WEEKLY TRENDS REPORT
Friday 20 March 2026
Pictured: Edited from Envato
THIS WEEK’S FORECAST
FOR YOUR INFO
This week’s dates & microtrends
TikTok trends
The ‘What were you like in the 90s?’ trend. Here’s prime Tony Hawk.
The AI slander pages run by teens to mock their teachers.
ICYMI
After defeating the predicted winners (Japan), Venezuela defeat USA in the World Baseball Classic finals.
Sinners and One Battle After Another win big at the Oscars. We loved the live performance of ‘I Lied To You’.
Phrase of the week
“Coding after Coders”. How coding has completely changed after AI. And Silicon Valley is obsessed with watching their bots.
Digi updates
The new emoji in the upcoming iOS is us whenever we read the news in the morning.
Live-service video games are this generations MMOs. Everyone wants a piece of the pie.
Tea of the week
The North American School Scrabble Championship’s drama around certain words like ‘Vlogger’.
What we’re loving
Kit, Firefox’s new mascot. Can every internet browser have a cute mascot?
Poodle crossbreeds are the dog breeds of the moment.
Established trends
Pop music’s bias towards English is fading as music becomes more global. Thanks to Bad Bunny and K-pop (the genre not the movie…).
Pet owners believe that pet grooming is essential to the wellness of their pets.
Insights of the week
How a person’s reality changes after extreme wealth. Can we be the next test subject?
Grandparents are facing a different reality as they face rising cost-of-living costs and additional caregiving responsibilities.
On our radar
The Magic Faraway Tree – 27 March
Daredevil: Born Again S2 – 24 March
Raye: THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE –27 March
Robyn: Sexistential – 27 March
Snail Mail: Ricochet – 27 March
Charlie Puth: Whatever’s Clever! – 27 March
Weekly doses of cute
The Maison Margiela kids’ orchestra, why cats land on their feet and taking public transport to the Oscars.
Rising trends
Interior Design magazines are cool again. Sims + a design magazine = perfectly designed rooms. Estate sales are so hot right now. We want to fill our home with big vases and antique forks.
The future
London, San Francisco and Beijing are among 19 cities that have achieved “remarkable reductions” in air pollution.
Stat of the week
79% of Gen Z TikTok users say they miss the early days of the platform and 41% of Gen Z say they miss fewer ads and brands. We feel the same.
One to watch
It’s 2006 again?!? The trailers for Malcom in the Middle and Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special
Image: @mlbvenezuela
Image: @Hulu
Image: @tonyhawk
TREND TRACKING
How some of the trends we’ve identified have evolved in recent months
Saviours of the cinema
We constantly hear cinema is dying, people asking who will save film theatres and criticisms that young people don’t have the attention span for films. When really, Gen Z are the biggest cinema goers. In 2025, 39% of the audience in North America were Gen Z. PG films are surprisingly benefitting the most from the Gen Z audience as they don’t shun the PG rating compared to their older counterparts. The FOMO of not being a part of the newest film fandom is pushing Gen Z to watch it in the first week of film releases. 2026 is shaping up to be a year of big blockbusters, so don’t be surprised when you’re elbow to elbow with some 20-year-old ranting about their Letterbox reviews and the optimal seat for IMAX.
Incelspeak-maxxing
Louis Theroux’s newest foray into the manosphere has put the bros under a microscope, showcasing how they profit from toxicity and hypocrisy. One thing that escaped containment in the last year? Their incelspeak. The suffix “maxxing” has become mainstream with parents, brands, and even politicians using it. Its origin lies in min-maxing but evolved into meaning maximising appearance for the pursuit of sex. Now it’s the word du jour, being used as a vehicle for behavioural trends. Some examples include china-maxxing, friction-maxxing or fibre-maxxing Maxxing is everywhere…as of this week, we can thank Conan O’Brien for making incelspeak uncool.
Get the local experience
American students are flocking to the University of St Andrews for the perfect Scottish experience. About 20% of the student body is American and beats the University of Oxford for the highest number of US expats. They’re expecting a picturesque ‘Harry Potter’ experience but end up sharing a room with a fellow American and hearing nae Scottish speakers. For them, the ability to fully immerse in the local mundane life creates a once-in-a-lifetime experience. With prestigious US universities facing major funding cuts, overseas universities are being seen as a new number one option.
