All that pink. All those plants. All that white. It’s so clean!
Everything’s fun, but not too much fun. And there, inthe
round mirror above the couch: It’s you. You know whereyou
are. Or do you?
Search your brain. Swap out the monstera leaf for waxyred
anthurium, work hard & be nice to people for good vibes
only. Maybe the pillows were succulent-print; maybethe
ceramics had boobs. it was all a dream, says a neon signin
schoolgirl cursive. You hadn’t noticed that before.
Maybe it is a dream, this room you do and don’t know,
assembled from cliché and half-recollected spare parts; a fever
dream—or, no, that’s too much. This room functions morelike
a CBDseltzer,somethingyoumightbuyina salmon-pinkcan.
There’s nota lotofdistinctivetaste,butstill,it’s hardtoresist
whenyou’reona permanentsearchforwaystofeelbetter.The
ambienceis palliative—simplebutnotsevere.Eventhepalette
faintlysuggestsa medicinecabinet: powdery pharmaceutical
pastels,orangepillbottles,Band-Aidpink.
Nowimaginethat thewhiteroomisn’t a dream;it’s behinda
velvetropeintheAmericanWingat theMetropolitanMuseum
ofArt.Perhapsit’s a home,ora store,ormaybethetwocases
blur—astoredesignedtolooklike a home,a homeinwhichone
mightshop.Aninteriorfilledwithrecognizableproducts.
“Peggy”sofa(ca.2015):A mid-priceofferingfromthechain
retailerWestElm,themodel’s nameevokedtheheroineofpop-
ulartelevisiondramaMadMen,widelyadmiredforitsre-
creationofthepreviouscentury’s design.(Discontinued 201 7,
followinga viralessaytitled“WhyDoesThisOneCouchFrom
WestElmSuckSoMuch?”)
Thefuturemuseumgoerwouldnaturallyrequiresomesort
ofdigitalexperience—somescreen—tofillintheview fromthat
couch.Soinlieuofanaudiotour,mountednearbythere’s a
replicarose-goldiPhone7. Swipefora selectionofotherclean,
white,curvilinearinteriors.There’sa placetodolaundry that
lookslikea spa,a placetogettherapythat lookslike TheWing,
a boutiquenewsstandthat sellsscentedcandlesandhasanapp.
A dentalcliniccalledTendprovides“curated,seasonaltooth-
paste”inwhat’sbilledas“TheBrushery”:a “swishy, swirlyroom
justforfresheningup”(ithasmarbleizedturquoiseconcrete
sinks).Andthenthereareadvertisements,makingupa visual
worldoftheirown.Theproductsonview—cookware,supple-
ments, stretchyclothes—occupy blankpastellandscapes
manipulatedbya diversity ofhands.Thesearen’t adsthat bel-
loworhector;they whisper, inrestrainedsans-seriffonts,or
chastelyflirt,inletterswithcurvesandbounce.They’reads,
sure,butthey’resowelldesigned.
Inthisera, youcometounderstand,designwastheproduct.
Whateverelseyoumightbebuying,youwerebuyingdesign,
andallthedesignlookedthesame.
EVERSINCEMODERNISMbroughtindustryintodesign,tastes
havecycledbetweenembracingandrejectingwhat it wrought.A
forward-looking,high-techstyleobsessedwithmasscommercial
appealwillgivewaytoonethat’sbackward-looking,handmade,
authenticity-obsessed—whichwillthengiveway tosomenew
variationontech-forwardmassstyle.(Furnituredealersjoke that
“brown”goesinandoutwitheverygeneration.)It’sa logicthat
ge tsfilteredthroughthereliabled r theworldtheway it
lookedwhenwewereyoung,and is hasmeantlooking
back 30 orsoyearstotheMemph ectedpastelpopofthe
’80sand’90s.Wemightcallthelatestiterationofthecyclethe
“millennialaesthetic”—nottosay that it wasembracedbyallmil-
lennials,justthat it cametoprominencealongsidethemandwill
onedaybea recognizableartifactoftheirera.
Considera previousyouth-styleshorthand:thehipster,pre-
eminentcultural punchlineoftheaughts.Bothhipsterandmil-
lennialweretermsthat driftedawayfromstrictdefinitions
(hipstersbeingsubcultural,millennialsbeinggenerational)to
becomeplaceholdersfor“whateverfussyyoungpeopleseemto
like.” It isstrange,now, toremembera timewhenchunky-
framedglasseswereunderstoodasa hipsteraffectation;today
theyjust looklike WarbyParker.Thehipsteraestheticharked
backtoa grimypast: Itsspaceswerewood-paneled,nostalgic;
perhapstheycontainedtaxidermy. Behindlumberjackbeards
and’70srec-roommustaches,therewasa desireforsomething
preindustrialorat least pre-internet.
ThehipsterwasVice; themillennialis virtue,orat least virtuous
consumption.Thehipsteraestheticwascapableof renderingeven
plaincottonT-shirtsa littlegrossunderthegazeof DovCharney—
thegrossnesswas,indeed,partoftheappeal.Themillennialaes-
thetic,meanwhile,couldtake somethingdisgustingandattempt—
throughsheerforceofbranding—tomake it cuteandfun.One
suchproduct,called“Come&Gone”(sans-seriflogo, pastelwebsite,
friendlygifs),attractednoticeonTwitterlast year. Essentiallya
spongeona stick,it wasmarketedasan“after-sexcleanup”device
bya start-up“ona missiontobanthedripping,forever.”
Sometimesthehipsterflirtedwithracismandmisogyny,
couchedasironyorprovocation—acertainperformanceofexclu-
sivity(evenjust daringyouraudiencenottogetthejoke orknow
theband)wascentraltothehipsteraesthetic’sappeal.Butthe
millennialaestheticaimsitsappealat everyone.Propagatedby
brandsandadvertisements,it isa fundamentallycommercial
aesthetic—andwhy alienateany potentialcustomer?Millennial
marketingshowcasesmodelsofmany racesandbodytypes,and
theproductsonofferareobviousintheircharms.Everysofaand
soft-cupbra presentsitselfnotasevidenceofdistinctivetastebut Soft ColorsMotivational
Ad CopyPhotogenic
Domesticity54 THE CUT | MARCH 2–15, 2020
PHOTOGRAPHS: COURTESY OF EQUAL PARTS (COOKWARE); COURTESY OF EAT CANDID (FOOD); COURTESY OF SUPER RURAL (POSTER); COURTESY OF MARTA MORZY (PARADISO IBIZA HOTEL); COURTESY OF BLOOMSCAPE (PLANTS)