• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, December 10, 2024

While there is often no explaining why a visual trend catches fire, data crunching has turned Pinterest into a prediction machine for how hot those trends will get. Using search patterns from half a billion monthly users, the social media platform has been cranking out annual trend reports for more than a decade with eerie accuracy.

This year, Pinterest is again offering products and experiences linked to the trends, teaming up with major brands. For example, one trend is “Peak Travel,” based on a shift away from exploring cities to remote mountain locations. So, Pinterest and Marriott Bonvoy are giving away a free trip on a high mountain excursion and introducing a “Peak Travel Concierge.”

Another trend is coordinated outfits between best friends, dressing like twins. So, with Wayfair, Pinterest is debuting a Seeing Double, a capsule collection designed by Hillary Taymour to match her favorite furniture pieces. Consumers can buy the outfit and the furniture it twins and enter a sweepstakes for a $1,000 Wayfair gift card.

“The trends show that 2025 will be about making a statement - with more people leaning toward bold forms of expression and maximalism through their style choices,” Pinterest says in the report, with pickle fixes, cherry reds and chaotic cakes storming into social news feeds.

Other notable trends:

Fisherman Aesthetic: Searches are soaring for sardine tattoos as people look for the seafaring swagger that comes with cable-knit sweaters and striped tops. Also swimming toward you: Pufferfish purses, tackle boxes as jewelry boxes, and pirate treasure chests for storage.

Sea witchery is also surging, especially among Gen Z and Millennials, with “sultry siren makeup, wet wavy hair and moody mermaid manicures.” 

And while “Game of Thrones” has probably guaranteed that the next medieval moment is always around the corner, Castlecore is trending in a big way, from antique ruby rings, chainmail accessories, damsel-style dresses and even in architecture, with searches climbing for “castle house plans.” 

In home design, Terra Futura has taken hold as boomer and Gen X pinners have established themselves as rebels with a cause. The hunt for more recycled items and sustainable living shows in searches like “solar punk house,” “solar punk fashion,” and “chaos gardening.” To highlight the trend, Pinterest is offering one-of-a-kind “ferniture,” upcycled pieces filled with plants.

Primary colors are showing up in funky furniture murals, contrast trim, cupboards and cabinetry.

The report also discerns shifts in social events, too, indicating that this year, you’ll likely be invited to an aura reading, served a Rebel Float (based on a “Cream soda aesthetic” or customized carbonated beverages), and “Chaos cakes,” which are fast replacing cutesy confections. Searches for rat cakes, for example, are skyrocketing.

If vermin-inspired baked goods don’t make you hungry, maybe pickles will. Gen X and millennials are prowling for ways to make pickle fries, pickle dip, pickle margaritas, and pickle de gallo.

Some trends herald bigger changes, like nesting parties easing out baby showers. Inspired more by genuine empathy for overwhelmed new parents, these events “help new parents set up their homes for baby’s arrival with freezer-friendly meals, diaper bouquets and baby cabinet organization.”