This week: looksmaxxing hits NYFW, Gen Z abandons smartphones, and the wellness-industrial complex enters its flop era.

1. Looksmaxxing Is Now a Fashion Week Trend

New York Fashion Week Fall 2026 had a surprise guest: "looksmaxxing" itself. Designer Natalia Velez explicitly referenced the self-optimization aesthetic in her show, proving that what started on 4chan and Reddit has officially crossed over into the mainstream. The New York Times and Grazia have both run features this month analyzing the trend's reach. The discourse has shifted from "is this real?" to "how do we cover this responsibly?" ¹

Key split in the community: softmaxxing (skincare, fitness, posture) vs hardmaxxing (fillers, surgery, hormone optimization). Most influencers push softmaxxing as accessible entry points; the hardmaxxing corner gets progressively more unhinged.

2. Gen Z Is Dumping Smartphones for iPods

This is wild. Refurbished iPod sales are up 15.6% annually since 2022. Gen Z is actively seeking out discontinued 2000s tech to escape algorithm-driven phone addiction. Search interest in iPods and iPod Nano spiked throughout 2025. The app "Brick" (which blocks smartphone apps) saw downloads jump 600% in January alone. ²

The logic: iPods let them listen to songs they discovered on TikTok during lunch, without the doom-scroll. Kids are using pre-smartphone tech as a cheat code around school phone bans. The nostalgia angle is real, but so is the rejection of the attention economy.

3. Wellnessmaxxing: Productivity as Self-Care

The latest trend in the "-maxxing" universe: stacking so many wellness practices together that you're essentially meditating on a walking pad with a red light therapy helmet strapped to your head while answering emails. Byrdie called it "productivity over peace." ³

The Global Wellness Summit's 2026 trends report backs this up: there's a growing backlash against over-optimization itself. Pleasure and joy are making a comeback. The wellness-industrial complex may have peaked - or at least the version that's just biohacking your way to being a better corporate citizen.

4. Peptides Are the New supplements

If you haven't heard of peptide stacking yet, you will. Influencers are hyping injectable peptides for longevity, athletic performance, and better skin. The science, according to experts at KNKX, isn't keeping up with the hype. ⁴ But that hasn't stopped VC funding - Bryan Johnson's Blueprint raised $60M this month, and the longevity startup space keeps attracting big checks despite questionable ROI.

The gender gap in longevity tech is finally starting to close. A new $250M women's sports fund launched, and startups are finally targeting women's health beyond "beauty" and "fertility."

5. RichTok's Generous Flex

In TikTok news: "Queen of RichTok" Becca Bloom went viral this week for a $4,000 gift haul for her housekeeper's birthday. The video got 3M+ views in 24 hours. The luxury influencer space keeps evolving - the performative generosity angle seems to be replacing pure status signaling. ⁵

Meanwhile, the "First In My Bloodline" trend is giving us something wholesome: women (especially from immigrant backgrounds) sharing moments where they're the first in their family to achieve something. A welcome break from the algorithm's usual doom.

6. The Gender Flip: Girlbossmaxxing vs Looksmaxxing

Hot take from X this week: "women are now girlbossmaxxing, men are now looksmaxxing." The game has changed. Women are optimizing for career and power; men are optimizing for looks. Whether this is true or just Twitter cope is debatable, but the framing shows how the self-optimization arms race has gone gender-neutral. ⁶

That's the week. See you next Thursday.

Powered by Zo