Fast fashion

After the buzz around hygge, are we suffering lifestyle-trend fatigue?

Are the latest lifestyle trends doing you more harm than good?

When the Danish hygge trend hit our shores, it felt like a breath of fresh air. Rather than committing to extreme change, the basic premise was to live a cosier life. Easy. But then more lifestyle trends began to emerge from far-flung parts of the world. The Swedish trend lagom, which is all about doing things in moderation, gave way to Finland’s kalsarikännit, which dubiously translates as “drinking at home, alone, in your underwear” (we’ve all been there), then from Japan there was wabi-sabi, the art of embracing imperfection.

It’s easy to see why there’s been an appetite for new trends – they’re a remedy to the feeling we’re left with after a miserable 12 months of world news. But are they really doing us any good? Life coach Alex Kingsmill says while it’s important to live well, following one trend or another isn’t a sustainable approach. Worse, they can often make us feel like our lives are somehow lacking. “There’s a whole lot of noise out there about how you should be living, constantly striving for a better lifestyle, but it can keep you distanced from what you already have.”

That doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with these trends – see them as lifestyle enhancers. “The key is to cherry-pick different elements,” Kingsmill adds. “Then you can weave them into a life that already suits you.” Buy a hygge-approved cashmere rug before your Netflix hibernation, but remember to book in a wine with your girlfriends – lagom preaches balance after all. Perhaps you can incorporate a bit of imperfection-accepting wabi-sabi by wearing ugg boots to said wine date? Just kidding (maybe).