‘Normcore,’ the hipster trend du jour spotted by NY Mag’s The Cut blog, is all about ironically wearing mom jeans, baggy fleece pullovers and training shoes. You know, basically dressing the way carpool parents have dressed since time immemorial.
The trend forecasting company K-Hole, (arguably the source of the term, according to The Cut) wrote in a recent publication of its Youthmode trend report: “In Normcore, one does not pretend to be above the indignity of belonging. Normcore moves away from a coolness that relies on difference to a post-authenticity coolness that opts in to sameness.”
So is Normcore post-cool? Is it so uncool that’s it’s cool? Are we uncool for asking these questions? Many wags reliably took to Twitter to joke about the phenomenon — including a couple of major brands and even teen fashionista Tavi Gevinson. A few highlights:
“Normcore” is now a thing; everybody just go naked
— Tavi Gevinson (@tavitulle) February 27, 2014
my favorite part of normcore are these 455$ jorts https://t.co/ka5RonVZ7R pic.twitter.com/02qEUwF4Gj
— nathanjurgenson (@nathanjurgenson) February 26, 2014
IS KHOL’S RISING STOCK PRICE THE RESULT OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF #NORMCORE?
— bassdrop crinklesnit (@dan2600) February 28, 2014
It didn’t take long for brands to latch onto the buzz for some real-time marketing. For some, like The Gap, it was a perfect opportunity to play along:
Red Vines went so far as to stage a photo of a ‘normcore’ looking dude (is that what an employee of Red Vines looks like?) along with a promoted tweet:
Eddie Bauer even replied to a Digiday editor to say that they were otherwise engaged sponsoring a Mt. Everest assent:
Dockers out-Normcored everyone with this tweet about trending topics:
Though, not every brand was on the lookout. A retweet by The Cut from photographer Amy Lombard clearly mentions and showcases MuscleMilk, though the brand, which hasn’t tweeted in four days, has yet to respond:
Elsewhere on the Internet, budding entrepreneurs are also looking to develop their own brands to capitalize on the trend:
More in Marketing
As influencer marketing grows, so do micro-influencer rates: ‘there have been 10-20% fee jumps year-over-year’
As influencer marketing continues to grow up and take in more marketing dollars, smaller influencers are asking for a bigger piece of the pie.
Medical apparel brand Figs finds a new Olympics ad opportunity in heart-rate monitors for athletes’ parents
The medical apparel brand will be first sponsor of live a heart-rate feature at Paris Games.
Why gaming venture capital funding is down in Q2 2024
After a resurgent first quarter of 2024 that saw VC firms pump $601 million into gaming, venture capital funding of gaming start-ups has come back to the ground in the second quarter, decreasing to $492 million