Create Tomorrow, The WGSN Podcast: Recent Episodes
WGSN
WGSN is the world's leading consumer trend forecaster.
In this podcast we discuss the changing world and how industries will need to adapt. Each episode focuses on a single market, topic or trend as we unpack what businesses and individuals need to do to navigate the fast-changing world around us.
Our expert trend forecasting combined with data science help you understand consumer behaviour and lifestyles, create products with confidence and trade at the right time.
WGSN is an Ascential company.
The home is evolving into a powerful, behavioural architecture tool. Gemma Riberti, WGSN’s Director, CMF (Colour, Materials & Finishes) and Create Tomorrow host Cassandra Napoli reveal why the dining table is catalysing behaviour, framing moments of connection and shared experience.
Whether you’re designing a new product, curating your next dinner party or building wellness into your living space, Gemma uncovers how the hearth of the home whets our appetite for togetherness, influencing everything from kitchen design to social rituals at home. Find out how tablescaping delivers family moments and solo functionality, serving authenticity in imperfection.
Fashion Founders host Victoria Smith speaks to Create Tomorrow host Cassandra Napoli to explore the evolving media landscape, creator influence, sustainability and future trends in apparel design.
Find out how creator-led businesses are shaping the future of fashion with ground-up networks, how media fragmentation is developing fashion discourse and how to win with functional designs.
Join host Cassandra Napoli and Osmo founder and CEO Alex Wiltschko as they uncover how AI-driven olfactory technology is transforming scent creation, sensory storytelling and personal memory re-creation.
From translating concepts into scents digitally and making it programmable to personalising scents to connect with consumers emotionally, Alex explores how olfactory intelligence can deepen brand resonance and communicate more intimately with scent as the emerging language for culture.
Join host Cassandra Napoli, Head of Consumer Forecasting at WGSN, in conversation with Paula James-Martinez, Founder and Editor-In-Chief of Cuqui Magazine, about what’s next for teen culture. They explore how the decline of teen-focused spaces, social media bans and shifting cultural behaviours are reshaping adolescence and how brands can connect authentically with young people by understanding what they want, giving them a voice and something they can claim.
In this episode of Create Tomorrow, Cassandra Napoli dives into the evolving fashion landscape for incoming fashion creatives with Graduate Fashion Foundation’s Managing Director Nicola Hitchens and Communications & Special Projects Director Annabel Waterhouse-Biggins.
They explore emerging trends, the impact of AI on education and specific skills to focus on to work well with AI. Tune in to understand what the new markers of success are and which values are shaping the next generation of designers and their work ethic.
Join Create Tomorrow host Cassandra Napoli and guest Tony Magana, founder of the Football Boutique, discussing how football shapes culture in America, especially with the 2026 World Cup approaching.
Discover the evolution of football culture, retail strategies, and the impact on fashion and community. Key insights include Tony's journey, the rise of soccer in the U.S., and the role of football aesthetics in fashion. Explore how brands can engage authentically and the future of football culture in America.
Amid misinformation and too many products to choose from, how can you engage customers and futureproof your brand? Join host Cassandra Napoli, WGSN’s Head of Consumer Forecasting, as she delves into skincare strategies with Rita Silva, The Ordinary’s Senior Manager, Scientific Communications and Brand Engagement.
Rita shares how transparency and education are transforming trust in beauty brands, exploring how scientific communication shapes consumer behaviour and trends. They connect these insights to real-world impacts, emphasising the importance of structured narratives to strengthen loyalty.
Find out how space exploration, innovative vehicle design and future mobility shape our world as aerospace designer Anthony Sims shares insights with host Cassandra Napoli. From redefining space interiors to integrating space-inspired aesthetics into everyday products, this episode offers a comprehensive look at the intersection of design, technology and human experience.
Digital Product Passports (DPPs) are changing how brands connect with consumers, driving circularity and revenue simultaneously. Host Cassandra Napoli invites IoDF’s CEO Leanne Young and CCO Cat Taylor who are using regulation to create traceable, smarter products.
They uncover how embedding DPPs into garments expands consumer engagement, revealing design concerns from discreet NFC chips to culturally sensitive placements that streamline marketing without social fatigue. Find out how brands build loyalty and maximise resale and repair.
