{"id":710342,"date":"2025-11-19T09:37:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T06:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=710342"},"modified":"2025-11-19T09:37:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T06:37:07","slug":"how-unplugging-became-luxurys-most-valuable-currency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=710342","title":{"rendered":"How \u2018Unplugging\u2019 Became Luxury\u2019s Most Valuable Currency"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Technology<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

How \u2018Unplugging\u2019 Became Luxury\u2019s Most Valuable Currency<\/h1>\n
By <\/span>Amy Francombe<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

November 19, 2025<\/p>\n

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    Photo: Courtesy of Catherine Goetze<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n
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    Back in July, content creator Catherine Goetze \u2014 better known as AskCatGPT \u2014 posted a TikTok video announcing: \u201cI\u2019m committed to bringing down my screen time this year, but I know I need to be reachable in case of emergency.\u201d In it, she showcased retro landline telephones she\u2019d connected to her smartphone via Bluetooth, letting her answer important calls while avoiding the inevitable pull of her iPhone screen and its endless scroll.<\/p>\n

    The response was immediate, and the video has now been viewed 5.6 million times, with over 600,000 likes. \u201cIt was like a moth to a flame,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was very clear there was something there.\u201d That \u201csomething\u201d materialized as a wave of engagement across platforms. Goetze\u2019s \u201cno-phone morning\u201d video, where she answers important calls through her landline while keeping her smartphone out of reach, earned over 190,000 likes. Then, when she hosted a no-phone party in October, over 1,000 people RSVP\u2019d and 700 attended; the reel documenting the event collected nearly 180,000 likes.<\/p>\n

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    For Goetze, whose rise came through explaining AI and tech culture, the reaction amounts to a collective turning point. \u201cPeople are really turned off by technology right now,\u201d she says. \u201cThey\u2019re turned off by AI, and by the way we tend to conflate AI with social media and our phones. Over the past year, it\u2019s congealed into this moment of people saying, \u2018I\u2019ve seen enough. Too much screen time is starting to affect my day-to-day life and I have to take a stance against that impact.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

    What she\u2019s describing has crystallized into what many are calling \u201cunplugging\u201d, as consumers return to analog. The Global Wellness Summit\u2019s The Future of Wellness trend report named analog wellness as its top trend for 2025, while \u201canalog bags\u201d (tote bags filled with books, puzzles and art supplies) have gone viral on TikTok as Gen Z seeks to curb doomscrolling. \u201cIt stems from a desire to step out of an increasingly noisy and exhausting social media landscape overrun with AI-generated slop, in which it\u2019s becoming near impossible to discern truth from fiction,\u201d says Katie Baron, content director at trends intelligence agency Stylus. \u201cStepping back into the \u2018real world\u2019 is the only antidote.\u201d Baron points to Harris Poll data, which reveals that 67% of Americans long for the \u201cpre-plugged-in\u201d era, while 79% of US Gen Zs actively aspire to interact more in the physical world.<\/p>\n

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    The fashion industry is already responding. After several years spent experimenting with digital activations \u2014 NFTs, video games, virtual fashion shows \u2014 the pendulum is swinging back to offline. Zines are resurging as creators and luxury houses embrace printed matter as an antidote to digital burnout. For example, Talia Byre released a limited-edition zine to accompany her Fall\/Winter 2025 collection, while Chanel debuted its Arts & Culture Magazine<\/em> in June. Meanwhile, when Paloma Wool opened her Barcelona flagship earlier this month, she told Vogue<\/em> in an article titled \u201cPaloma Wool is escaping the endless scroll\u201d that she wants the store to transcend shoppers\u2019 FYPs, adding a gallery and a bookstore so it can function as a third space. Fashion\u2019s buzziest new nightlife opening, Lost, launched in October with a party hosted by Mark Ronson, requires guests to have their mobile devices sealed in secure pouches.<\/p>\n

    Goetze believes this is only the beginning. \u201cI call it the \u2018analog renaissance\u2019, because it\u2019s not so much about getting rid of something as adopting older ways of doing things. It\u2019s one of the number one trends \u2014 if not the<\/em> number one trend \u2014 for brands to track in 2026,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

    From digital fatigue to analog aspiration<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    If smartphones have been ubiquitous since 2010, why has this analog turn accelerated now? Although frustration with digital life has been building for years, the past six months have marked a tipping point. Consumers are actively seeking tools and products \u2014 from at-home lock boxes to devices that physically block access to social media \u2014 to keep themselves off their phones. While the latest TikTok trend, \u201chaving-a-life-core\u201d, celebrates those who are \u201ctouching grass\u201d to feel more connected to reality and participating more fully in the outdoor world.<\/p>\n

