Will Comfort And Safety Give Way To Risk And Innovation?

2020 fueled a desire for the safe, comfortable and familiar. Puppies, baked goods, Christmas decorations. As we emerge from the pandemic, will we witness a desire for innovation, refreshing and new? The end of the Spanish Flu and the 1920s brought massive change.

2020 was a year that is almost certain to fuel a repetition of some trends that emerged after the Spanish Flu. The desire for anything that felt safe, comfortable, and familiar surged in 2020. But as we emerge from this pandemic, we may see a desire for innovation and the excitement of the NEW......the desire to shed the past, celebrate and possibly become a little bit more uncomfortable and take risks (of course, only once it is safe to do so).

In 2020 purchases of puppies, pumpkins, and Christmas trees surged. Other items that were familiar and added comfort were equally popular. However, a good fashion designer always thinks about the future, observing what people are wearing currently to know what to design for the next season. Now that the consumer has stocked up on all those familiar, more traditional comfort-fueling items, might they be ready for something refreshing and new that allows them to forget this past year?

Massive changes happened in the 1920's: the surge in popularity of Jazz, new dancing styles, new technologies such as washing machines and cars going mainstream, enormous infrastructure construction, etc. These lifestyle shifts also fueled people to move. Now we are too about to embark on an era of accelerated expansion of our infrastructure: this time it will probably be more focused on technology and digital connectivity. Expect spectacular innovation in culture, technology, and healthcare. How will our homes and lifestyle adapt to these innovations? How will we incorporate them into our daily lives? Will societies become more materialistic as they did in the 1920's? Will women continue to soar the way they did in the 1920's? I see lots of this happening already....

While most of us navigated 2020 with varying degrees of success by adapting and adjusting to new realities, ALL of us were restrained to a degree. 2021 is certain to unleash the sleeping giant within and make this decade possibly the most extraordinary one ever. Never forget that things always change - faster now than ever - and we will need to adapt to a post-covid world, one where anything and everything is possible.