Most Gen Zs are eager to rent and resell their wardrobes, but what if clothing brands started designing specifically for this shift? Host Cassandra Napoli invites Julia O’Mara and Brian McMahon, co-founders of Pickle, to unfold how peer-to-peer rental transforms fashion.
Julia and Brian share how Pickle turns closets into micro warehouses, creating an on-demand fashion that adapts to rapid trends and shorter lifecycles. Uncover the evolving consumer psyche on why affordability, accessibility and self-expression fuel the rental revolution.
Colour isn't just about aesthetics; it reflects and communicates emotions and events that shape our world. In this episode, host Cassandra Napoli invites WGSN’s Senior CMF Strategist Jennifer Birch to unveil the Colour of the Year for 2028, Radiant Earth.
This episode uncovers how Radiant Earth was meticulously chosen to resonate across industries, from consumer tech to aerospace, supported by WGSN’s colour provider, Coloro. Find out how this colour connects with consumer emotions like hope and resilience.
Host Cassandra Napoli invites WGSN’s Senior Strategist Laura Yiannakou to share insights on adapting fashion for fluctuating bodies and changing expectations. Laura delves into how GLP-1 drugs are reshaping apparel, from flexible sizing to inclusive designs.
From the rise of flexible fits to the integration of shapewear into everyday clothing, this episode explores the body and wardrobes in flux. Find out how brands are innovating with forward-thinking designs to meet the needs of modern consumers while minimising losses.
Join host Cassandra Napoli, Head of Consumer Forecasting at WGSN, as she explores the latest insights from Fashion Month with industry experts. In this episode, Cassandra is joined by Sara Maggioni, Head of Womenswear at WGSN, Kim Cupido, Senior Catwalk Strategist at WGSN, and Ana Correa, Accessories and Footwear Strategist at WGSN. Together, they delve into how collections reflect broader cultural shifts and technological innovations, sharing their visions for the future of fashion with a focus on sustainability, authenticity, and cross-continental creativity.
In this Create Tomorrow episode, host Cassandra Napoli invites Adobe Firefly Enterprise’s Director of Product Design Viggy Madhav to share how GenAI is transforming content creation, design processes and brand trust.
Listen in to explore the evolving role of human creativity, ethical considerations and the future landscape as AI seamlessly integrates into our creative and marketing workflows.
In this Create Tomorrow episode, host Cassandra Napoli meets Nicola Colombo, founder of E-SKIMO, to learn about innovative electric-assisted skis – designed to democratise access to backcountry skiing. Listen in to explore how technology, tradition, and sustainability are shaping the future of snow mobility.
In this Create Tomorrow episode, host Cassandra Napoli invites British accessible accessories designer Destiny Pinto to share how she transforms the industry with empathy and creativity and how accessibility and high fashion meet through adaptive and human-centred design.
Discover inclusive representation through Destiny’s innovative accessories, including her Adison bag that can be used on wheelchairs, mobility aids, strollers, car seats and more. Listen to find out how disability gain will benefit everyone, including able-bodied people.
In this Create Tomorrow episode, host Cassandra Napoli and WGSN Sport & Outdoors Content Strategist Mary Stanwick review how Gen Z is reshaping the sports landscape.
From cost and climate to fitness and spectatorship, they uncover how Gen Z are adapting for greater accessibility and shifting health priorities.
Tune in to learn about the rise of hybrid sports, the importance of aesthetics in product design and the growing influence of women in sports fandom.
In this special one-off episode, WGSN CEO Carla Buzasi and Head of Consumer Insight Cassandra Napoli give a sneak peek into how WGSN forecasts consumer and product trends.
The hosts of the two WGSN podcasts, Lives of Tomorrow and Create Tomorrow, also explain how the two podcasts work together to help you better understand tomorrow’s world whether you work in consumer lifestyle products or you're just interested in how the world's evolving.
Listen in for a taste of what’s to come on our podcasts in 2026.
In this episode, WGSN’s CEO Carla Buzasi is joined by Head of Marketing, Events and Culture Forecasting Cassandra Napoli and VP of Content and Director of Beauty Clare Varga to discuss 2026’s top trends.
