Curve Volume 5: America Now

The Stat[US] Update

All Things D-Versified

Urban Jungle Undone

The Girl Code

AIR LLC

The Good Stuff

62% of 18- to-54-year-olds claim that at least one central part of their identity is alternative.

Bye, bye, American Pie. On the heels of our just-released Americana Trilogy, The Curve partnered with MSNBC to explore the new lifestyle trends emerging from the massive economic and social shake-up of the past several years. Sure, a cultural shift was a long time coming, but it took hitting economic rock bottom, exponential digital development, and a growing millennial mind-set to truly “tip” America from its traditional past to its progressive now.

We found, in the field, that individuals once considered outliers have together reached critical mass to become America’s new mainstream. Case in point: 62% of 18- to 54-year-olds claim that at least one central part of their identity is alternative or niche by traditional standards—think: stay-at-home father, environmentalist, gay parent, first-generation American, vegan, social activist, alternative spiritualist, transgendered individual, tech hacker, and the like. This new cultural vanguard shaping America’s immediate future is influencing politics as much as it is driving pop culture.

This issue of The Curve explores America now, a country set against a backdrop of landmark legislation (national legalization of gay marriage), trans-identities (Caitlyn Jenner), digital microtribes (Mipsters), twenty-first century civil rights (#blacklivesmatter), high profile hacks (Jennifer Lawrence), and national maternity leave (nope, we still don’t have it). It explores a country that has matured to a time when farm-to-table is the new five-star restaurant, Elizabeth Warren is the new A-list celebrity, seniors are style-setters and social good is baked into any viable Silicon Valley start-up. Simply put, American society has hit “Refresh” and a new groundswell of freethinking consumers is making politics social, culture accessible, and the United States a pie that can no longer be neatly sliced.

This issue of THE CURVE collects data, insights, and trends from the following sources: an online survey distributed among 2,000 18- to 54-year-olds in the winter of 2015; more than 25 in-person interviews with experts in areas ranging from diversity to sustainability to social good; qualitative research with members of our FreeThink panel, a group of hand-selected, leading-edge, and diverse consumers; and a continual scan of influential blogs, trend sites, and key industry events.