The Fortuna Gold Sunset: Trending in the Age of Covid

As 2021 begins coming into view, more and more trends are being surmised. Stock photography company Shutterstock shared their 2021 Color Trends, and with that the tones we can expect to see across our social pages and publisher sites. It’s an inspiring handful: “Set Sail Champagne,” “Fortuna Gold,” and for the U.K., a light coral. The main colors are stirringly representative of the dawn and dusk of the day. The moments where anything is possible and we’ve made it through.

Looking towards 2021, it’s clear not much is promised, and expectation is a fool’s journey, but we will have days that begin, and nights that signal their end. Like a breath that goes in, and goes out. Some things we know are ahead.

Previous years, trends such as slow food, mindfulness, and digital detoxing all pushed forward movements to relish in the simplicity of life. Cultural catalysts brought us to be at one with the day.

The Gucci Film Fest premiered this month, revealing Alessandro Michele’s latest collection in a series of films by celebrated director Gus Van Sant. The seven-episode series, Ouverture of Something That Never Ended, begins at dawn. In Episode 1, a kettle is put on, the protagonist wakes, stretches, the day begins. As the films continue, it is the intimate moments, a café visit, a post office trip that pushes the narrative runway show. What used to be an exhaustive circus, Fashion Week, now creates want in a depiction of time and space moving ever so stylishly simple. An opening of that which is constant, like the days.

One acknowledges, as any parent can attest, lockdown has been challenging. But disruption does not equal difficult. In my work, disruption equals hope. We are in a recalibration period, and with that comes a period of experimentation, trying something new; be it a smaller Christmas, which may be hard, or a TikTok dance with the children, which may be fun. We are in a period of testing what works for us.

When trends are forecasted, it is based on the insights of what culture calls for, technology is growing towards, and what simple ideas will evolve it. Trends provide understanding, excitement, anticipation.

When we look to 2021, on my trends forecast I see navigation. Some trends I’m calling out for in 2021 include sobriety, sex bubbles, and cults—all tools people can use to navigate continued uncertainty. We are in a time when the list of what we are promised has dwindled, but what is ahead rests infinite in possibilities.

Space tourism is a long standing trend buoying from science to culture. It recently edged closer to reality, as SpaceX launched Dragon to orbit for the Crew-1 Mission. Four astronauts docked into the International Space Station (ISS) for a six-month stay. It’s familiar to some of our grandparents that while the world can feel so volatile, isolating and confined, we watch people fly past the stars. It’s a reminder that dreams are still to be made. 

During the stay-at-home orders, and now regularly, I’ve been watching YouTube live streams of the ISS orbiting Earth. Occasionally an astronaut spacewalks by to change a battery or fix a light. There is a peace in watching a planet that can feel in chaos simply shine from the sun and hide in the shadow of the moon. Tomorrow we’ll rotate the sun again; we’ll wake, make tea, and watch the sky turn “Set Sail Champagne” trending towards 2021. Forecast: Fortuna Gold.