What 2025 Really Taught Us and Why 2026 Will be a Defining Year for Design
Every December, I sit with a mix of gratitude, exhaustion, and a quiet sense of disbelief at how fast things shifted again.
2025 wasn’t a loud year, but it was a decisive one. A year where the emotional tone beneath design changed, not in a dramatic, headline-making way, but in a way you could feel if you listened closely.
This is my wrap-up of what truly mattered in 2025 and what will shape the way we design, buy, specify, and imagine spaces through 2026 and beyond.
1. Nostalgia didn’t trend, it anchored
We’ve watched nostalgic influences brew for a while, but 2025 is the year they rooted themselves as a cultural stabiliser.
Not nostalgia as “retro styling,” but nostalgia as emotional continuity.
It showed up in three very different ways:
- Romantic florals returning with softness rather than sweetness
- Mid-century maturing past the obvious silhouettes
- Streamline Moderne surfacing, not as a revival, but as a reminder of optimism through design clarity
Nostalgia worked this year because the world still feels fast and a little unpredictable. People wanted to feel something familiar, not stuck in the past, but supported by it.
In 2026, this is going to deepen. Expect more references to heritage, craft lineage, and the quiet beauty of things with history.
2. Curated individuality became the new currency
This was one of the most apparent psychological shifts of the year.
Consumers, especially younger generations, moved away from “eclectic for fun” and toward something more intentional and curated. Older generations joined them, not to follow youth, but because individuality now feels like stability rather than rebellion.
It’s a move away from “having everything” toward assembling meaning.
Stylistic Integration became a primary design signal:
- Thoughtful pieces mixed with precision
- Stronger contrasts, but edited
- Homes that look lived, not staged
This is not maximalism.
It’s not eclecticism as we knew it.
It’s authorship.
And it will shape 2026 across both interiors and product development.
3. Colour energy shifted, vibrancy resurfaced with purpose
After years of muted palettes, soothing tones, oat milk everything, colour stepped forward again in 2025.
Not loud for the sake of loudness.
Not Dopamine Décor 2.0.
But a conscious return to:
- confident blues
- saturated reds
- deep greens
- citrus moments
- tonal contrasts that add clarity, not chaos
Underneath this was a psychological appetite for agency.
People wanted to feel awake again.
For 2026, we’ll see continued vibrancy sitting on top of a more stabilised neutral base.
A refined approach: stronger colour, more innovative application.
4. Strong Attitudes returned, and they brought structure back to the conversation
2025 marked the return of angular forms and architectural profiles.
Where recent years softened, this year sharpened.
Cubism returned.
Not a trend, a behaviour.
Strong Attitudes rose as consumers sought clarity, organisation, and visual confidence. Curves aren’t disappearing, but they’re no longer the hero. The conversation has become more balanced, and that balance will power the “Disciplined” and “Ambitious” quadrants of 2026.
5. Texture split into two extremes
We saw something unusual this year: an evident textural polarisation.
On one end:
- ultra-soft, quiet tactility
- fabrics that feel like rest
- matte finishes
- deeply natural grains
On the other end:
- high-contrast materials
- crisp metals
- architectural reliefs
- and the continued rise of silvered reflectivity
Texture became more emotional than decorative.
A way to create stability or stimulation, with very little in between.
Expect this to widen in 2026.
6. Silver made a quiet comeback
One of the most understated yet significant shifts this year:
Silver and chrome returned with maturity.
Not the Y2K revival.
Not nightclub chrome.
A more polished, architectural expression that aligns with the rise of strong form and the renewed energy of Ambitious design behaviour.
Chrome and silver will be important through 2026 because they give interiors a sense of lightness and clarity without tipping into opulence.
7. The emotional drivers behind design became more important than “trends”
This is the year I truly felt the industry shift from:
“What’s trending?”
to
“What emotion does this design serve?”
Our work with Aspirations, Style Filters, Attitude/Energy, and Commercial Positioning resonated because the industry finally needed a way to measure and articulate what people were feeling, not just what they were buying.
2025 proved:
- Grounded continues to grow in depth
- Nostalgia is escalating
- Playful is re-emerging with humanity, not novelty
- Ordered is still the backbone of commercial design
- Opulent has repositioned itself into subtlety
- Escape is evolving away from “coastal clichés” and into more global interpretations
2026 will be the year when emotional design strategy becomes non-negotiable.
8. “Ambitious” emerged as the defining Approach to Life quadrant
If I had to choose one emotional temperament that summarises 2025 and signals 2026, it is this:
Ambitious: Vibrant Energy × Strong Attitude
People wanted clarity, capability, direction, and design followed.
You can see it in:
- sharper forms
- confident palettes
- architectural lighting
- the return of structure
- purposeful contrasts
Ambitious design speaks to a world that wants to feel more in control and more future-focused.
9. Commercial timing mattered more than ever
2025 was a year of careful investment for many businesses.
Commercial Positioning became a strategic tool rather than a theoretical one.
We saw:
- brands shifting from “chasing trends” to measuring viability
- retailers leaning into Evolving and Enduring territories
- designers craving clarity about where a look sits on the trajectory
- Manufacturers want confidence before moving into new categories
2026 will reward those who can balance creativity with timing.
The winners will be the ones who understand when to enter a movement, not just what that movement is.
10. The industry finally embraced serious, intentional AI
AI stopped being a novelty.
It became a design ally.
2025 was the year we saw:
- AI imagery evolves into serious editorial quality
- Teams using AI to explore aesthetics faster
- Manufacturers using AI as a development accelerator
- clients wanting a hybrid of AI + human intelligence
- And the industry is finally recognising that AI is not replacing creativity — it’s expanding it
Our own shift into more advanced AI-driven forecasting and design systems wasn’t a reaction to the market.
It was a reflection of the market maturing.
2026 will be the year when AI becomes embedded in the way we imagine, not just the way we render.
Closing Thought
2025 wasn’t defined by extremes.
It was defined by emotional recalibration.
People wanted:
- more meaning
- more authorship
- more clarity
- more confidence
- more connection
- and more calm
And the design world responded.
As we step into 2026, the opportunities are immense, not because the world feels settled (it doesn’t), but because people are clearer about how they want to live, feel, and express themselves.
Our job, as designers, forecasters, makers, and storytellers, is to honour that clarity with intelligence, empathy, and imagination.
Here’s to a grounded, ambitious, and beautifully human 2026.
Michael
CEO & Founder
MC&Co Trend
