7 L.A. Trends We’re Seeing Everywhere Right Now

Sleek and gorgeous are not usually the first adjectives that come to mind when you think of picking up your weekly groceries, but Los Angeles-based Erewhon, with its perfectly curated fresh and prepared foods, gets that sort of reaction from its clients and TikTokers, who according to the New York Times use it as a place to see and be seen. (It’s true, you’ll find better ‘fits at the West Hollywood location than at the nearby Grove shopping center). A favorite of celebs like Lily Collins and Dakota Johnson, the trendy food destination boasts an impressive selection of salads, sandwiches and sushi, with an A-list price tag to match. In the past two years, the store has gone from six to 11 locations, and investment capital is expected to drive an eastward expansion. So, get ready for a $18 celebrity smoothie to hit your town soon.

Malibu-based clothing company Bleusalt has always been a favorite of locals—a bestselling pant and top is named after Cindy Crawford, who brand founder Lyndie Benson designed for the supermodel. Now a wider audience is discovering these easy knit tops, skirts and jackets thanks to Meghan Markle, who wore a knockout sleeveless turtleneck and tube skirt in a recent televised appearance with Prince Harry. Look for new shapes from this company—as well as L.A.-based Jenni Kayne (the Alpaca cocoon crewneck sold out fast last winter) and Malibu-based knitwear brand 27 Miles—to be on all the chicest shoulders in your nabe soon.

Forget networking happy hours: Hitting the trails with purpose is how alliances are formed in Los Angeles these days. Allowing friends to reconnect for morning hikes and new friendships to form are clubs like Black Girls’ Trekkin, Latino Outdoors and Unlikely Hikers (“for adventurers who are plus-size & fat, Black, Indigenous, People of Color, queer, trans and non-binary, disabled, neurodivergent and beyond”) where people seek  “promoting outdoor equity and the creation of safe spaces” as the Los Angeles Times reported this year.  With similar community-based chapters in locales across the nation, organizing + outdoors means breaking a healthy sweat.

Functional medicine, also known as integrative medicine, is a wellness practice that seeks to determine the root causes of illness and address those, rather than concentrating on symptoms of ailments. As Web MD explains, the practice takes into account factors such as “diet, genetics, hormonal changes, prescription and over the counter medications, and other lifestyle components. This type of doctor may be ideal for people with chronic illnesses that aren't easily managed by conventional medical techniques.” Think: a doctor suggesting you go gluten-free and try meditation to fix your stomach issues. Or doing a full blood panel for vitamin and mineral deficiencies  that could then be treated to remedy the chronic lethargy you’ve been suffering.  And according to research conducted by wellness app Mindbody, Los Angeles is the city with the highest concentration of integrative medicine clients in the country. But if you think this is just a woo-woo West Coast trend, think again. Functional medicine is in fact real medicine and in the past year, these kinds of check-ups have been offered at the Carillon Miami Wellness Resort and The Well in New York.

Nubby beige interiors are so 2010 L.A.—these days, the best-looking homes in town are embracing colorful maximalism. Get an idea of the style, which deploys shiny surfaces, worthy antiques and bright patterned wallpaper and printed fabrics, but always in service of utility and property owner personality, in the new monograph from Echo Park-based David Netto, and at the design studios of Frances Merrill in Silverlake and Lindsay Pennington in Tarzana. Public meeting spaces, too, like restaurants-of the moment Felix Trattoria and new Funke, are embracing high-energy design.

The drive to rip out water-wasting lawns for native plants, which also support migrating pollinators, is a full-grown craze in Los Angeles. At nurseries such as Plant Material, now with locations in L.A. neighborhoods Glassel Park, Altadena and Silverlake, the absolute biggest homeowner humblebrag is talking about just how little water she used this summer. Connecticut-based gardening authority Tovah Martin sees a national trend toward native plants and popularization of converting lawns into gardens and mini-meadows, which are in turn resulting in “bulkier gardens.” In the Washington Post, she wrote “Native species tend to be more voluminous than their introduced hybrid counterparts, and gardeners want plants that will make an impression.” Embrace the trend by replacing non-native plants with plants native to your area (type your zip code into this tool from the National Wildlife Federation to see what’s native to your area) and shrink your lawn gradually, replacing the monoculture imported grass with regional groundcover.

Ketamine therapy for PTSD and depression has popped up in Los Angeles-based clinics and scientific studies, and now the psychedelic pharmaceutical is the main event at retreats and day-long sound bath sessions. With participants sucking ketamine lozenges instead of receiving the drug intravenously, the effect is more gentle dissociation and less overwhelmingly disruptive, and sound bath guides encourage post-sound bath journaling and discussions with other sound bath participants. "Ketamine-assisted therapy is an innovative and effective mental health treatment, with applications for PTSD, depression, substance abuse and other mental health indications. It is generating excitement because its side effects are minimal, studies have shown it has long-term benefits and it gets to the root cause of trauma and anxiety,” says Sherry Rais, CEO and co-founder of Enthea, a licensed provider of health benefit plans that cover psychedelic-assisted therapies for employees.