A time to experiment: trends that the city’s Gen Z is saying yes to in 2025

Gen Z in Chennai embraces personal storytelling through fashion, cultural revival, and self-expression, rejecting mainstream trends for individuality in 2025.

According to Pinterest Predicts 2025, Gen Z is done with florals, and is hunting for something deeper, something personal. In Chennai, this feels more cultural. “I am a literature student, and want my fashion to tell my story in 2025,” says Pavai Iniyaval, 21, who is also a theatre enthusiast. For her, the future of style is about storytelling.

“We aren’t buying into American trend predictions always. For me and my peers, experimenting with fashion choices is about revisiting and recreating culture in combination of desi-coded fashion. Like nose pins making a comeback. And bold, coloured pop eyeliners? That’s 2025,” she says.

Shri Janani of a social media management team, in her early 20s, nods. “Fashion has taken a good turn in Chennai. The younger crowd is all about experimentation in 2025, without having to listen to societal norms.”

Aswin, fresh out of Loyola College with a degree in Finance, has a similar sentiment. “Oversized sweats and baggy jean were 2024. New year, who knows? But we are sure to experiment to cultivate our identity. It is not just the students who study fashion any more, everyone wants the new,” he says.

But Smrithi Riya Alex, a 25-year-old alumna of the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Chennai, says Gen Z is big on self-expression in Chennai and all over the world, and so some of them would steer clear of trends. “This generation is loud, unapologetic, and though older generations find us rather quirky and strange, we, in some aspect, demand for the change we want to see towards inclusivity, sustainability, and mental health.”

The 2025 travel forecast says, “Skip the cities, go for mountains!” Chennai’s Gen Z seem to hold strong desire to travel more than ever. “I think exploring the wilderness or unseen and taking breaks from reality is expressed through travel. Travel-based influencer archetype is blowing up,” says Ms. Pavai. “Slowcations never used to be the norm growing up,” adds Mr. Aswin. This immersive, unhurried escape seems to be the lifestyle choice in 2025.

Every week, there is a new aesthetic: fairycore to medieval core, you name it, but will Gen Z in Chennai buy into it? Mr. Aswin is not too sure. “For me, it is less about sticking to one aesthetic and more about finding my individuality. I see my peers too customising their sneakers, , whatever feels unique.”