đŁ TREND RADAR #13 :: HUMAN DRIVERS
Cassette Cafes & Spiritual Raves
Hi all, a few quick notes before diving into the first Trend Radar report of 2026 (!)
I have a lot of ideas for this newsletter, and Iâd love your feedback to guide what I prioritize. Are you interested in category-specific trend reporting, or perhaps some âoffice hoursâ-style sessions? Would you be willing to take a super quick survey (4-6 multiple-choice questions) to let me know? Iâd really appreciate it!
On that note, Iâm going to test out âoffice hoursâ this week. On Thursday Feb 12, from 12-1pm ET, Iâll open up a chat on the Substack app for anyone who would like to discuss the themes from this post, or any other trend-related topics.
At the end of January, annual paid subscribers received the final version of the 2026 Macrotrend Report, which unlocks 13 Macrotrend Summaries, and 6 Category Snapshots that cover industries from food & beverage to fashion & design. Itâs a reference resource for the entire year: a starting point to stimulate creative ideation, and a framework to stress-test strategic decision-making.
If youâre interested in accessing, just upgrade your subscription. (And expense it! Hereâs a template)1 Also, a reminder that you can contact me if youâre interested in organizing a presentation of the report for your team.
This Trend Radar will recap some of the relevant signals tracked in the database over the past ~6 weeks. Weâll begin with the Human drivers space of the framework, which includes three macrotrends: Analog Soul, Spiritual Healing, and Hyper Pleasure.
Analog Soul
39 signals added to the database since 1/1/2026 are tagged for âAnalog SoulâIt feels obligatory to mention the obvious here: an explosion of âanalogâ and âofflineâ content on Tiktok (ironic!), along with The Cutâs viral âfrictionmaxxingâ article. Early subscribers already know that Iâve been tracking Analog Soul for several years, highlighted Offline Escape in January 2025, and flagged fetishizing friction last summer. The 2026 Macrotrend Report explains how this macrotrend will continue to evolve moving forward, giving rise to the key themes of Aspirational Humanity and Sensorial Potency.
A newer aspect of the âofflineâ trend is how it intersects with Aspirational Humanity. In parallel to the emerging hierarchy of humanness, we see a hierarchy of offline-ness: itâs desirable to be offline, but most people donât have the privilege to unplug. For SSENSE, kate lindsay covered âHow Brick Became a Status Symbol for the Aspirationally Offline.â I think itâs interesting to consider how unplugging has become an indulgence. Thatâs sort of how it felt when I Bricked my phone for two weeks last October. Like, I might treat myself to a massage, or a weekend without social apps.
Recent editorials by Szilveszter MakĂł â of Rama Duwanji and Elle Fanning â embody the Analog Soul ethos. The hand-crafted artistic quality is reminiscent of what Mandy Lee @oldloserinbrooklyn dubs the âhipness purgatoryâ aesthetic of the late 2000s.
Itâs notable that MakĂłâs work conveys craft; itâs not just a âraw aestheticâ that includes âimperfection.â Rachel Karten has explained why chasing superficial authenticity in imagemaking is a misguided strategy when AI can imitate these qualities with increasing effectiveness (aka humanwashing). And Elizabeth Goodspeed further explored the design-related implications of tihs tension in an article for Itâs Nice That:
When analogue collapses into surface style, it stops applying pressure to how work is made and valued. But it doesnât have to be that way.
A Vogue article explored âNeedlepointâs Modern-Day Renaissance,â with the hobbyâs popularity driven by Tiktok.
Dior released their new book cover totes, and Cultured reported that out-of-print books are âthe hottest new thing in lit.â The romanticization of intellectualism continues, with Tiktokâs âdisgustingly educatedâ trend, the boom in bookstreaming, and âliterary it girls.â LSN Global published an trend piece on this topic, concluding:
The next phase of the trend will be defined by brands that can move audiences from displaying intelligence to sustaining it. This will create conditions where people are not just seen to be thinking, but are actually thinking deeply and collectively.
Dazed covered the rising interest in letter-writing and âjunk-journaling,â and a local news piece from Chicago documented the âexplosive growthâ seen by the cityâs stationary shops. In Buenos Aires, a cafe called Posdata incorporates a working post office, encouraging patrons to write and send letters and postcards.
