of like inspired? Don't mind it. Are you about to say the Tom Hardy one? Oh, my God, yes. What's that called again? Mobland. Mobland.

4:51And Mobland is so good. And if you like Mobland, then you're like Mayor of Kingstown, which I'm obsessed with and we're watching at the moment. And then there's also the other one, Landman with Billy Bob. Like it's so good. And Demi Moore, so good. I think my dad recommended that one too recently. Yeah, it's a real dad show. I see that. But they're also quite gangster at the same time. Yeah. I feel I have not been watching enough TV. I feel like I have quite a bit of homework. I felt quite left out there. We have a lot of like routine in our household, obviously, because I live there. I don't know if Adrian likes it, but he's part of it.

5:24And we like to – this is my way of removing myself from work. So I have this routine of like having a shower, going upstairs. He cuts me up an orange. This is so specific. When did you put your robe on? After the shower. Okay, cool. I have my jammies on, my robe on, and then I have an orange. Your no-noos. Don't you dare call them jammies. And then he puts some blueberries in there for me as well, and then we put an episode of our show on, and we very rarely watch more than one episode and then we go to bed. You have an orange and blueberries before you go to sleep. Yeah. And then you watch a TV show.

5:55Yeah. And then I say to Axel, do you need a puppy wee? And then he goes out to the toilet and then we go to bed. Every single night without a doubt. So good. So, so good. Okay, Mads, you're up. Let's see if we're swapping our world. Now, I knew I would get the name wrong, so I had to write it down because I was calling it the L 'Oreal Ch-Ch. It is the L 'Oreal Paris Infallible Three Second Setting Mist and I might suggest that they could probably shorten that name just a little bit. But I had a makeup artist use this on me late last year and my makeup did not move and I'm talking for like a 12, 13-hour day.

6:30We love this. It's usually on sale at Chemist Warehouse or on Amazon. Is this in a red bottle? Yeah, it's like a red and black bottle. It's like$18,$19 on sale, which in comparison to some of the other setting myths on the market is pretty cheap. Yeah. This is like hairspray for the face. It just doesn't move. And I'm a schvizy girl. Like, you know. Me too. Me on, I was going to say Club Dance, sorry. It's been a long time since I've been on one of those. It's got a little too long in between songs. Let's go. That's fine. Annika. Okay. So over the holidays, I was at the pub and I was just with like literally all the boys.

7:06And I was listening to Boy Chirps. I know, I'm so popular. Just me, like I'm just one of them. and one of our friends Liam he recently got married and it was black tie and all the guys I know sorry man sorry to break your bubble that answers your question congratulations Liam but everyone had bow ties on and the guys were just chatting amongst themselves and I just my ears perked up because I was just like listening to men talk about suits and like bow ties and things I was like okay let's listen to this chat and some of the guys were like but how did you get the bow like so perfect. Have you been to a wedding before and you see a lot of wonky bow ties?

7:44I'm usually the sassy 5 '3 that goes up and straightens and fixes it. Yes like literally it's a thing and so anyway Liam was like his wedding suit was from P. Johnson. He said the hack is you tie your bow tie around your thigh but if you've been bulking like he had then maybe your knee and then you put it back over your head and it just sits so perfectly. Brilliant. And all all the guys look, oh my God, like such boys. Yeah. And I was like, oh, is this like an actual, like a challenge you guys have when you get ready? And they're like, do we have a few single men? They were like, it's so hard to get ready sometimes and put our bow tie on.

8:19I don't have a woman to do it for me. I don't, exactly. And they're like, this is the hack. So I just had to swap it in. We actually had this drama before our wedding because Adrian had a traditional bow tie that wasn't already pre-made. And he got his suit from Oscar Hunt and they had done it there, but then undid it. And then he was like, oh wait, I actually don't know how to do a bow tie. So then one of his friends actually asked you to do the speech that you guys. Oh, we love Ash. Hi, Ash. Ash's wife actually sent me a DM and said, Ash, thrilled with the shout out. Yeah, we love him. Yeah.

8:48And he did it around his leg as well. Amazing. And he did Adrian's for him. Yeah. That's a really good hack. There you go. Well done, Ash. So if you are getting married and you've got to pass on that tip to your groom-to-be, there you go. Next, we're diving into Pinterest's top three trend predictions for fashion. but that will be right after a word from today's sponsor. Happy New Year, friends. Here's to 2026. If you're anything like me, January is all about new beginnings and keeping the good times rolling. Whether you're hosting a summer barbecue, a catch up with friends or just looking for the perfect drink to enjoy in the sun, Dan Murphy's has you covered.

