Shannan Sterne is an award-nominated journalist, copywriter, mentor, and consultant published globally. She has experience at world-renowned retail organisations, national consumer glossies, creative content agencies and industry trade magazines. Sterne is a copy consultant for global skincare brand StriVectin, a reporter for Canvas8, and a social media strategist for Invito Design. She has also guest lectured at Condé Nast College of Fashion and Design and Falmouth University. Sterne has previously written for titles including Harrods, Superdrug, Red, 

People are craving comfort. Amid what can feel like a state of constant crisis – a layering of traumatic societal events – it can sometimes seem like we’ve lost a sense of scale and cohesion. In the face of this, the desire to retreat into nostalgia is more seductive than ever. 

Nostalgia Reimagined 

In a hyper-connected world, it feels like everything previously ‘insider’ is more available than ever: from behind-the-scenes access to the lives of public figures to travel experiences immersing people into worlds previously deemed unattainable. But while people embrace this community-based inclusivity and unprecedented access to their icons, they still yearn for touches of exclusivity to define their status.

As the age-old understanding of exclusivity is eroded, people are redefining status for themselves using a broad range of factors beyond solely economic ones. This new iteration of status is often based around increasingly niche and local signifiers – from luxury dupes to the rise of members clubs and closed-community spaces based on shared interests. Status is becoming a mode of belonging and connection with like-minded people.

People are erecting walls of their exclusive communities, relying on more subtle markers of identity. This is apparent with middle-class people fetishising working-class aesthetics, athletes turning to niche sports like padel, and social media groups organising around niche interests – spawning companies. As status-defined micro-trends on social media accelerate, brands face a challenge to keep up. If previously certain legacy items were automatically associated with exclusivity, now people are much more trusting of the UGC-defined vision of what status means. More than ever, speed, knowledge, inventiveness, and being plugged into the community determine what – and who – is in.

Insider Status

Tori Crowther is a freelance health and beauty editor and qualified nail technician. Previously beauty editor at Popsugar UK, she covers beauty, lifestyle, and women’s health topics and has an array of national titles in her roster including 

Global

United Kingdom

Beauty

Beauty providers

Make-up

Instagram for Business

Clinique

Elle

Harper’s Bazaar

Interview with Tori Crowther conducted by the author

Globe Newswire

Euromonitor

Metro

Personal Care Insights

Gitnux

Sprout Social

Highsnobiety

Clinique’s ‘almost-lipstick’ Black Honey has resurged in popularity thanks to a TikTok user who spotted it in a noughties movie. This enduring success showcases the brand’s ability to transcend fleeting trends, emphasising the power of nostalgia and cross-generational beauty fan favourites.

Cultivate

Values and Identity

How Clinique’s Black Honey taps into beauty nostalgia 