6 Trends Your Teen Will Be Into in 2025

Knowing what is big with teens is precious information. For instance, my 14- and 16-year-olds have informed me that Uggs are on the way out, and Birkenstocks are the new footwear of choice among Gen Z. 

In addition to talking to my girls about what’s trending in fashion and other aspects of their lives, from social media to school, I also consulted with several experts across multiple fields to dial into what teens will be obsessed with come 2025.

Read on to learn about wellness, social media, finance, school, fashion, and pop culture trends for teens in the New Year. You may be surprised by what they are going to be Snapping about this upcoming year!

A Focus on Wellness

Happily, according to experts, teens will be concentrating on their wellness as we say goodbye to 2024.

Indeed, Brook Choulet, MD, a board-certified psychiatrist at Choulet Performance Psychiatry, confirms to Parents, “One thing we’ll see more of in 2025 is a focus on mental health and mindfulness apps.” 

She explains that many mindfulness apps can be tailored to teens’ specific needs, such as journaling platforms, guided meditation, and those that offer AI-driven mood tracking.

“I think we’ll see more teens using apps like Calm and Headspace for mindfulness practices and apps like Worry Watch or MindShift CBT for tracking their mood and reframing negative thoughts,” Dr. Choulet says, adding that online wellness communities will also be popular with teens.

Wellness is also going offline, with Dr. Choulet predicting that teens’ focus on skincare routines will continue to be immensely popular.

Titania Jordan, the Chief Parent Officer of parental-control app Bark, agrees that optimizing mental health will be a cornerstone of teen behavior in 2025.

“Between the surgeon general’s recent stark warning on the state of children’s mental health and the constant new studies that detail the stresses kids face, it’s no wonder young people are turning to mental health resources,” she tells Parents. 

Teens may turn to traditional therapy and journaling—or, Jordan concurs with Dr. Choulet that they may be more comfortable employing apps and online support groups.

“There are even platforms that aim to make the practice of self-care easier and provide motivation. For example, Finch gamifies the act of self-care by tying to a digital bird,” Jordan explains. “The more tasks you perform—mindful breathing, journaling—the more the bird will grow and thrive.”

Balancing Social Media Use in 2025

Teen trends for 2025 on the social media front seem to in part be tied to the focus on wellness. Consider that as Jordan explains, some teens are getting sick of sticking their faces in a screen 24/7.

“Kids may be starting to reach peak online saturation and are self-policing their online habits a bit more,” she tells us. Of course, living in a screen-driven world offers many benefits in terms of convenience, but as teens—and their parents—are becoming increasingly aware, as Jordan points out, “It can come at the cost of genuine connection and mindfulness.”

“The stress of curating a perfect life on Instagram, the threat of cyberbullying, and the constant notifications can take a toll,” Jordan continues. Thus, in 2025, we may see teens ditching their smartphones for so-called “dumb phones” and seeking out IRL interactions more and more.

The fact that many schools are banning cell phones may also lead to a downturn in social media engagement.

For teens who are still very much online—of which of course there will be many—Jordan says that TikTok shop is poised to become the next Amazon due to the continuing dominance of the platform.

“While scrolling through favorite creators—some of whom are even themselves hawking in-demand and trending products—kids can easily buy things in-app via TikTok,” Jordan elaborates. She goes on to warn that scams are getting harder to spot, so parents should be wary of what teens are engaging with on TikTok before they click “buy.”

Meanwhile, with a potential TikTok ban on the horizon, Giselle Ugarte, an online performance coach, and online habits expert, predicts that we’ll see the rise of the app Lemon8 for the teen set. 

For those not familiar (raises hand), Ugarte explains about the similar app to TikTok, “It was launched in 2020 around the time when initial conversations of a ban started happening.” 

Ugarte also sees Snapchat continuing to be popular among teens, with the platform attracting younger and younger audiences, which may be a potential concern for parents as well, incidentally.

Ultimately, however, like Jordan and Choulet, Ugarte says teens will increasingly crave connection and community offline.

Tracking Teen Finances

As we turn the page on another year, teens will continue to have some serious purchasing power according to Jennifer Seitz, CFEI®, the Director of Education at Greenlight.

She points to Greenlight’s Year in Review data for 2024, which sheds light on kid and teen spending habits. Here are some of the retailers and restaurants that received the lion’s share of young people’s $2 billion spend last year:

• Amazon: The under-18 set shelled out over $70 million on the commerce site in 2024.
• DoorDash: This was the top food merchant with Greenlight users. 
• Target, Walmart, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Chick-fil-A, and Chipotle: These stores and restaurants topped the list of the top teen spots to drop coin last year.
• Sephora: On average, youth purchasers spent $38 per visit in 2024 for their beauty needs at this wildly popular retailer.
• Shein, American Eagle, Pacsun, Nike, and Hollister: These fashion brands saw the most teen traffic in 2024, and will likely remain in demand into 2025. 

