A Vibe Shift is coming

A contribution by DMI trend analyst Carl Tillessen
about the turning point of a completely new attitude to life

23. January 2023

Often, fashion trends are merely new variations on already familiar themes over many seasons. But then at some point there is suddenly a fundamental break, a completely new attitude to life, a completely different basic mood, a “vibe shift”. We are now at such a turning point.

The measures necessary to contain Covid 19 have been so all-encompassing that they have actually robbed us of all joy in life in the meantime. Many of us are left with the feeling that we have lost two years of our lives. This is felt particularly intensely by young people who were irretrievably robbed of part of their precious youth by the pandemic.

Greta Thunberg speaks for her entire generation when she says in retrospect: “We have become more aware that life is short.” The realisation that our time on earth is running out far too quickly is anything but new, but it is particularly topical for us now.

Fashion psychology professor Carolyn Mair also observed during the pandemic how consumers “realise that life is precious, whereas before they might have taken things for granted. They are seizing the moment.”

Carl Tillessen

As the 20s take shape, it becomes clear that the Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability, which has dominated the Zeitgeist for the past two decades, has reached its end. Because the L.O.H.A.S. is the opposite of the moment. It is the eternal later. If we chastise ourselves now – so he promises – we will have a healthy body and a healthy environment later. This is and remains true, but through the collective pandemic experience, the fear that we will neglect to enjoy today because of all the thinking about tomorrow has become overwhelming. We crave self-indulgence, need outlets, want to break out, go overboard, want to live as if there is no tomorrow …