Sound baths, fisherman fashion and the trends you’ll be adopting in 2025

I don’t make the rules, but if you didn’t spend 2024 contorting your body on a medieval-looking apparatus in a reformer pilates class, then you were embarrassingly out-of-touch. Well, that’s an exaggeration. What I mean is that 2024 was the year that everyone and their nan’s friend’s cousin became wellness-obsessed. The past 12 months have seen us latch onto a range of luxury wellness trends – once exclusive to the rich and famous – that have seeped down into the lives of us mere mortals.

We’ve witnessed reformer pilates studios appear in every city, teens (worryingly) using anti-ageing skincare products, adults becoming self-anointed pharmacists as part of the magnesium craze, and some of us falling for the “healthy” yoghurts supposedly packed with protein. And let’s not forget the people wearing those creepy LED face lamps that apparently de-age you but really just make you look like Lord Voldemort. There’s obviously a lot to unpack.

When it came to fashion, things got almost mundane by comparison. Across womenswear, a minimal, neutral and unremarkable aesthetic – known as the “clean girl” look – became the norm. The style, involving minimal makeup, unbranded clothes and muted tones, is so ubiquitous that one influencer is suing another for “stealing” her image. The year in fashion even saw our socks targeted for derision: Gen Z deemed anything other than calf-high white socks as deeply uncool. Elsewhere, people began wearing their phones as accessories via the phone strap craze, leopard print made a comeback and Barbour-style jackets became vogueish.

You may be inclined to disregard everything I’ve written in the article once I tell you that Vogue’s annual industry poll found respondents agreeing that the concept of a “trend” is officially dead. The poll, which speaks to over 100 industry professionals, concluded that while trends will never cease to exist, they’re more transient and short-term than ever before. That doesn’t mean, though, that we can’t predict what’s to come for 2025 – and what trends have an impending death sentence – we just have to prepare to never get attached. So, ahead of the new year, I spoke to trend forecasters, stylists and wellness experts about what kind of whiplash we can expect from 2025.

Dermal fillers will be dissolved out of fashion

In recent years, swathes of young women have been undergoing injectable cosmetic treatments, using lip and cheek filler to achieve plumped and sculpted faces. But, as the short-term nature of these trends might suggest, beauty norms like these don’t hang around for long. According to aesthetician Dr Ed Robinson – who has clinics in Altrincham, Cheshire and London’s Harley Street – many people will be looking to reverse the effects of injectables in 2025 as the trend falls out of favour.

“We can expect to see more and more people wanting to dissolve dermal filler, especially if they have had large quantities which have built up over time,” he says. Over the course of the past year, dozens of celebrities have opened up about choosing to dissolve their fillers after feeling like their faces didn’t look real, or after they’d developed a bloated and puffy appearance known as “pillow face”. Robinson thinks that regular clientele will start following suit. “The trend of having these overfilled and plumped-up lips and faces is going out the window and fewer and fewer women are asking for larger lips now,” he says.

We’ll all embrace the fisherman aesthetic

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Whether or not you’ve ever picked up a fishing rod in your life, you may well adopt fisherman style in 2025. Think beige cable knit sweaters in the winter, a yellow raincoat for spring showers and leather fisherman sandals for the summer. According to Pinterest’s annual trend report, the “effortlessly cool town fisherman” vibe will be embraced by Gen Z and Gen X next year, even if the ocean is nowhere in sight. According to the social media app, searches for “fisherman sandals” have increased 30 per cent, while searches for… “sardine tattoos” are reportedly up 80 per cent. You can choose to believe this or not – maybe it’s just a load of carp?

Animal print – of literally any animal – will be everywhere

If you had your eye on fashion trends in 2024, you may have noticed how leopard print jeans became the pantaloon of the moment. The print became so en vogue that Danish cool girl brand Ganni released a leopard-printed jacket in collaboration with Barbour. In 2025, though, the whole zoo will be included in the mix. Any animal print will do, whether it’s crocodile, giraffe or snake, according to Simone Oloman, the founder of the same-day fashion delivery app Need It For Tonight.

“Animal print will be a wardrobe staple in 2025, cementing its position as a neutral classic that never goes out of style,” Oloman says. “From bold leopard patterns to subtle snakeskin textures, these prints offer endless versatility and elevate any look.”

Reformer pilates are out, sound healing is in

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Forget reformer pilates: next year people will be finding alternative ways to switch off through sound healing, which is the process of using special sounds and vibrations to promote physical and mental wellbeing. It may be a centuries-old ritual, but sound healing studios are becoming increasingly common as more Londoners pop out on their lunch breaks for a quick session to destress from the day. Recent reports  indicate that the sound therapy market is poised to expand by an annual growth rate of approximately 25.3 per cent from 2024 to 2030, according to Market Research Future. The proof is already in the pudding: back in August, the Royal Albert Hall hosted a sold-out immersive sound bath session with sound therapist Simone Salvatici.