    \u201cDigital has finally hit diminishing returns,\u201d says Shaun Singh, founder of media company Death to Stock (DTS). \u201cThe digital ecosystem promised connection and delivered surveillance. Every gesture is tracked, predicted and monetized, and fed back to algorithmic overlords in the lifeless shape of data. After a decade, people want their sovereignty back. Analog has become a refuge, not because it\u2019s old or outdated, but because it renders you, the consumer, untouchable.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    Goetze believes the timing is the result of three converging forces. First, technological adoption cycles. \u201cTechnology takes time to truly become part of the fabric of society, it might have taken 10 to 15 years for us to really feel it.\u201d Second, the pandemic, which pushed screen time \u201cover a ledge\u201d. And third, the rapid rise of AI-generated video and deepfakes, particularly on social platforms. \u201cSocial media is where we consume most content about what\u2019s happening in the world,\u201d she notes. \u201cWhen people get freaked out, rightfully, about deepfakes being produced at scale for basically zero dollars, and what that means for their mental health and society\u2026 people just get super turned off.\u201d<\/p>\n

    That anxiety is increasingly visible in culture. Vine\u2019s recent relaunch, now known as DiVine, is anchored around a promise of no AI \u2014 a direct response to the \u2018slop\u2019 filling feeds. Shifting status norms speak to the same desire. \u201cIt feels very fashionable right now to say, \u2018I\u2019m not on social media,\u2019 or \u2018I have a flip phone,\u2019\u201d Goetze says. Indeed, earlier this month, The New Yorker<\/em> declared that \u201cIt\u2019s cool to have no followers now,\u201d with writer Kyle Chayka noting that: \u201cThere\u2019s a certain status that comes from ignoring the usual signs of success online, and an envy inspired by those who can grow a career without the pressure of performing on social media.\u201d Meanwhile, brand strategy consultant Eugene Healey told Vogue Business<\/em> earlier this year that \u201cdressing in a way that reflects online micro-trends is increasingly viewed as a low-status trait.\u201d The idea that it is stylish not to be online has filtered into consumer products, too: the inside flap of Goetze\u2019s phone box reads, \u201cOffline is the new luxury.\u201d<\/p>\n

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    But whether this shift is merely another trend is, to Goetze, the wrong question. \u201cI think this is actually a public health issue. Now that we have more data and more information about how all of these technologies are impacting people in real time, we need to make changes. In 2027, I still think people will want to get off their phones, but it might be so commonplace and obvious by then \u2014 thanks to the early adopters \u2014 that it\u2019ll be less of a thing to talk about and more of a given.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Considerations for brands<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    For brands, the opportunity \u2014 and the risk \u2014 lies in the execution. \u201cThe danger lies in treating analog as an aesthetic instead of a stance,\u201d says DTS\u2019s Singh. \u201cMany brands want the halo without the discipline, producing parody instead of work that reflects dedicated craft.\u201d Gentle Monster, he argues, offers a blueprint: \u201cTheir retail locations are not decorated to mimic analog; they\u2019re physical environments that suspend time and pull you inward, built through slow, hard and expensive work.\u201d<\/p>\n

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    Authenticity also matters in how brands facilitate connection. Nature-led experiences are particularly resonant, says Hannah da Silva, founder and creative director of GorpGirls, who recently partnered with Burberry on four walks across Los Angeles, London, New York and Tokyo. \u201cEnjoying nature with other people is extremely bonding\u2026 There is a big difference in energy and friendships forming during a walk outside compared to a normal brand-led activation, such as a party or dinner.\u201d While the outdoors remains powerful, she expects the trend to evolve. \u201cWe\u2019ll see more inner-city ways to disconnect that may not involve getting on a train out of the city into nature.\u201d<\/p>\n

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    The throughline, Singh says, is sincerity. \u201cBrands who embrace analog with sincerity are building artifacts, while those who approach it with cynicism are just laundering digital assets through a grainy filter. Consumers can tell the difference instantly.\u201d The genuine approach prioritizes presence over performance, while the hollow version results in \u201cslow-living campaigns pumped out at high speed\u201d, or unplug messaging pushed through frantic posting schedules. \u201cBrands doing it right are building for the physical world again: zines, tactile retail experiences, ritual-based packaging. Engagement returning to its roots of tangibility and sensoriality. To engage is to touch, to touch is to experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Goetze warns brands against overly literal no-phone positioning. \u201cThat\u2019s going to get tired really fast and start feeling outdated,\u201d she says. Instead, the focus should be on creating spaces that feel so present, so magnetic, that using a phone would feel out of place. Tactile elements help \u2014 charm-making stations, hands-on workshops, anything that gives people something to do with their hands. So does atmosphere: strong entertainment, sensory detail and design that invites immersion.<\/p>\n

    A final, practical consideration: documentation. \u201cPeople feel less stressed about, \u2018Oh my God, this event is so cool, I have to take photos,\u2019 if you have a photographer or videographers capturing it for them and turning the photos around within 24 hours,\u201d Goetze says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

    Source URL: http:\/\/vogue.com\/article\/how-unplugging-became-luxurys-most-valuable-currency<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Technology How \u2018Unplugging\u2019 Became Luxury\u2019s Most Valuable Currency By Amy Francombe November 19, 2025 Photo: Courtesy of Catherine Goetze Back in July, content creator Catherine Goetze \u2014 better known as AskCatGPT \u2014 posted a TikTok video announcing: \u201cI\u2019m committed to bringing down my screen time this year, but I know I need to be reachable […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":710343,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-710342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-vogue-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=710342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/710343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=710342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=710342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=710342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}