They delve into Beauty’s secret ingredient tipping the scales, salmon sperm, plus digital privilege, the slow punk movement and the rise of unserious everything – exploring how these trends are shaping consumer behaviour and industries. Gain insights into digital detox, the impact of GLP-1 drugs across industries and the significance of guardian design in fashion.
In this Create Tomorrow episode, host Cassandra Napoli explores the evolving landscape of influence with industry leaders Brandon Perlman and Jennifer Wilder Perlman from Social Studies.
We explore how CEOs have long been the original influencers. Brandon and Jennifer talk about the importance of authenticity in marketing and how the creator economy is rapidly changing. Discover the power of quiet influence and the impact of AI on the influencer landscape
In this Create Tomorrow episode, host Cassandra Napoli and Matthew Drinkwater, head of the Fashion Innovation Agency at London College of Fashion, discuss the convergence of technology and fashion.
Matthew explores how emerging technologies like augmented reality, digital fashion and AI are transforming the industry and education. The conversation studies the role of digital fashion in the metaverse, the impact of AI on creativity and the future of fashion education.
In this Create Tomorrow episode, host Cassandra Napoli, surfboard shaper Donald Brink and former Surfer Magazine writer Gabe Sullivan discuss surfing’s cultural shift from a niche pastime to a mainstream sport.
Donald and Gabe uncover the role of surf shapers in crafting sustainable surfboards and the growing inclusivity within the surf community, particularly for women. Find out the impact of the internet on surf culture and surfing’s prominence as it becomes part of the Olympic Games.
In this episode, host Cassandra Napoli, WGSN’s Head of Kidswear Erin Rechner and Senior Cultural Strategist Liz Tan delve into the cultural moments set to define 2026 and beyond, offering insights into how brands can strategically embed themselves into these pivotal happenings.
We explore the future of fandoms, the rise of women in sports and the impact of co-creation on niche cultures. Discover how WGSN’s Events + Culture platform provides a roadmap for brands looking to connect with audiences meaningfully. Whether you’re a brand strategist or a culture enthusiast, gain valuable perspectives on navigating the evolving landscape of cultural engagement.
Join host Cassandra Napoli as she delves into the evolving world of fashion with Lizzie Wheeler, a resale expert and founder of Archival Bridal Studio.
In this episode, Lizzie shares her journey from wholesale to the forefront of the resale market, exploring the rise of IYKYK (if you know, you know) shopping networks and the growing demand for curation as a service.
Discover how consumer culture is shifting towards personalised, community-driven shopping experiences and what this means for the future of fashion.
In this Create Tomorrow episode, host Cassandra Napoli dives into the world of upcycled fashion with Hilary Star de Roy, founder of New York-based Royal Native. Amid the fast-paced trend cycle, Hilary stays true to her brand’s ethos of sustainability and community building.
Hilary shares her unique journey of transforming vintage textiles into sought-after pieces and the importance of hyper-local retail in fostering genuine connections. Listen in to explore how to balance enduring styles with modern trends and create an authentic and purpose-driven brand.
Create Tomorrow host Cassandra Napoli invites Launderette NYC’s founders Ireland McCaughey and Ben Razin to discuss their transformation of traditional laundromats into vibrant community spaces. Turning conventional laundry practices into an outsourced service, they deliver solutions for modern lifestyles.
They redefine consumer experiences by bridging social gaps, unveiling how to turn mundane chores into convenient, collaborative and creative spaces for consumers. Find out how they ironed out challenges which unfolded into opportunities entrepreneurs can learn from.
Create Tomorrow host Cassandra Napoli hears from Gob founder Lauryn Menard.about how her company is disrupting the earplug industry with mycelium-based products, emphasising the importance of accounting for an item’s end of life in design.
Learn about the challenges of green marketing, avoiding greenwashing and the role of educational, visually enticing marketing in capturing consumer interest. Listen for insights into the future of personal care products.
In this Create Tomorrow episode, host Cassandra Napoli speaks to Rurban founder Rebecca Hui about bridging global communities with corporations and spotlighting traditional crafts while integrating AI. Explore the innovative Rurban Library curation and discover how it represents and integrates Indigenous art into the retail industry.
