The Monday Media Diet with Anu Lingala

On Dezeen, Mariam Rahmani, and Chani

I’ve been reading Anu’s work for some time and am delighted to have her with us for the first MMD of 2026.

Tell us about yourself.

I’m from New York, born (in the city) and raised (in the suburbs). I studied fashion design and history of design, and I did short stints in London (loved it) and Seattle (hated it) before moving back. I’ve now lived in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn for 7 years, and adore my neighborhood. I thrive off of the constant cultural stimulus of the city, which could mean checking out an art gallery or just people-watching at a cafe. But I try to avoid Work Island (Manhattan) on the weekends.

I’ve started calling myself a Trend Strategist. It’s a hybrid title that I made up because nothing else ever seemed to accurately convey my expertise, which bridges trend forecasting and brand strategy. My roots are in fashion and beauty, but I’ve also worked with clients across CPG, F&B, etc. I like the challenge of getting out of my comfort zone, sometimes.

In my current role at Mejuri, I’ve had the unique opportunity to develop and implement a trend strategy workflow from scratch. I research and track trends, then translate these into: annual planning thoughtstarters for leadership, semi-annual aesthetic trends & product strategy for our jewelry design team, quarterly cultural trends & creative strategy for our marketing team, and monthly trend updates for the entire company. I also work on ad-hoc strategy projects to inform new initiatives, like our Play launch.

On the side, I write What’s Anu, a trend strategy newsletter. It’s an outlet for me to explore macro trends and themes — the sorts of big-picture ideas that there isn’t really an appetite for at my day job, but which inevitably still inspire and improve my day-to-day thinking. I’ve found that writing is a great way to process higher-level concepts

Describe your media diet.

I rely on a ridiculous number of newsletters, but my approach to reading them has changed significantly since launching my own this year. While I’m mostly subscribed to the same things, I used to haphazardly click on whatever caught my attention. Now, I try to be more intentional.

I have a set of Core-Trend publications that I stay up-to-date on for the purpose of sourcing trend signals that inform my newsletter: After School, Feed Me, As Seen On, Thinking Out Loud, Good Thinking, SIC, Dazed, Dezeen, Trendwatching, LSN Global. Usually, these also link me out to stories from NYT, FT, WSJ, etc.

There’s another set of Core-Fashion news that I keep on top of, for my full-time job: WWD, Business of Fashion, Line Sheet (Puck), Vogue Business, Glossy, Magasin, WGSN, JCK, National Jeweler.

Then, the Macro-Trend set, which I tend to save for weekends and might fall behind on at times. These offer deep dives on macro themes or interesting takes that shift my perspective: Zine, Concept Bureau, Zoe Scaman, 8Ball, Nemesis, Kyle Chayka, The Up & Up, Kyla Scanlon.

Finally, I try to sporadically skim a Category-Trend set for industries that might not naturally show up in my feeds: Snaxshot (food & bev), Fitt (sport & fitness), Window Seat (travel), Wired (tech), Atmos (sustainability).

All of the above ‘sets’ are auto-labeled in my email inbox so that they are easily accessible when I have time. While reading, I actively identify and add specific trend signals to my notion database, which I later use when writing my newsletters.

Otherwise, NYT and Semafor newsletters keep me updated on general news. There are tons more publications that I subscribe to and enjoy when I get the chance. But there are only so many hours in the day, and I like having a social life. While I don’t follow many podcasts, I’m currently a regular listener of Fashion People, Day One FM, and Hip Replacement.

What’s the last great book you read?

Technically, it’s Perfection. Since that’s been oft-repeated, I’ll share another: Liquid by Mariam Rahmani. It felt poignant, because some of the plot relating to family dynamics and tragedy are similar to what I’ve dealt with personally.

What are you reading now?

Pattern Recognition by William Gibson and Blank Space by W. David Marx — but both have been on pause, because the past couple weeks I’ve focused on reading and synthesizing dozens of trend reports to prepare for writing and publishing my own (coming soon!).

What’s your reading strategy when you pick up a print copy of your favorite publication?

I love magazines, but I’m not a loyalist. I’ll occasionally stop by a store and peruse the covers, quickly flipping through a few before purchasing a couple that pique my interest (I sorely miss expensing stacks of them when I worked at Nordstrom). Once in a cozy spot, I start by opening up to the story that initially reeled me in. Then, I’ll go back to the beginning and skim cover-to-cover with intermittent stops to read. Afterwards, I will usually cut out my favorite images and save them for moodboarding. Yes, I’m a magazine mutilator, apologies if that’s offensive.

Who should everyone be reading that they’re not?

Kyla Scanlon. I guess a lot of people read her work, but if you’re not then you should. I think her essay on friction was pivotal, and it heavily inspired my own essay on Aspirational Humanity. Having just read many trend reports, ‘friction’ feels like it will be the next buzzword after ‘community.’ At least, it’s better than ‘taste.’

What is the best non-famous app you love on your phone?

Chani. It’s an astrology app; I’m just a girl! I like that it includes weekly guided meditations and an evergreen library of them too. Sort of a two-in-one and I’m all about app-minimalism.

Plane or train?

Plane, primarily because I live in America. Though I do often find myself in awe of flying and its time-traveling effect. In fact, this was a great quote about jetlag from the start of Pattern Recognition:

“...her mortal soul is leagues behind her, being reeled in on some ghostly umbilical down the vanished wake of the plane that brought her here, hundreds of thousands of feet above the Atlantic. Souls can’t move that quickly, and are left behind, and must be awaited, upon arrival, like lost luggage.”

What is one place everyone should visit?

Ideally, James Turrell’s Unseen Seen at the Museum of Old and New Art, in Tasmania, Australia, because that entire museum is a trip. Realistically, one of his many immersive installations, like Into the Light at MassMOCA. I’ve unintentionally embarked on a sort of global Turrell scavenger hunt by randomly stumbling upon pieces, like Second Wind during a road trip across southern Spain, and most recently The Wedge when in Seoul for a wedding. I almost stayed at the House of Light in Japan, but that still remains on my bucket list.

Tell us the story of a rabbit hole you fell deep into.

Researching and writing Who Killed Cool? took over my entire summer.

In mid-July, I attended Dazed Studio’s Death of Cool webinar and stumbled upon Edmond Lau’s Irony-Sincerity Cycle post on Linkedin, both within the same week. I immediately felt these ideas intersected, but it took me over three months to figure out how. Part of this process was entering a deep rabbit hole researching the historical origins of the word ‘cool,’ which was fascinating and turned out to be the missing piece of the puzzle for Who Killed Cool?