This northern hemisphere summer, retailers and consumers have been all over the ‘brat’ aesthetic, from neon-green marketing campaigns to curated, indie-sleaze product selections. But as ‘Brat Summer’ slowly begins to cool down, some are already embracing a new social media trend, one that is very demure and very mindful. On August 2, Jools Lebron posted her first viral ‘demure’ video, explaining how she styled her hair and makeup in a “very demure, very mindful” manner and encouraged her viewers to follow suit. “Let’s not forget to be demure divas,” Lebron advised. On August 5, the social media influencer posted a video about how she prepared her appearance for work, a 17-second clip that has gone viral, with over 3.8 million views and counting. “You see how I do my makeup for work? Very demure. Very mindful,” Jools explained in the video. “I don’t come to work with a green-cut crease. I don’t look like a clown when I go to work. I don’t do too much. I’m very mindful while I’m at work…A lot of you girls go to the interview looking like Marge Simpson and go to the job looking like Patty and Selma. Not demure. I’m very modest. I’m very mindful.”Considering that Jools is an out-and-proud transgender woman with a louder-than-life persona, the video is meant to be a tongue-in-cheek reference to how some people, particularly women and those who present as women, are expected to act demurely in the workplace, and not draw attention to themselves. When asked about the definition of demure, Lebron responded, “I feel like demure is a mindset. I used to be crazy and out of control and then I found some demurity and along with that came some success.” Laughing, she said, “Demurity is my purity.”Lebron’s video and following audio clip have gone viral via several social media platforms and retailers have certainly taken notice of consumers’ hype around this playful focus on mindfulness and gentility. How retailers are taking note of this trend“Jools Lebron has started a cultural phenomenon and the retailverse is cashing in,” said Lena Moriarty, the head of e-tail marketing at market research and events firm Worldwide Business Research. Retailers including Mac Cosmetics, Sour Patch Kids, and Aldi have posted content that either describes their products as demure, or explains how engaging with the brand can showcase a very demure, very mindful attitude. For example, Maybelline posted a “Maybe it’s very demure, maybe it’s Maybelline” TikTok. At the same time, Nars asked its followers, “Why be demure when you can be Explicit?”, referring to its Explicit lipstick line.Also, similar to how Twisted Lily curated a selection of ‘brat’-inspired fragrances, brands like Mac Cosmetics are highlighting products to help consumers get a Jools-approved, demure look.  Moriarty noted that brands like Verizon and Lyft have hopped on the demure train by contacting Jools herself for brand partnership promotions, which resulted in “amazing organic engagement” from the creator’s own following and outside fans of Jools’ content. The market research expert advised retailers to consider the “importance of carving out time for reactive creativity. With trends coming and going in the blink of an eye it’s more necessary than ever to be involved in the social commentary surrounding those trends, which isn’t possible without quick reactive marketing.”Melissa Minkow, director of retail strategy at CI&T, said brands that can successfully hop on a social media bandwagon are more likely to connect with their Gen Z and Millennial consumers. She also observed that the popularity of the demure trend, in many ways, mimics the virality of the brat movement. “The spirit is alike in that it’s about self-awareness and sense of humour regarding oneself, not taking everything so seriously. The implications for retailers are along the same lines – retailers can create demure or mindful edits and product lines,” Minkow said.“They also can take on the tone of this movement by infusing humour throughout their marketing. There’s also a bigger statement overall here, which is that content goes viral quickly and intensely. If brands want to join the fun, they have to move fast before saturation occurs.”  Both Minkow and Moriarty emphasised the importance of brands respectfully engaging with intersectional content creators like Lebron, a Cuban-American trans woman. This can be done by crediting the original creator of the meme, versus simply hopping on the trend and hijacking it. The two retail experts also advised that retailers should interact with creators like Lebron directly, either by featuring them in campaigns or engaging with them via mindful partnerships.A perfect example that comes to mind is how makeup artist and eponymous brand Patrick Ta immediately reached out to Lebron, flew her out to New York for the brand’s influencer event, and created content with her in person.During the event, Lebron and Ta were modelling the brand’s new foundation launch, cheekily saying, “We don’t do a nasty dry foundation around here…We’re very creamy, very saturated, very dewy, very mindful.”What’s next in store after demure?At the end of the day, trends like demure and brat are simply a larger reflection of the growing virality of niche aesthetics, like clean girl, indie sleaze, Y2K/Y3K and so on. Demure and brat are just opposite sides of the same hectic, but fascinating, social media coin. The momentum of these trends reflects consumers’ interest in participating in culturally relevant movements and having fun with varying aesthetics. While these two seemingly contradictory vibes are still going strong, it will be intriguing to see what social media movement will gain momentum next. As Moriarty mused, “I’m curious to see the lifespan of this trend and how retailers are planning and continuing to pivot from trend to trend. First Brat Summer, now demure, what do the next two weeks have in store?”