Madeleine Jago, principal clinical psychologist and co-founder of wellness centre Seven Lion Yard, has observed the rising popularity of the practice. “Music therapy, the most studied form of sound healing, has shown benefits in reducing anxiety, depression, and pain,” says Jago. “Other techniques like binaural beats, Tibetan singing bowls, and chanting may also help reduce stress and improve mood by engaging and soothing the nervous system. Participants typically close their eyes or use an eye mask, contributing to an internal focus and reflection that is hard to come by during a busy day.”

The beige influencer aesthetic is sworn off

The past 12 months may have been the year of the “clean girl aesthetic” – think muted colour palettes, perfect hair and homes decorated in “millennial grey” – but next year will see beige traded for the more expressive and individual. People will rebel by wearing prints, bolder colours and brighter makeup looks. Just give us anything, literally anything, that isn’t boring.

Chunky highlights will make a comeback

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Fashion constantly recycles – and you only have to look back at the past few years to see how Nineties trends like low-rise jeans, micro T-shirts and tattoo chokers have all made a comeback at various intervals. One trend that’s yet to make a return, though, is the chunky highlight. Think the harsh lines scorched into millennials’ hair circa 2007. There’s evidence of the trend already coming back: when Y2K pop-punk queen Avril Lavigne reignited her career this year, she did so wearing her signature hot-pink stripes in her hair.

It’s a far cry from the soft and subtle hair-colour trends currently dominating the hairdressing industry. In recent years, women have been opting for balayage, which is when the hair is highlighted subtly throughout the lengths of the hair (rather than creating a harsh line at the root). That will all be forgotten in 2025: harsh highlights will return quicker than you can sing “He was a skater boi” on New Year’s Eve.

The era of the wellness coffee

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The powdered green tea beverage, matcha, seemed as if it was added to every coffee shop menu this year – and became a wellness status symbol in the process, thanks to its purported health benefits. But matcha is only the beginning of a burgeoning wellness beverage movement that will see your daily latte order scorned in favour of better-for-you drinks supposedly packed with supplements like collagen, magnesium and Lion’s Mane.

Research shows that Gen Z-ers are drinking less coffee than their millennial and Gen X forebears, and that an overwhelming majority of adults in general have a desire to reduce their caffeine intake in the name of better health. In 2025, many of us will be ditching coffee shakes, sleepless nights and heart palpitations for wellness-centred coffees instead. Just take a look at the market: the new and trendy beverage brand, called DIRTEA, sells a mushroom coffee that combines Lion’s Mane, B6, B12, pantothenic acid and folic acid, with a small shot of caffeine to apparently boost energy and provide a wellness kick at the same time. Expect to see your local coffee shop look more like a Holland & Barrett in 2025. Magnesium mocha, anyone?

All dolled up

The next calendar year is your chance to embrace your inner child when it comes to fashion. As part of the “All Dolled Up” trend forecasted by Pinterest, style statements such as Mary Jane T-bar shoes, pastel colours and exaggerated proportions that play on childhood nostalgia, will usher in an era of playfulness in fashion that takes inspiration from a nursery-going three-year-old. “In 2025, people will be inspired to look at life from their very own doll’s house,” predicts the company. “People will take a playful approach to doll-style make-up, cute-core room ideas and necklace charms in the most whimsical colours.”

Psychics will provide us with the answers in our times of need

If you became hyper-aware of numbers such as 111, 222 and 888 in 2024, then you weren’t alone. Angel numbers – a sequence of figures believed to contain a hidden message from an angel – were widely adopted this year as people looked for signs on their receipts, watches or bank statements for confirmation that they were on the right path. But it seems that isn’t enough: in 2025, people are looking for IRL guidance from psychics and intuitive practitioners during the decision-making process. According to Sarah Lloyd, who runs the lifestyle and wellness bi-annual festival Mind Body Spirit, more people will be looking to alternative sources for all kinds of life advice.

“Many individuals are turning to these sources not just for predictions, but also to validate their intuition and make sense of complex life situations,” says Lloyd, pointing out that the attendees at the festival are increasingly drawn to the psychic speakers each year. “This trend continues to serve as a means for many to seek reassurance and clarity on their paths, reinforcing the importance of trusting one’s inner guidance,” she says.

Personal trainers will go pocket-sized

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This might sound like it’s out of an episode of Black Mirror, but some of us will work out in the gym with an AI voice telling them exactly what to do. That’s right: AI-powered personal trainers are predicted to be on the rise for the coming year, as smart apps connected to equipment and wearable devices boom, according to the brand experts at JV Publicity. Hyper-realistic AI coaches have been designed to welcome users, help select personalised training plans and give human-like responses to fitness-related questions. According to JV, one programme, called Freeletics’ Coach+, provides real-time guidance, feedback and motivation. You’ll never have to star-jump alone.