Rebecca highlights the importance of cultural preservation, reciprocal partnership and the antidote to cultural appropriation. Listen for insights on how to answer consumers’ demand for ethical and purposeful crafts steeped in Indigenous identities that thrive in a modern, AI-driven world.
Create Tomorrow podcast host Cassandra Napoli invites co-founders of motherhood platform Spread the Jelly, Amrit Tietz and Lauren Levinger, to discuss the complexities of modern motherhood. From maternal ambivalence and tradwife to navigating identity, they expose the stickiness of how societal expectations have shifted from the 1950s to today.
Amrit and Lauren discuss social media’s unrealistic standards, the impact of technology on parenting and the importance of community and solidarity among women across generations. Listen in on the challenges and joys of being a woman and a mother in the digital age, uncovering the nuanced realities behind the curated images of perfection.
Create Tomorrow podcast host Cassandra Napoli discusses the intriguing Vegan Reversal trend with insights from Senior Beauty Strategist Pia Fisher and Food and Drink Strategist Katharine Schub at WGSN. As consumers increasingly crave protein and animal-derived ingredients, this shift is reshaping the food, drink and beauty industries.
Discover how traditional diets are being redefined with primal diet trends, the resurgence of animal-based beauty products and the cultural factors fueling this change. Take a bite out of this thought-provoking discussion on consumers’ changing preferences in balancing plant-based and animal-based lifestyles.
Create Tomorrow host Cassandra Napoli welcomes Lauren Scott-Harris to discuss how EARNT connects brands with social causes through volunteerism. Lauren emphasises how to leverage social consciousness in marketing to create meaningful connections between consumers and brands.
As consumer interest in social good and the role of influencers evolve, Lauren shares how the innovative ETY (Earned Thank You) currency rewards volunteer efforts. Gain insights on brand partnerships, the vetting process for causes and EARNT’s future aspirations to expand its impact globally while maintaining a local focus.
Create Tomorrow host Cassandra Napoli invites founder of SkinSeries Rosie Broadhead and WGSN foresight lead Martina Rocca to discuss the intersection of wellness and textiles. As consumer priorities are shifting towards health and wellbeing in their clothing choices, find out how biomaterials in fashion impact sustainability and skin health.
Rosie and Martina emphasise the importance of integrating biological intelligence into textile design, including probiotics in clothing and their impact on skin health. Learn about the way forward for biomaterials in the fashion industry and the necessity for brands to communicate authentically about their sustainability efforts while educating the next generation of designers.
Create Tomorrow host Cassandra Napoli welcomes Quinn’s CEO and founder Caroline Spiegel to share how audio erotica is evolving sexual wellness. Appealing to female audiences, Quinn addresses market gaps through content diversity, emphasising the importance of community engagement and real-life connections.
Caroline discusses popular themes and the potential for multisensory experiences in audio erotica while addressing the role of AI and its implications for human-centric content creation. Discover insights on brand integration, the role of creators in sourcing stories and the impact of celebrity involvement in marketing, including monetisation strategies for creators.
Cassandra Napoli, Create Tomorrow’s host, welcomes Rajni Jacques, Snapchat’s Global Head of Fashion and Beauty, to share about the rise of digital fashion. They discuss how brands are leveraging AR to engage younger audiences amid shifts in values and expectations, especially among Generation Alpha.
Rajni emphasises the importance of self-expression online, focusing on authenticity and engagement in content creation. She uncovers how brands are increasingly valuing versatile creators who can connect with audiences across various domains in Snapchat’s evolving creator economy. Find out how to overcome digital fatigue and foster phygital experiences to connect with consumers.
How can you round up a community to build your brand and disrupt industries? Create Tomorrow host Cassandra Napoli welcomes Modi Oyewole and Josh Hubberman, co-founders of golf community Swang, to discuss how they are evolving the future of golf as an inclusive and community-driven activity.
