The New Romantics
Kim Townend x Nextatlas 2026
Romance is having a moment, and it looks different from anything that came before. Global searches for "romance" have climbed into exploding-topic territory, and the conversation now runs across every social platform. This report unpacks how Gen Z women have dissected and reframed romance, what is driving the shift, and why it matters for brands.
Kim Townend Studio partnered with Nextatlas to combine deep social listening with proprietary early-adopter data. The analysis draws on one year of conversation, June 2025 to June 2026, totaling 2.4 million mentions, 17.19 billion views, and 1.2 billion engagements across Europe and North America.
Inside, you will find the cultural forces reshaping modern love: the rise of the slow burn, the move away from traditional relationship structures, BookTok as the engine of trends years ahead of the mainstream, and the spread of softness across fashion, beauty, interiors, and wellness.
The report closes with six forward-looking themes and clear guidance on how brands can act on the direction of travel.
- Social listening done by Kim Townend: one year of conversation, June 2025 to June 2026, totaling 2.4 million mentions, 17.19 billion views, and 1.2 billion engagements across Europe and North America.
- Nextatlas trend predictions: evidence-backed answers grounded in data from 300K+ early adopters by combining AI-driven big data analysis and human expertise to predict emerging cultural, consumer, and market shifts.
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