Unicorn trend
The unicorn trend is a modern design and consumer craze that started in the mid-2010s. It blends unicorn imagery with bright pastel and rainbow colors—pink, blue, purple, yellow, green—and is driven by social media, influencers, and eye-catching branding on platforms like Instagram.
While unicorns have appeared in folklore and art for centuries, today’s trend is about playful color and fun visuals, not old ideas of rarity or purity. A key moment was “unicorn food” in 2016–2017—pastel-colored, decorative foods made to look great in photos. The 2017 Unicorn Frappuccino from Starbucks helped push the idea into the mainstream.
The trend spread to beauty, fashion, home goods, and gadgets. Brands adopted unicorn-themed branding, from Lime Crime’s “Makeup for Unicorns” to rainbow hair by Guy Tang, to Lisa Frank makeup collaborations and Paris Hilton’s “Unicorn Mist” skincare. Unicorn imagery appeared on clothes, accessories, phone cases, pillows, and even pool floats.
In media, the look shifted from older ideas of unicorns as rare or pure to bright, playful, colorful imagery. Modern shows like My Little Pony helped shape the style, while traditional fantasy like Harry Potter kept some older associations. Fashion shows and magazines embraced unicorn motifs, with moments like a unicorn-themed gown at a 2016 premiere, Moschino’s 2017 My Little Pony capsule, and Thom Browne’s 2018 show ending with a unicorn on a leash.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 11:27 (CET).