Long live the cute

The ‘feel good’ factor has been the driving force on the internet since the Millennials in their 2000s uploaded art in the shape of  kittens or sparkly gifs to customize their blogs. Cute and customisation are mutually exclusive when defining the look of the content on the web.

While we are dealing with the social media fatigue wherein instagram keeps updating the app and creators are tired of putting up a story asking one another ‘WHY ARE MY LIKES DROPPING? Or WHY ARE YOU NOT COMMENTING ANYMORE?’ it just makes you wonder why we are at the mercy of algorithms when we can go back to the time where social media was just a platform we were exploring and hyper-cute + DIYness was our love language. Where likes and comments were to throw a kiss on a job well done. GENUINELY.

Over the generations, cute slowly also became a coping mechanism wherein it has helped smoothen rigid social hierarchy where the younger generation was facing immense pressure to fulfill the set expectations which led cute to be the less complicated world trap. ‘Kidult’ was one of the trends we saw emerge from it highlighting a range of complex emotions. For example, the escapism into 2D art.

Now, why exactly is cute coming out of its snooze? It is considered as a chance to break through the fatigue and create a space online that is not going to control the grid anymore allowing you to create your own sparkly bubble just the way MYSPACE did. Narratives around ‘delulu’ are now a big movement and girls don’t care about being made fun of anymore and are singing the tunes of Taylor Swift louder than ever making it the ultimate symbol of ‘Girlhood’.

A couple of months back we celebrated ‘Hello Kitty’s’ 50th anniversary - THE ULTIMATE CUTE ICON and the latest memo has the term ‘Coquette’ surfacing the internet describing the character going into an overdraft for the Dior lip glow, ordering pink mechanical keyboard, sending Kaomoji to their latest crushes playing ‘Lana Del Rey Vinyl’.

Now that the girlhood part has been more than covered, shall we focus on the cute boy era? The dreamy high school sweetheart in every romcom during the early 2000s that every millennial had a crush on and did not shy away from putting up their images as their wallpaper. This boy thrived on the set image and always stood out with his style quotient. Although, in the new era, only style will not make the cut. The cute boy now comes with an equally olfactory smell. Encapsulating a blend of optimism and the anticipation of change, Market x Axe came up with a collaboration amidst the ‘cute content’ era where character driven hoodies are our soulscape. Something for the lasting impression. Now, how much longer are you going to stop yourself from getting your hands on that blue lavender smell that makes you want to relive your teen crush. Maybe we will look at fragrances as the new swipe.

No Judgements here. Ever!