9:23Drop into a store or jump online or on the app and sort out all your drinks in one go. And the best part, the expert team is across what's new, trending and can guide you to exactly what to grab. No wandering the aisles, no guesswork. Think of the Pizzini Riesling, perfectly clean and crisp for a hot day. Or the Malfi Gin Rosa, an easy drinking crowd pleaser for any summer get-together. For inspiration on what's trending, what's new and what's coming up next, download the app or head in store and remember to choose to drink wise. A huge thank you to Dan Murphy's for making this episode of Stylish possible.

9:58So to kick us off, we've got a quote from Louise from Pinterest about what the 2026 Pinterest Predicts report tells us about what people are looking for right now. The trends from this year's report tell us that people are craving comfort, authenticity and grounded optimism in a world that feels increasingly fast and often noisy. What's driving this is a desire for individuality and self-preservation. We're moving away from one size fits all aesthetics. In 2026, we'll see people put their own unique spin on the trends, ensuring that personal expression is front and centre. So now that we've got that bit of background for these trends, let's jump into the top three fashion trends, with our first one being glamorati.

10:38So Louise describes this one as the return of unapologetic power dressing. Think sculpted shoulders, funnel necks, bold tailoring, and statement gold. The data backs it up too, with searches for 80s luxury on Pinterest being up 225%. and searches for baggy suits up 90%. According to Louise, this trend is actually the number one indexing trend in Australia, meaning it's resonating at a higher rate here compared to Pinterest users worldwide, which I think is kind of interesting because we've obviously had a little pre-look at some of these and some of them are like, oh, that feels a little bit more American.

11:12But knowing this is very much Australian is interesting. So why do we think we're drawn to this trend particularly? Wow. Saint Laurent did it first, baby. Hell yeah. Bella Hadid on that runway, baby girl. Oh my goodness. I'm literally envisioning her right now. SS 25 runway, slick back bun, big bold glasses, bold suit on. Talk dirty to me. She was just empowering the female archetype. And I feel like we are now seeing such a resurgence of corporate core, power dressing, 80s dressings, bold silhouettes. and even like looking to Australian brands like Victoria and Woods and Camilla and Mark, I love how they will always incorporate suits, key tailoring, really sharp tailoring and all to be like collections.

11:58I think it's a solid symbol and nod to like the working woman, which we are all here for. 1000%. And I think anytime you talk tailoring, whether it's like really tight, you know, petite tailoring or like oversized, oversized dressing, I don't think is often correlated to tailoring, but so much of what makes something oversized and still incredibly flattering or correct on the shape is its tailoring. And anytime I see tailoring come back around in any shape or form, I rejoice, especially when it comes to suiting, because it feels like it's confidence that you get to wear. And I know there's been many times that there's been important meetings or I've had, you know, an important presentation.

12:37The way that I feel when I put on a blazer or a great tailored pair of pants, I feel so powerful. So I'm excited to see this back. I mean, I have to personally be a bit careful. I think when you're a petite gal wearing something oversized, like not to, you know, shrink yourself in it, you know, I think the length is important, but tall girls in a great oversized blazer, I'm so jealous. I also love that it's such a timeless trend as well. I think regardless of what fit is trending at the time, I think more recently, we've gone a little bit more fitted probably in 2025. I think 23, 24, we were that more oversized blazer and then it kind of shifted the other way for a little bit.

13:16But I'm really happy to see that these trends always seem to come back into the trend cycle quite quickly. So it's just one of those things that can live in your wardrobe until it's time to pull it back out again. It's never going to date. And I think of my mom's own blazers that I ended up stealing out of her wardrobe and I would still wear those now. Yeah. Same with coats. I agree. I feel like every season I will happily invest in a blazer and like for me suiting is something like that. I do feel powerful. I do feel really confident. But I even love how we're also seeing a few more contemporary brands and brands that maybe younger girls would look to as well like St Agnew and one of others.

13:54They are really incorporating, tailoring, sharp suiting into a lot of their collections but making them quite cool. Penny's another good one too. Oh, yeah. I think when they're playing with colour or they're playing with texture, like doing a pinstripe or something through it, it just helps give it a little bit more edge. I also think you just get such versatility from a suit. You wear that blazer with a cute little cami and jeans and a heel for Friday date night with the girls. Or you're wearing it with like a great skirt and a white collared shirt for work and, you know, important meeting. I'm like, you get versatility and miles out of it.

