Column: “Smoking as a screw you attitude against wellness optimization”

This spring I already noticed it: smoking is making a comeback. Kylie Jenner appeared on Vanity Fair's spring cover with a cigarette. In April, Sabrina Carpenter dropped the video for "House Tour," in which she's smoking heavily. Charli XCX and Dua Lipa are even being called "cigfluencers." But why is smoking back in fashion?

For a moment I wondered whether I should even write about it… What do you do as a trendwatcher when you spot a trend you don't personally stand behind? After my final exam as a student, I decided to quit smoking. I succeeded.

In my trend talks, I recently started talking about the aesthetics of smoking. The romance of it. The image of having the freedom to stare dreamily into the distance, a cigarette dangling nonchalantly between our fingers. I immediately picture Dakota Johnson in Materialists. I put forward the aesthetic rebellion of the cigarette in my trend talks as one of the trends of summer 2026. We love posing for photos with a cigarette in hand, but thankfully that didn't mean we'd all start smoking again.

"Smoking is a symptom of a deeper shift in consumer behavior"

That summer of 2026 is now well underway, and unfortunately I notice around me that nobody listened. The aesthetic is cool, but the smoking itself has grown too. You see cigarettes everywhere again. Terraces are packed with smokers again. Cigarettes are being lit up again at festivals. Friends who quit smoking long ago are asking complete strangers for a cigarette again.

This is also noticeable in the hospitality industry. Expect more smokers on your outdoor patios and smoking areas. Perhaps people will start asking for ashtrays and matches once more. Maybe it’s wise to put your brand on matchboxes, or consider whether those ashtrays actually fit your interior design. But there’s so much more hospitality entrepreneurs can do with this…

Dance without looking at your step count

Because smoking is really just a symptom of a deeper shift in consumer behavior. Underneath it lies a big fuck-you attitude toward wellness optimization: ice baths, nootropics, light therapy, sleep tracking, protein- and fiber-maxxing, intermittent fasting. We've all become so serious. Eat ice cream again. Have a good glass of wine. Enjoy a proper steak. And dance. Dance without looking at your step count.

Your customers no longer feel they need to be (always) perfect. They're choosing fun again. Time to get a little messier again, a little more imperfect, and just have a lot more fun. And who’s best suited to make that happen? As a hospitality entrepreneur, you can do so much with this! I'm already looking forward to it.

But the cigarette itself: I'm staying away from that.