“When it comes to teen spending, both the top retailer, Amazon, and top food merchant, DoorDash, indicate a preference for the extensive variety and on-demand convenience that is enabled with technology and home delivery,” Seitz tells Parents. 

It’s worth noting that according to the data, teens also spent money at amusement parks, cinemas, and concerts, with total spending at Ticketmaster reaching nearly $1 million in 2024. (Thank you, Taylor Swift!) Thus, it’s likely that experiences will still be high on teens’ bucket lists in the New Year.

Gaming was also a hot category, with Apple, Playstation, and Microsoft earning the most teen dollars—followed by Xbox, Roblox, EA Games, and Steam Games.

When they weren’t spending, Seitz notes that user savings increased by a total of $259 million in 2024, which means young people are increasingly focused on planning for the future. Investments more than doubled as well. Among users’ top saving goals? A car and college, as well as vacation.

Greenlight’s findings also noted that kids and teens are earning more via direct deposits from employers and chores, to the tune of 66 million tasks completed in 2024, with an average allowance of $13.42.

Finally, it’s wonderful to report that according to Greenlight data, kids and teens directed $8 million to charity in 2024.

We can’t wait to see how these trends play out in 2025, but the report obviously gives us a window into what is important when it comes to teen finances as we move into the New Year.

What’s Old is New Again in Fashion

To get the 411 on what fashion trends will rule the school in 2025, we talked to Stitch Fix, whose stylists cater not only to us parents but to the under-18 set as well. Some of the styles they predict teens will be showing off include:

• Wide-leg styles. Stitch Fix reported a 73% increase in requests for these bottoms since the same time last year.
• Animal print. Requests for animal prints are up 54% since last year, so don’t be surprised if you see your tween or teen rocking leopard, snake, and zebra prints in 2025.
• The color purple. With requests for the color up 21% since last year, younger shoppers are increasingly showing a preference for purple.
• Low-rise styles. Hello, 1990s all over again! Requests for this feature are up 50% since last year among kids who weren’t even born yet when Paris Hilton debuted the look in the early aughts.
• Athleisure wear. Stitch Fix has seen an increase in requests for this aesthetic over the past 12 months among clients under 18.

The team at Stitch Fix also noted that for clients under age 18, Taylor Swift will persevere in her ability to influence fashion in 2025.

Meanwhile, Tatyana Arrington, an entertainment journalist and pop culture expert tells Parents that she expects to see Gen Zers continuing to trend toward the clean girl aesthetic.

“The minimalist, polished style isn’t going anywhere,” she says, adding that Hailey Bieber is the ringleader of this trend, with Maddie Ziegler also exemplifying what Arrington calls “an effortless vibe—like the girl who has it all together without looking like she’s trying too hard.”

Arrington also suspects that the so-called Tradwife core is going to trickle down to the teen set, inspiring vintage and traditional fashion.

School-Life Balance

Teens spend more hours at school and after-school activities than at home in many cases, so with regard to this major part of their lives, Lorna Bryant, the director of Career Solutions for Connections Academy and Pearson’s Virtual Learning division says 2025 will be about students leveraging school/life balance as they focus on wellness.

“Just as working professionals value work/life balance for personal fulfillment, it’s encouraging to see that students are also realizing the importance of balancing school activities with their personal lives from an early age,” Bryant says. 

She cites new research from Pearson’s Connections Academy that found 73% of students say getting enough sleep helps them achieve a good school/life balance. Drinking enough water and taking breaks also help in this endeavor.

Importantly, students who are not achieving a balance between school and their outside life report high levels of stress, anxiety, loneliness, and depression, underscoring how vital it is for parents to support teens in their quest to find school/life balance.

Meanwhile, Bryant also says that as early as middle school, kids are increasingly showing an interest in career exploration, highlighting another potential trend in learning for 2025.

Pop Culture Predictions

It seems that pop princesses will rule in 2025. Indeed, as far as what teens will be listening to on Spotify, Arrington tells Parents, “Sabrina Carpenter broke into mainstream media in 2024 and is poised for even greater success in 2025.”

Teens will also be rocking out to Billie Eilish, Gracie Abrams, and Lana Del Rey on their AirPods—that is if they aren’t streaming Gilmore Girls or Gossip Girl on Netflix. (What’s old is new again … again.)

Meanwhile, Alex Kess, founder of Kess Co., a toy and entertainment company based in Los Angeles, adds that anime is poised to be even bigger in 2025.

“Anime has become a significant force in pop culture, with the global anime market projected to reach $36.2 billion by 2025,” he tells Parents. We will see these influences everywhere, from gaming online to board games, TV, and other forms of entertainment as well, including live events and conventions.