14:23Cost per wear is not an issue with suiting. Exactly. Agree with that. And glamorati can just mean so many things as well. Like I think we've seen the resurgence of sequins and glitz and glam and it hasn't been all about like, you know, just wearing tailoring. Like what makes women feel powerful? And I feel like now we're seeing so much more optimism in our looks, like whether it's sharp shoulders, glitter, glam, anything, anything goes, which I feel like I'm so here for. Hottest I've ever felt was actually at a hen's where we had to dress up in a whole bunch of 80s bridesmaid dresses as a joke.

14:55I was like, everyone was like, low-key, you should probably keep that dress. It looks quite good. Yeah. So, you know, Phoebe and Ellie Bullen, if you're listening to this, I'd love to actually come back and pick that up now that 80s are back. All right. Next, we have Poet Corps, which Louise describes as a romantic bookish aesthetic with oversized knits, vintage blazers and analog accessories. Searchers on Pinterest for the poet aesthetic are up 175 % in a cross category trend that romanticizes the intellectual and creative life. Does this trend surprise us? It did initially when I first was reading through all of the results and search terms.

15:35But the more that I sat on it, I was like, hello, book talk's going off. So maybe it's just this romanticisation of being an intellect and snuggling in to read the book and like kind of looking like someone who would read. Not that I think someone who reads has a particular aesthetic, but clearly like we've kind of created one here. It's really like this almost whimsical kind of like mystery, how they've kind of put this whole trend together. Like when I think of it and when I actually dove a little bit deeper, I think Chloe, I think the Boho revival, I'm seeing still a lot of the lace coming through, those whimsical silhouettes.

16:09But what I love is how they're making being an intellect cool. Even if it's a bit Shakespearean. What I love about this trend too is it's so easy to thrift through this trend. Like with oversized nets and vintage blazers kind of being that thing. It's not something that you need to go and buy something super expensive. Like these are things that you could find at your local opportunity stores or consignment stores. Like they're readily available items that you can mix and match within your wardrobe. I was trying to think of where I've seen this trend playing out and I actually think I'm recognising it more in menswear.

16:38I'm recognising the glasses and the knit and the kind of bookish type. I would have called that boyfriend call. Yeah. Or poet call. Poet call. As Pinterest would call it. Do you know when I think of this for women, I think of like ever more folklore Taylor Swift era. Yes. Yes. Yeah. But I think I'm seeing it play out a lot more in menswear than I am in women's wear in Australia currently. But maybe that's just seasonal because we're obviously in opposite seasons to the US. So maybe that's why I'm not really feeling like I'm seeing this play out here. Five to six months time, we'll all be in our oversized necks and giving power call.

17:14Trend three is broached and laced up. This is our final trend in the fashion category. But this one is about accessories, which Louise says, we'll take on a new life this year across two trends. We're going to be seeing brooches, crystal clip-ons, and vintage pins become all the rage, almost an evolution of the bag charm trend that we saw last year. And intricate lace details will be huge too. On Pinterest, Gen Z and millennials are searching for lace nails, belts, trims, et cetera. Do we think we're going to be incorporating this into our wardrobe? Do we already have some of these things in our wardrobes?

17:48I think previously I would have thought brooch and thought of my 81 year old grandmother and my great aunt Faye who I adore and were both very fashionable chic women but then hilariously I saw a brooch on friend of the podcast and my friend Elliot Garneau it's like that is so beautiful on a blazer of his and he was like 20 bucks the visa and I was like he probably could have told me it was$10 ,000 Tiffany and I would have believed him because he paired it so well but I loved this idea of like just having a really beautiful plain black blazer that you put like a great kind of like embellished brooch on and it's kind of like wearing a statement earring which I don't personally love a statement earring on me but I feel that maybe I could get around a brooch on a nice silk blouse or you're gonna love this because when I was in Paris last year I saw all of these like really sharp put together Parisian women in power suits with a tie on and a really chic brooch just sitting on the tie and I It was like chic.

18:47Yes. Like so chic, honey. Chicago. And that could be Chicago. That could be like a vintage number. Like that could be something you thrift. It could be something you've been handed down. But I feel like the brooch is kind of, last year we saw so much hardware. And I think there was a lot of hardware on outfitting. Sometimes it was almost too bold of a statement. But what I like about the brooch is it's kind of leaning into logo mania. And Kaepernick did it really well. They had simple white tanks, simple white tees, and these brooches that were like, if you know, you know. Like that's Capone kind of vibes.