CASSE is a cafe in Tokyo that offers portable cassette players at each seat and a library of tapes to choose from, while a new DIY project coverts Spotify streams into cassette tapes.
Volkswagen announced that theyâre bringing physical buttons back to the dashboard, joining other makers like Hyundai, Porsche, and Mercedez-Benz in a wider move away from touchscreens in cars.
Hyper Pleasure
25 signals added to the database since 1/1/2026 are tagged for âHyper PleasureâAn Ark is a new mixed-reality theater experience that âbridges physical presence with digital augmentation.â
Sexual wellness brand Maude unveiled a Wuthering Heights collaboration. Inspired by the film, the âcome undone kitâ is a âlimited-edition intimacy ritualâ that âbrings together scent, touch, and storytelling.â
Joe & the Juice partnered with Alice mushrooms to create an âintimacy-enhancing smoothieâ
Sleep or Die positions sleep as pleasure by borrowing semiotic codes from hedonistic party culture â the recently launched âsleep stripsâ look like tabs of LSD and are packaged in a cigarette box.
Aesop launched a bathhouse concept with Montrealâs Recess Thermal Station.
Snif launched their âSecret Menuâ scent collection at Ulta, with âweirdâ experimental offerings inspired by food and drink like pizza and cola. Arabelle Sicardi examined the popularity and evolution of gourmand fragrances for Harperâs Bazaar. She links this trend to the rise of GLP-1 use and explains:
Foodified fragrance thrives in moments of instability. As economic, political, and ecological anxieties intensify, scent becomes a low-risk indulgenceâpleasure without consequence, consumption without calories.
Spiritual Healing
13 signals added to the database since 1/1/2026 are tagged for âSpiritual HealingâMaybe you noticed that Muihood, a brand rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine, was highlighted as a key signal in the Beauty & Wellness category snapshot of the 2026 Macrotrend Report. Recently, Emily Sundberg wrote about the âsudden wave of cultural interest in TCMâ and noted its rise as a pushback against over-optimization, which aligns with the Key Theme: Sensorial Potency. While the current virality is partially fueled by Tiktok , Sundbergâs interviews with practitioners and shop owners proves that people are actively engaging with TCM modalities beyond just posting about it.2
Relatedly, an article by Amy Francombe for Vogue Business more broadly explored the surging interest in traditional healing systems and rhythmic health, while Dazed covered the mainstreaming of âregulating your nervous system.â
Eha is a new wellness destination set to open this year in Estonia. Structured around seasonality, the concept uses âthe islandâs natural rhythms as a framework for emotional and physical recalibration,â drawing on local healing traditions âfrom birch sauna ceremonies and peat body wraps sourced from local wetlands to wild herb foraging and dawn mist walks.â
In Taiwan, spiritual temple raves âare envisioned more as an offering to the folkloric spirits these shrines celebrate than an opportunity âget fucked upââ
Netflix launched a tarot-themed campaign, including both experiential and digital activations to promote its upcoming its upcoming slate of releases for 2026.
That Netflix campaign is cute and kitschy, but the popularity of tarot, astrology, Etsy witches, etc., while niche, remains a real business opportunity space. Esther MK argues that, because this market is primarily dominated by women, interesting concepts are chronically âunderfunded, under-legitimised, and written off as unserious.â I love her proposal for a magic marketplace:
Imagine a trusted marketplace somewhere between Deliveroo and Doctolib: vetted practitioners, transparent pricing, ratings, and availability. Not stripping the magic, just professionalising access. Less crystal ball, more infrastructure.
If youâve ever tried to find and book an astrologer, this makes complete sense.
Access previous trend radar reports, organized by drivers space, at the links below:
If you are a student, unemployed, or freelance worker, you can always reach out to me directly for sliding scale pricing.
Also important to note thereâs been criticism of how these ancient practices are being superficially commodified by white wellness creators, including a thoughtful essay by Coveteur EIC Faith Xue.








ahh thank you for sharing!!
And on this subject, I also recommend the last newsletter of @laurentfrancois (Hope you speak french đ)