Unicorn trend
The unicorn trend refers to a design and consumer culture phenomenon that gained prominence in the mid-2010s, characterized by the use of unicorn imagery combined with bright, pastel, or highly saturated color palettes, including pink, violet, yellow, blue, and green. Coverage in popular media has associated the trend with social media marketing, influencer culture, and novelty-driven consumer branding, particularly on platforms such as Instagram.
Background
The unicorn has been used as an aesthetic and symbolic motif for centuries and has also appeared in various commercial and decorative contexts. The first written references to these animals date back to the 4th Century BCE. In medieval European folklore, the unicorn was associated with chastity and purity and was often depicted as a creature that could only be captured by a virgin.Ancient Greek authors described a one-horned animal resembling a horse, often interpreted in later tradition as a unicorn, with a single long, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead. The unicorn briefly appears in the Old Testament of the Bible under the name of re’em, making its way in the Western art and culture during the Medieval and Renaissance Ages.
By the late 20th century, the unicorn had become a recurring motif in children’s toys and media, reflecting broader trends in the commercialization and design of toys during that period.
Trend development
The contemporary unicorn trend emerged in the 2010s as unicorn-themed imagery and pastel or rainbow color palettes became prominent in consumer products and online visual culture. In media coverage, the trend has been closely associated with the popularity of “unicorn food”—highly stylized, brightly colored foods designed for visual appeal and social sharing—which received heightened attention in 2016–2017, including through widely publicized branded products such as Starbucks’ limited-edition Unicorn Frappuccino. Academic discussion of “unicorn food” has described it as part of social photography and Instagram-oriented food marketing in the same period.Contemporary culture
Cultural commentary has noted a significant transformation in the representation of unicorns in modern popular culture, shifting from earlier depictions emphasizing rarity, danger, or moral purity toward increasingly playful, infantilized, and highly colorful forms.According to The Guardian, this shift reflects a broader change in how the unicorn functions symbolically, moving away from its historical associations toward a visually driven, commercially adaptable icon within contemporary media and consumer culture.
Examples of these contrasting representations can be found in popular media franchises. More traditional portrayals appear in fantasy narratives such as the Harry Potter film series, while brightly colored, stylized unicorn imagery is prominent in animated franchises such as My Little Pony, which have been widely associated with the visual aesthetics later adopted by the unicorn trend.
The start of the trend
Health food photographer Adeline Waugh is widely credited with popularizing the unicorn food trend in June 2016. As a food blogger, she liked experimenting with cream cheese and natural pigments on toasts, which led her to create a pastel-coloured cream to decorate her toasts. Her followers appreciated the experiment and started calling it "unicorn toast". Subsequent variations, including unicorn-themed lattes, cakes, hot chocolate, were documented on social media. The colour scheme was later adopted in a range of consumer products, particularly within the beauty industry. Several commentators have noted that brands such as Starbucks engaged with the trend, launching products like the unicorn Frappuccino in 2017. The popularity of unicorn imagery has also been discussed in academic literature in relation to LGBTQ symbolism, particularly due to overlapping color palettes and visual aesthetics.As Vaughn Scribner notes, interest in unicorn imagery predates social media; however, he argues that digital platforms have accelerated its dissemination. By 2016, multiple trend analysts described unicorn-themed products as a widespread cultural phenomenon. According to the trend expert Daniel Levine, factors contributing to the formation of a fad include “an established cultural interest in something that combines with the current zeitgeist, publicity by celebrities, and a high visual interest that gets the attention on social media.”
Some cultural commentators suggest that unicorn imagery evokes childhood nostalgia and functions as a form of escapism. Others have compared the popularity of unicorns with earlier cultural fascinations with fantasy creatures such as vampires or werewolves, without establishing a consensus explanation.
Unicorn imagery has been discussed in scholarly literature in relation to contemporary nostalgia and playful aesthetics in digital culture.
The animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, which premiered in 2010, is frequently cited as a significant influence on the contemporary popularity of unicorn imagery, drawing on the earlier My Little Pony franchise of the 1980s.
The Unicorn Fad
According to Google Trends, the global search for the term “unicorn” spiked in April 2017, when Starbucks launched its Unicorn Frappuccino. From August 2016 through July 2017, searches on Pinterest for unicorn food saw an increase of nearly 400%, while those for unicorn makeup reached more than 460%. On Instagram, the hashtag unicorn has amassed more than 5.9 million posts.Subcategories of the trend
Unicorn food
The term "unicorn food" has been used to describe foods characterized by pastel or rainbow color palettes and glitter-like decorations, and it does not necessarily involve depicting a unicorn itself.The Unicorn Frappuccinowas a limited-edition, color-changing beverage featuring pastel hues and a sweet, fruity flavor profile, which gained widespread attention in 2017. Following its release, the visual style associated with the drink was adopted more broadly, and foods ranging from sweet to savory were adapted to a pastel-colored, decorative aesthetic commonly described as “unicorn”. Food bloggers, writers, YouTubers, celebrities, and ordinary people produced recipes and products emphasizing visual appeal, particularly for sharing on social media platforms. There are books, blogs, YouTube videos, and websites focused on recreating or purchasing colorful and decorative food items associated with the trend.
Many different types of food were adapted to this aesthetic, including desserts, beverages, and some savory dishes, typically featuring pastel color palettes and decorative elements.
Unicorn beauty
The Unicorn beauty trend refers to the use of pastel color palettes, holographic shades, glitter elements, and fantasy-inspired motifs in cosmetics, nail art, and hairstyling.The emergence of unicorn-themed branding in the beauty industry has been associated with the late 2000s, including the founding of the vegan and cruelty-free cosmetics brand Lime Crime in 2008, which adopted the tagline "Makeup for Unicorns" as part of its branding strategy. In 2014, the hair colorist and YouTuber Guy Tang shared images of rainbow-colored hairstyles on Instagram, which have been cited as examples of the growing visibility of unicorn-inspired aesthetics on social media.
By 2017, the unicorn trend had spread into the beauty world thanks to social media platforms such as Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest and partly overtook its counterpart, the Mermaid Trend. In the same year, Lisa Frank made a collaboration with the brand Glamour Dolls Makeup and released a cruelty-free makeup collection with the packaging covered by her iconic rainbowed animal prints.
In 2018, Paris Hilton launched a skincare line, that included a limited-edition rose water product marketed as "Unicorn Mist". The product was re-released in 2019 following online promotion during National Unicorn Day in the United States.
A number of cosmetic products have since adopted unicorn-themed naming conventions, such as "unicorn snot," "unicorn tears," and "unicorn essence," typically referring to items featuring holographic or iridescent visual effects rather than literal depictions of unicorns.
Unicorn design
The Unicorn Trend has featured in the world of design with the creation of daily use objects and gadgets with the appearance and colors of unicorns. The designs are often found on pillows, sheets and bed-covers, drinking cups, and flatware. One of the most popular items was the unicorn pool float, an inflatable plastic unicorn.Unicorn fashion
Rapidly, the popularity of unicorn-themed objects also reached the fashion industry. Clothes, shoes, and accessories were involved, but also phone covers and tattoos. Materials such as sheer fabrics and fake fur started to be used more frequently associated with rainbow or pastel colors and unicorn images.In 2016, actress Margot Robbie wore an Alexander McQueen gown adorned with a gold sequin unicorn to the premiere of the film Suicide Squad. During the 2017, Milan Fashion Week, Moschino unveiled a capsule collection in collaboration with the 80s children toy brand "My Little Pony". Models were parading on the runway clothed with bubble-gum pink and baby blue looks displaying the toys' graphic. During the 2018 Paris Fashion Week, American designer Thom Browne ended his show with a model walking out on the runway having a unicorn on a leash. The unicorn consisted of two male models wearing an elaborate white tulle costume coordinated with the look of the model.