USP LOVES ISSUES 34: SPOOKY SEASON & SUBCULTURE

With Allhallows Eve just around the corner, spooky season is well underway. However, this year, it seems like creepy narratives and weird aesthetics are here to stay. A goth is for life – not just for Halloween.

At USP we have been monitoring this move towards the darker side of life for a while. Our Need to Know: Monster Mayhemreport, published last month, explores how horror is undergoing a resurgence, while upcoming remakes of classic films, such as Frankenstein and Dracula, are reimagining iconic monsters for a new generation.

In their, The Age of Re-Enchantment trend report released last year, VML unpacked how brands can help people transcend tough times by creating emotional, even fear-inducing, experiences.

According to their study, 79% of consumers enjoy entertainment experiences that are frightening or eerie, 73% agree an element of risk or fear makes them feel more alive, and 86% like to feel a few goosebumps every now and then.

We have been talking a lot about how the dominance of algorithms and the increasingly fast trend cycle is taking the sense of originality out of style. We are also starting to become bored with Molly Mae style ‘beigefluencers’ and the understated minimalism of quiet luxury.

Our new Next Big Thing: Whimsigoth Interiors report explores how rich, magical maximalism is mixing with a sense of nostalgia to create sumptuous, eclectic homes. Anyone who grew up during the ‘90s and ‘00s watching Charmed and Sabrina the Teenage Witch, as well as being obsessed with the Practical Magic house, will know exactly what we are talking about.

Of course, a darker aesthetic is not just emerging in interiors. Back in June, we published a Next Big Thing: Soft Goth report, looking at how goth and grunge style is evolving for a new generation.

This is something we have since seen all over the recent S/S 25 catwalks, as well as the streets outside the shows. 31% of total looks on the runway were black this season (data via Future Think Now) and London brand Chopova Lowena even staged their show within a gothic dollhouse.

Photographer Yu Fujiwara documented Paris street style for Dazed, seeing the darker side of the city through people wearing “clompy, Frankensteinian boots, avant-garde devil horn dresses and ….?old-timey, cultish details befitting the 2020s’ religious horror renaissance.”

Celebrities are also adopting this look on the red carpet. Jenna Ortega cemented her role as Gen Z goth darling with her looks as she promoted the Beetlejuice film, while British Vogue hailed last month’s VMA’s as the signal that goth-girl autumn had arrived.

Of course, being a goth is about more than wearing black.

Tish Weinstock, contributing beauty editor at British Vogue is reimagining goth fashion for 2024 (take a look at her iconic goth-inspired wedding!) She has released a new book, How to Be a Goth: Notes on Undead Style – a how-to guide on goth fashion, beauty and culture. However, it also traces the history of the goth aesthetic via the women who did it the best, “women who have sought comfort in the darkness; women who have all lived on their own terms and who outwardly expressed their feelings of otherness through their fashion and beauty.?“

Before TikTok cores and fleeting aesthetics, style tribes were united beyond just fashion. They connected to feel a part of a community built around a shared system of values and in response to the economic, political and cultural climate.

Photographer Xanthe Hutchinson and stylist Helen McGuckin have released a photo series that documents the current state of British goth subculture, painting a diverse picture of goth and alt communities today and what inspires them. “It’s an act of rebellion, a show of discontent.”

A recent article on GQ by writer Noah Johnson asked; “What ever happened to fashion subcultures?” He says; “Without subcultures fashion suffers. I’m itching to see the next Underground take shape… to find surprising new ways to combine pure creative expression with commerce.”

Harking back to last month’s USP Loves where Jane talked about fashion-tainment, Louis Persent, Co-Founder and Creative Director at Weirdo says; “Subculture is the most powerful tool we have in a world where everything is entertainment. We get really excited about shifting the conversation away from culture in a broad sense to subculture and the power of the niche versus the mainstream.”

Let’s hope subculture makes a big comeback soon, along with unique and individual style. In the meantime…. put on something black and embrace your inner goth!

Laura x

Senior Colour & Trend Editor