“Gen Z _ Gen future： Tribe Culture 5.0” is the title， almost in code， of the next edition of Milano Unica for the presentation of SpringSummer 2021 trends.

Gen Z is short for “Generation Z”， the moniker that anthropologists， sociologists and psychologists have given to the generation of digital natives， the post Millennials， consisting of individuals born from 1997 up to todays teenagers.

Therefore this is the generation of the future （Gen future）， the first that has used the internet since birth and for which cognitive structure and verbalisation are filtered through technology （5.0）.

It is the generation that is perpetually connected， living all kinds of relationships and experiences on-line： from friendship to study， from shopping to entertainment， from the sense of community to virtual socialisation， up to the means with which it defines and shares its identity.

“One can also say that Gen Z is the generation that is most aware of environmental issues， it is even the one that sparked green consciousness in the world. A consciousness that Milano Unica supports even if we now need to make the concept of green a dominant part of business and political decisions at all levels， so that we can act responsibly to en-sure a truly sustainable future for our children. And this is why Milano Unica has been striving for a long time to spread these values”， asserts Ercole Botto Poala， President of Milano Unica.

A new and fascinating world that has inspired Milano Unicas research into trends for SS 2021， which began from an assumption： todays youths find confirmation and self-confidence when they share rites， fashions， slang and passions within their group of friends. In other words， they live and are moulded by interacting with “the other members of their own tribe” writes the psychoanalyst Massimo Ammaniti.

“Gen Z represents the sophisticated projection of 5.0 technology of the future while at the same time， on a behavioural level， it follows the same tribal dynamics of mankind since its inception”， concludes Stefano Fadda， art director of Milano Unica.

Hence Milano Unicas idea of uniting the future with the past， 5.0 technology with the aesthetic and content eccentricities of some tribes from the north to the south of the world， to determine a creative and cultural synthesis that establishes a connection between youthful aesthetics and ancestral tribal emotions， depicted within 3 symbolic landmarks， Mexico City， Los Angeles and Papua New Guinea.

This is how the 3 trends for Spring-Summer 2021 were conceived：

TROPICAL RAVE IN MEXICO CITY mixes Mexican rituality with rave party techno tropical music. Here nature is the protagonist for prints and colours.

INDIAN CHILL OUT IN L.A. connects memories made of spices and riches from maharajahs with a passion for waves and the liberating energy of surfing. The style in this theme is decorative， sophisticated with colours of the vegan world and touches of rock ambient transgression.

BRITISH CLUBBING IN PAPUA proposes an ideal comparison between the craftsmanship of the fire people and the sartorial tradition typical of English clubs. Comfort and elegance mingle and the hybridisation between hi-tech fabrics and raw natural fibres emphasise the importance of researching materials.