19:18And so I think it's a really cool way to kind of lean into less logos. But like if you know, you know, it's going to be a new trend. Again, a great thing we could thrift as well. Yeah. And also Etsy. Yes. You would be able to pick up brooches all over Etsy or eBay as well as your local thrift stores. Popsies handed me down quite a few clip-on earrings. and I think there's some broochers in there as well. She actually has a spider brooch that I despise. Oh, my God, I'm here for it. But she loves spiders, so she has a spider brooch. It scares the shit out of me every time I say it. But I really love that this trend really ties into current trends at the moment, like the silk or satin skirts or, you know, lace pieces.

20:02I'm really looking forward to seeing this trend play out. As you said before, like these corporate dresses that are using brooches brooches and these other accessories to glamorize their outfits a little bit more or make them feel a little bit more feminine. I do love that use of it. Yeah. And the fact that you can add it to things that you already own. Yeah. Any trend where you feel like you're on trend without having to overly invest, I always really like because it allows you to be playful and experimental with fashion without having to go and spend a fortune or to go and buy something you wouldn't wear.

20:32Yeah. Totally. Okay. Next up, we're going to dive into Pinterest top three beauty trends for 2026, but that will be right after a word from today's sponsor. Summer's in full swing and if you're hosting or heading to a catch-up, this is your friendly reminder to get your drinks sorted early. The experts at Dan Murphy's are across what's trending in beer, wine, spirits and ready-to-drink options so you'll know exactly what to grab. Just download the app to scroll through their picks or ask in store and remember to choose to drink wise. Thank you so much to Dan Murphy's for making this episode of Stylish possible.

21:05trend number one in the beauty category is glitchy glam i thought it would have been glitzy but it's glitchy louise says this trend is the antithesis of the clean girl aesthetic and that it celebrates originality through experimentation and bold attention-grabbing looks think two-tone lips mismatched nails and bold color clashes it's no surprise then that searches for avant-garde makeup are up 270%. Wow. Have you noticed this aesthetic shift personally in the beauty space as you've been observing? I wouldn't say I've noticed it in my age group, but I think in Gen Z, yes. And also I think the age of Zara Larsson at the moment, I'm seeing a lot of her on TikTok, but also we've just had the Lady Gaga tour in Australia as well.

21:54So I think those more loud and bold. Paws up, little monsters. Yeah, that's such a good shout. I definitely haven't seen it. And more of like, that makes so much sense to me now because it's kind of coming up in my algorithm, like a lot of bold looks, a lot of mismatched looks. And it kind of took me back to like King Kylie's era when like, you know, the different lip colours, like the lip liners and maybe like the lip stains. But that was maybe how I would get around it. Also with season three of Euphoria coming out this April, Donnie Davey is the makeup artist who's done Euphoria both season one and season two and she actually has a makeup brand Half Magic.

22:31It's stocked at Mecca. She plays with so much glitter and colour and contrast. And gems. Yes. Yeah. I'm really, I think that we're going to see this accelerate a lot more once Euphoria comes out. If they stick to the similar, I mean, they're not in high school anymore, so maybe they won't have as much fun with the makeup looks, but I can't see them departing from where they've been so experimental and it being such an integral part of that costuming. I also love to see a younger age group experiment with makeup and play with makeup because I think we did that in our late teens, early 20s. Just ask candy, yum yum.

23:07And it's really fun. Yeah. And it's a really good way to learn how you like to do your makeup. So I'm all for it. I agree with you, Jo. It's so nice seeing beauty become expressive again. And it doesn't mean that you have to be the one to go and wear the crazy liner, right? Like if wearing a purple eyeshadow and a red lip feels like too much for you, there's great products out there that you can go and play with colour with. I know Mecca Max have the Zoom shadow sticks and also the tipped liners as well. When I worked at Mecca, so many girls would just do like the cobalt blue, but it would be like a really subtle wing.

23:40Nice. You could wear that and not be like, oh, you're like crazy into colour and like you've got this big bold green eye. It's just like having little fun experimental touches as well. There's some really, really cool brands though. As I mentioned, Donnie Davey is one of them. I actually had the pleasure of hanging out with her when she launched at Mecca in 2024. Cool. But she has such passion for colour and glitter and experimentation with makeup and with people who wear it. Also, Isamaya, another brand that's at Mecca. And then, of course, Pat McGrath, who kind of feels like the queen of colour.