Image: @dylaneefr
Image: @standrewslive
Image: @alessianicolee
Trend: We all speak internet
Trend: Fandoms on film
Trend: London calling
Weber Forecast
Insight
If the story is the product, the experience is the upsell. Give your audience ways to step into the story through activations or shareable experiences. Or find the moment in the cultural narrative where your brand can play a role.
This week’s long read
METHOD ACTING LIFESTYLE
Fans making fiction real
We don’t know about you, but spiritually we’re living in ‘90s New York. One minute you’re watching Love Story the next you’re at the JFK Jr lookalike contest, pilgriming to C.O. Bigelow apothecary for tortoiseshell headbands and re-organising your entire personality around Carolyn Bessette-core. Minimalism is creeping back into our moodboards, complete with Noguchi lamps, Wassily chairs, Tribeca loft fantasies (heavy on the fantasy) and yes, a Calvin Klein revival – searches for the brand spiked 139% post-premiere. We really said: the show must go on.
Entertainment influencing trends isn’t new. But this? This is method acting for your lifestyle. Stories are spilling into real life. Fans want to live the worlds they love, from fashion to food to walking the streets of their favorite characters. Take how Marty Supreme sent people into full ping pong arcs: searches for “table
tennis championships” and “table tennis games near me” shot up 5,000% in January and ping pong bars from Amsterdam to Copenhagen? Packed. Meanwhile, Heated Rivalry caused spikes in NHL ticket sales and drove a 367% increase in hockey class signups. Everyone wants in on the boy aquarium. And, the industry clocked the shift. Netflix is opening “Netflix House” so you can literally walk into the IP, while Universal Studios is turning franchises into immersive in-world experiences with their Fan Fest Nights.
A show hands you a complete system – aesthetic, values, a way of moving through the world – like identity infrastructure. And nobody’s stepping out of character soon. Which is how we know: this year’s couple’s Halloween costume is already set. Flat cap, bike, newspaper in hand.
Image: @Renatalopezzzzz
Image: @Curbed
Image: @lastinglooks
Image: The Independent
BRANDWATCH
Inspiring creative from around the world
GAP Yeat x Nike
GAP just teamed up with Grammynominated superstar Young Miko to drop a full-blown music-video-meetsfashion-campaign for GapSweats. Leading the way for ‘fashiontainment’, the entire social-led campaign, complete with “meet the dancers” spotlights, turns sweats into a canvas for culture, creativity, and self-expression. So, basically fashion with a soundtrack.
Yeat and Nike are doubling down on their partnership with the ADL Collection. The drop blurs the line between sportswear, fan merch, and full-blown world-building. Arriving alongside his double album, this collaboration makes history as Yeat becomes the first rapper ever to release official album box sets and CDs with Nike - turning the Swoosh into not just a style partner, but a distribution channel for his creative universe
Erewhon x Barbie McDonalds x Crocs BEAMS BOY x Timex
We finally see two of California’s most iconic exports unite! Barbie is celebrating her birthday in peak Los Angeles fashion with a limited-edition Erewhon smoothie that’s pastel, sparkly, and Instagram-ready. The collab sees Erewhon officially welcome Malibu Barbie into its celebrity smoothie universe, joining the likes of Hailey Bieber and Olivia Rodrigo. It’s visual storytelling heaven that writes the headlines itself.
The end of the mini keychain trend is nowhere in sight. McDonald’s and Crocs are back with another ultra-collectible crossover with its All American Games x Crocs Happy Meal. Fans can collect six mini-Crocs keychains, each packed with Jibbitz-style sticker charms bringing play and nostalgia to life. It’s basically the sneakerhead-approved evolution of the Happy Meal toy.
BEAMS BOY and Timex are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the iconic Camper watch by shrinking it down into 2026’s most divisive watch trend – a fully functional ring watch Inspired by ’90s mini timepieces and vintage jewellery-style watches from the 1920s, this collaboration taps into the mini accessories trend turning a classic military design into something that’s equal parts nostalgic and collectible. Might need some mini glasses to read the mini face though…
Image: GAP
Image: @barbie
Image: @mcdonalds Image: @timex_tokyo Image: yeatofficial
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Pictured: Envato