The new ‘It’ subcultures
Gawker has dubbed it “femiladyism.” We call it a renaissance of all things handmade — with a punk twist. Recent examples of hipster-adopted crafting include everything from crocheting skulls-and-crossbones out of pink yarn to fashioning duct-tape corsets. If you think you saw it all at an urban craft-market such as Boston’s own Bazaar Bizarre, then you clearly haven’t wasted days on end in an online treasure hunt through various etsy.com shops. This is crafting for an audience that is still decades from the nursing home.

Designing dresses out of tampons isn’t your idea of a leisure pursuit? Perhaps learning how to kick the shit out of really strong people is. Mixed martial arts have been on the rise for the past few years, but 2008 could be the year the gore fest launches itself from cable-television fetishism to pop-collective consciousness. The brass behind the Ultimate Fighting Championship are in talks with CBS, and Boston has become something of a mini publicity hub for the fringe sport. Current UFC president Dana White, a former UMass Boston student, has been diligently working to spin this “recreational activity” into a mainstream pastime. Keep your guard up.

The new ‘It’ fashion
Now that New York Times’ style guru Eric Wilson has signaled the death of the “It” bag — which delighted us, seeing as we carry beat-up purses and, when we’re feeling fancy, upgrade to a clutch from Old Navy — it’s about time that the sartorially inclined allow their conscience to catch up with their fashion-consciousness. Hence, the continued prevalence of “greenwash,” the true eco-fashionista’s term for those who are capitalizing on the trend instead of caring about the cause. To wit: if you had an eco-fashion line, capsule collection, or limited-release exclusive T-shirt, pants, or anti-plastic accessory in 2007, you were somebody. If you have one in 2008, well, you’re pretty much everybody. Now that eco-fashion has officially hit the mainstream (H&M, Gap, Barneys, and endless diffusion lines carry everything from organic cotton T-shirts to eco-luxe evening wear), we expect to see even more backlash than we did with Anya Hindmarch’s infamous “I’m Not a Plastic Bag.” When designers bitch-fight over whose luxury label is the most earth-friendly, it distracts them, we believe, from pushing mysterious items such as seasonal sweater coats on the masses. Are they coats? Are they sweaters? What in God’s name are they, really?

The new ‘It’ film
Remakes will remain the film industry’s savior in 2008, with Paramount’s still-in-production Star Trek blockbuster in place as the studio’s shining beacon. Directed by J.J. Abrams (Felicity, Lost, Mission: Impossible III), Star Trek is set to function as an early prequel to the original Trek films. That means fresh-faced, hotter versions of all the crew members, played, of course, by a random assortment of up-and-coming-but-still-cheap-to-hire new Hollywood stars. Heroes’ Zachary Quinto is the young Spock, and Chris Pine (the token hunk from The Princess Diaries 2) has been tapped to play Captain Kirk. HFS WTF!? Clever, clever Paramount: instead of trying to make a teen movie into a hit, they’re turning Star Trek into a teen movie. Sorry, Trekkies, this one clearly isn’t for you.

The new ‘It’ media
Are celebrity tabloids the only publications out there with rising circulations? Does every arty magazine require a PhD in pretension? No. At least not in Amelia Gregory’s world. Amelia’s Magazine is the former stylist’s self-launched, self-run baby — she publishes, edits, and art-directs the entire thing — and it’s beautiful. This isn’t a ’zine, friends. It’s a full-on magazine, but it has the same personal touch and labor-of-love feel. Gregory is a Londoner with impeccable taste. The mag has the editorial cajones to run things like a 60-page spread on contemporary Russia and endless contributor-inspired musings on up-and-coming bands, fashion, photography, and DIY projects. Plus, every cover is an incredible work of art: they’ve ranged from a Swarovski diamante-encrusted casing with a cut-out cardboard carousel to the upcoming Issue 08, which features a holographic double-front cover of Superbugs designs by illustrator Amy Brown. AM is finally being distributed stateside, as well as elsewhere abroad. We like blogs, but we’re getting exhausted by the sheer volume, and now prefer to have someone we don’t know personally but trust implicitly to provide us with one-stop-culture shopping for interesting articles, attractive layouts, and pretty pictures.

The new ‘It’ gadget
Okay, so Google itself isn’t releasing a phone. But the company has teamed up with several other wireless businesses to help them turn cell phones into appropriately made-over tiny wireless computers. Google has always given away software such as Gmail for free, preferring instead to profit from customized advertisements. The device — which gadget-freaks have dubbed the Google phone due to the brand’s involvement — will work much the same way. Using the open-source strategy, the software will eventually be made available to everyone. While on-screen advertisements usually aren’t something we’d be ecstatic about, they could offer unique payment models. In other words, it might actually be more affordable than, say, the iPhone. Even if it doesn’t look as cute. In August 2005, Google purchased Android, Inc., a Cambridge-based mobile-phone/software-development firm that’s currently toiling over the prototype design. Rumblings suggest the Google phone could be released this year. Somewhere, Steve Jobs is having a major panic attack.