We Asked 2 Designers the “Core” on Its Way Out in 2024, and They Said the Same Thing
Design trends happen at lightning speed these days. Perhaps your parents could get away with buying one bedroom set to use for your entire life, but currently there’s a lot more pressure to make your surroundings meet the moment.
“It’s been a decade since ‘normcore’ hit the public consciousness as a fashion trend, and by the logic of the ‘cerulean monologue’ in The Devil Wears Prada, it makes sense that we’re seeing the sorts of Instagram-bait ‘core’ terms that its title inspired now trickling into the world of interiors and architecture,” architect and designer Nicholas Potts says.
While you shouldn’t replace big-ticket items like sofas and dining tables every time a new trend takes off — your wallet and the planet will thank you — it’s fun to at least know what’s popular. Cottagecore brought back ruffles and gingham, as one example, and “coastal grandmother” encouraged displaying shell collections on whitewashed surfaces. But because social media makes it so that “core” designs seem to appear faster than they can be posted and shared, I asked designers to weigh in on the one that may already be past its prime.
Potts and designer Christina Higham, owner of Sun Soul Style Interiors, are brave for sharing the “core” trend that they’re tired of seeing in 2024, because they know it must’ve brought a lot of joy to those who tested it out in their homes (and they’re fans of the movie). But if they had to pick the trend that should go off into the sunset, it’s Barbiecore. Here are three reasons why.
It takes a lot of resources to create.
Unlike subtler paint shades, Potts says the neon pink of Barbiecore requires a lot more chemicals in order to create such a vibrant, pigmented finish. “It makes me fairly sad thinking about the environmental footprint of all of this paint, and all of the paint people will use to cover it up when they start moving on to the next trend,” he says.
There’s no way to make it look more expensive.
Barbie may have lived in a dream home, but the bright shades and sweet shapes of her universe appear differently in the real world. “Touches of pink are fun, but the whole-home look tends to read really cheap to me,” Higham says.
It’s not a trend that can be easily built upon.
If you do end up getting tired of Barbicore, its palette doesn’t lend itself well to blending in — making it so you’ll likely have to start from scratch. That’s why Higham was a bigger fan of the cottagecore trend, even though it wasn’t her personal style. “I appreciate that it calls on more vintage, handcrafted furniture and decor,” she says. “In general, it’s a more sustainable trend that is difficult to regurgitate in the form of fast interiors. The use of vintage in a design will never go out of style.”
If you’re still a fan of Barbicore and see yourself embracing this style for the long haul, then more power to you! But if you’re feeling overwhelmed by a conveyor belt of “cores,” know that designers understand. “Perhaps it’s time to put the whole ‘core’ thing aside to return to the original anti-design thinking that led to ‘normcore’ in the first place: function, simplicity, and timelessness in the face of excessive consumerism,” Potts says.
Higham agrees and recommends finding your own “core aesthetic” by defining a handful of terms that best describe your sense of self and what brings you joy. “That way, you can keep the main elements in your home aligned with your home’s core aesthetic, and bring in trends more sparingly,” she says.