After bursting into the collective conscious in late 2013, media conversations about the so-called ‘normcore’ fashion have largely evaporated. So it was with some interest that we recently spotted advertisers using the concept to explain why prospective clients should align to the ‘new normal’.

To refresh your memory: ‘normcore’ is an aesthetic that prioritises everyday and unpretentious over the conspicuous and exclusive. Goodbye R$2000 raw denim jeans and ‘artisanal’ beer; hello no-brand cargo pants and Crocs. Individuality, it was proclaimed, is dead. Long live the normal. Soon GQ and Vogue were running features about the merits of New Balance and ‘mom jeans’. Even haute couturiers were getting in on the act. Prada pool clogs? Louis Vuitton functional fleeces? Homogeneity had never been so hip.

Normcore as a fashion trend has largely been written off as either a brain fart by a group of young brand consultants high on caffeine and theory, or an in-joke of the “true individuals reject individuality” variety. Either way it fell somewhere between post- and post-post ironic and dragged a lot of people who should have known better with it.

Yet it is worth recognising that if marketers are pitching ‘new normal’ as a key differentiator, and warning their clients to align positioning with ‘social norms’, then a nerve has definitely been touched. In the future, will people really stop feeling the need to express themselves through the clothes they wear and the products they buy?

At CIFS, we’ve spent decades analysing the long-term trends that reshape consumer behaviour, and while we don’t believe the Crocs and gym socks version of normcore will last, the concept does express some of the key shifts we foresee in attitudes to consumption. This isn’t surprising, as ‘normcore’ was conceived by New York trend consultancy K-Hole and Sao Paulo-based consumer research lab BOX 1824 as part of a trend forecasting project – it was never intended to be the title of this season’s look book.

One of the most relevant trends we see is a move towards less conspicuous luxury. While the luxury goods market here in Brazil is predicted to grow around 30% towards 2018, a recent Euromonitor report has identified growing dissatisfaction in core luxury consumer segments, which could see a downturn in this sector heading our way soon.

No-name brands and outlets offering no-name products are also on the rise. In September 2014 a supermarket opened in Berlin’s Kreuzberg neighbourhood promising “no packaging and no brands”. Likewise Muji, the Japanese lifestyle chain whose name means ‘no brand’, continues to expand globally. Indeed a recent Forbes article suggested that Brazil could be the next market to benefit from Muji’s iconic anonymity.

These trends combined suggest a growing awareness that there are far more tangible, markers of quality than the logo on the non-recyclable cellophane. This is a key shift that the Institute projects in terms of an evolution in consumption and it goes right to the heart of the normcore philosophy: that you are what you do, not what you own.

For generations, consumers have defined themselves by what they are able to buy. Today, with more products moving into the cloud, and more young people focusing on having interesting experiences rather than owning the latest Louis Vuitton bag, it has simply become unnecessary to wear your individuality on your sleeve.

So is normcore the future? Perhaps the best way to consider the concept right now is as a micro trend evolving and trying to differentiate itself alongside its conceptual (and slightly embarrassing) older sibling, the hipster. ‘Young normal’ will probably get bored of the cargo shorts before too long, but the attitude change that led to putting them on in the first place will persist and evolve.

(Portuguese translation appears in the October 2014 edition of Consumidor Moderno Magazine, Brasil)