To ring in the new year, Emma Chamberlain took to her highly-rated podcast, Anything Goes, on Jan. 5 to discuss her 2023 predictions for fashion, society, and the internet. In Chamberlain’s round-up of hopes and predictions for the New Year, she predicts everything from the rising popularity of street style on red carpets to a resurgence of minimalism, and even our society’s rejection of anti-aging rhetoric. Chamberlain’s predictions are optimistic, and even a bit controversial — one of her predictions is a shift within plastic surgery trends.
Chamberlain predicts modest and “natural”-looking plastic surgery will become a new trend. She claims, “There will be a reversal of Barbie-like plastic surgery. The perfect-looking procedures have lost their allure, and the mystery is gone. I think the next plastic surgery trend will be procedures that are almost impossible to point out.” We’ve seen this slowly throughout 2022 with the baby BBL trend. Kim Kardashian was at the forefront of this conversation after fans speculated that she removed fat from her butt to make it smaller. Kardashian has yet to respond to these specific claims, but she did confirm that she lost a significant amount of weight to fit in her controversial 2022 Met Gala dress. This topic sparked debates for months about whether or not the “BBL era” was over.
According to an article by Dr. Drew Davis for the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, people are more interested in looking like an enhanced version of themselves. Surgeons are seeing more patients bring photos of their friends and family with desirable traits. So Emma, bestie, you just might be on to something.
But does industry data back up Chamberlain’s prediction? Well, the plastic surgery industry is worth $40 billion and is expected to grow to $48.84 billion by 2026, according to the 2022 Cosmetic Surgery Global Market Report. Plastic surgery is an increasingly common trend in today’s society: With the advancement of technology and the allure of subtle procedures, it may be harder to tell who has work done.
According to Allure, the economy significantly affects the types of surgery people have; therefore, the most popular surgeries surgeons predict for 2023 are breast augmentations and liposuction. This prediction is based on the longevity of the procedures, as breast augmentations last up to 10 years, and liposuction contouring is permanent. Also, people often think long and hard about breast augmentations and liposuction because they’re more of an investment and are low-maintenance procedures, making them a better bang for your buck.
It doesn’t look like plastic surgery is going anywhere soon, so Chamberlain’s theory might hold water.