Emily Segal is a decidedly multifaceted professional. Known for her work as an author, artist and strategic consultant, Segal gained prominence as a co-founder of the pioneering trend forecasting group K-HOLE—responsible for coining the term “normcore” during the 2010s—and went on to write a book, Mercury Retrograde, which explores the impact of contemporary culture and technology on modern society.¹ Speaking from her home in Los Angeles, Segal describes how trend forecasting has enabled her to draw a varied set of interests, talents and experiences into productive harmony.

Emily Nathan: How did you first encounter trend forecasting?  

Emily Segal: After college, some friends and I were trying to make ends meet in New York City, post–financial crisis. Somebody found an official trend forecasting report on the server of the company they worked for and emailed it around. At that time, trend forecasting reports were highly produced, glossy PDFs that used a lot of beguiling neologisms and suggestive lifestyle photography to present a sort of pop-cultural theory of what it was like for young people living in urban centers. We found this format to be fascinating: very rich, very strange—and so, in the spirit of fan fiction, we decided to start exploring ways to make our own version. We made a PDF and distributed it on a series of very limited-edition custom USB drives. We also released it for free online, which was an important aspect of the project for us. 

EN: Would you describe your engagement with the format as earnest or more ironic and satirical?