Over the last few years, we have seen the colour green slowly replacing the colour pink, which has been widely used to define millennials.
Think Granny Smith apples, but make it stylish. Whether it’s in fashion, interior design, sage nails, or food, the colour green is taking over thanks to Gen Z’s.
Generation Z, which is made up of those born from 1996 to 2012 – are known for caring for the environment and their passion for sustainability so the fact that green is quickly becoming ’their’ colour, makes a lot of sense.
The trend was fully cemented by Billie Eilish’s iconic green hair and nails, but of course, not everyone could pull that off so soon after that more neutral green tones started trending, especially within the fashion industry.
Dakota Johnson also proved that green is the ’it’ colour right now when she gave us a glimpse of her sage-coloured kitchen in an interview with Architectural Digest earlier this year.
Green has also infiltrated the beauty industry as more brands are using more earthy green hues for their packaging. Pharrell’s Humanrace skincare range is one of the most notable brands to do this with the whole range coming in bright green packaging.
Huda Kattan’s skincare brand Wishful Skin also has lime green under eye masks, while MAC Cosmetics chose a very neon shade of green for the packaging of its relaunched balm-gloss hybrid.
The fashion industry has also embraced the colour green as it dominated London Fashion Week last month and Elle Magazine declaring that Kelly Green was the colour of now.
Green also happens to be associated with CBD (Cannabidiol) – which is popular with Gen Z’s.
According to pop-culture expert Nick Ede the trend of wearing green hues aligns with Gen Z’s values of being ‘impactful and creative’ and wanting to ‘make a statement’.
“Gen Z green is the must-have colour and it’s strong acidic and striking,” Ede said in an interview with the Daily Mail.
“The reason it’s so popular is that it’s impactful and creates conversation which Gen Z love. It’s brash and bold and makes a statement,” he explained.
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The popular TikToker, The Digital Fairy, who has gone viral for making videos commenting on trends and digital culture, shared a video weighing in on whether green is taking over as the new millennial pink.
She explained that green is more preferred than pink because it is less gendered and is associated with growth, new beginnings, making money.
“Its just a good colour for the time we’re living through, it is associated with growth, new beginnings, good luck, moving forward, making money,“ she explained.
She also thought that its rise to popularity has something to do with the generations focus on climate change and sustainability.
@thedigifairy 💚🔫 #emmachamberlain #devonleecarlson #bottegaveneta #houseofsunny #dakotajohnson #sagegreen #thatgirl #greenaesthetic #glossier#millennial ♬ All The Things She Said – Poppy
Ede echoed this telling the Daily Mail that Gen Z’s are environmentally conscious by definition.
“Gen Z are by definition environmentally conscious and green and this reinforces it in a really strong way,“ he explained
“Also from a psychological point of view green means good it means secure and it means GO!” Ede added.
However, since the world is constantly changing it is unclear whether green will stand the test of time and essentially define this generation as pink did with millennials.
“Because trends move so fast now it is hard to say that Gen Z green will define the generation the way that millennial pink did,” The Digi Fairy said.
