Cigarettes appear to be enjoying a cultural renaissance among Gen Z, decades after people quit smoking in droves after research began to show the ill health effects.

They’re popping up across social media in edits of celebrities and iconic TV characters, like Sex and the City 's Carrie Bradshaw, making cameos on the runway and appearing in fashion content.

Gen Z has long been seen as wellness-obsessed and known for abstaining from drugs and alcohol . A July 2024 study found that 64 percent of legal drinking-age Gen Zers in the United States said they had not consumed alcohol in the six months leading up to May that year. In December 2024, University of Michigan researchers found that the percentage of students who abstained from drugs reached record levels that year .

And indeed,

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