Amid the cultural shift in golf, Josh and Modi break down their innovative approach to making golf more accessible and appealing to younger generations. Drawing from music, they reshape the perception of the sport to attract a diverse audience with greater representation. Listen to how they formed strategic partnerships, overcame challenges of entrepreneurship, and built connections.
Legacy media is entering a new era as Gen Z has grown up and is coming to power. Create Tomorrow host Cassandra Napoli invites editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan and Seventeen, Willa Bennett to discuss her vision for evolving iconic magazines to resonate with younger audiences amid the changing media landscape.
Community engagement remains all-important—how can brands strengthen it? Willa highlights the need for authenticity and connection in storytelling to overcome challenges in curating content for a niche culture. Listen in on how magazines can serve as a guiding force for readers navigating love and identity as social media shapes magazine content.
In this episode, Create Tomorrow host Cassandra Napoli hears from Nicole Loher, the founder of Climate Communications Collective C3, about brands’ responsibilities in climate storytelling, the challenges of greenwashing, and the evolving landscape of climate education.
Nicole highlights the importance of effectively translating scientific data into relatable narratives, especially for younger generations like Gen Z, who are increasingly impacted by climate change. Listen in on emerging climate storytellers and learn the language of trust and transparency to reach your audience.
In this episode, WGSN’s Create Tomorrow host, Cassandra Napoli is joined by Content Director of Insight Joe McDonnell and Senior Strategist of Events, Liz Tan, to discuss the launch WGSN’s new platform to help brands navigate key events impacting consumer behaviour.
Revealing the criteria for featuring significant events, evolving traditions, and celebrations, our guests offer insights into collective effervescence and the cost-of-living impact on consumer sentiment, driving future consumer trends. Tune in to find out how to effectively capture cultural moments and harness engagement opportunities within sports and music events.
Gen Z brides are redefining wedding style with a passion for individuality and one-of-a-kind pieces often found in secondhand stores. Our host, Cassandra Napoli, invites Sidney Morgan-Petro, Head of Retail and Buying at WGSN and Lily Kaizer, founder of by-appointment vintage bridal salon Happy Isles to dive into the evolving world of vintage bridal fashion amid the booming vintage resale market.
Join them to learn how important the influence of social media is – especially TikTok, why in-person shopping experiences remain essential and how businesses can adapt to meet the expectations of the modern bride.
How can the NFL grow its league now and in the future? In this episode, Cassandra Napoli, WGSN’s, and Kyle Smith, the NFL’s first Fashion Editor explore how fashion can boost connections with fans – particularly younger audiences and women.
He shares insights on the NFL’s strategic move into fashion, the importance of authentic athlete representation, and the potential for athletes to transition into fashion careers post-retirement. Join them to learn about the cultural shifts shaking up the sports industry and find out how to score successful partnerships and campaigns that have brought athletes into the fashion spotlight.
How can brands work with creatives to land successful campaigns with strong relationships? Our host Cassandra Napoli invites GRLSWIRL’s CEO and Co-founder, Lucy Osinski, and Co-founder and Chief of Global Community/Partnerships, Kelsey Harkin, to share how their women-led group skate cultivates Collective Effervescence through inclusive empowerment.
They champion Soft Adventure – WGSN’s top trend, where many consumers seek less physically demanding outdoor activities that need little prior expertise. Find out how they harnessed social media and grassroots activism to expand their reach from their early days of skating on Venice Beach to growing a global movement.
What’s the last advertisement you simply can’t forget? In this episode, WGSN’s Create Tomorrow host, Cassandra Napoli, learns from Havas Lynx’s Creative Director, Gabriel Araujo, about advertisers’ evolving role in capturing consumer’s short attention spans and why he enjoys collaborating with young and old to bring ideas to life.
From generative AI and its ethical implications plus the effectiveness of IRL brand activations to cultivating joy to progress consumer culture, Gabriel shares his insights on crafting ads that resonate well. Find out how and why WGSN’s brand strategies – Advertising, the rising Slow Advertising, and Restorytelling adding unique cultural value – and local, not global campaigns are driving advertising.
Gen Beta will be the first to grow up in an AI-driven world, raised by Gen Z and Zellennial parents who are rethinking digital childhoods amid technology’s influence. Born between 2025 and 2040, Betas will be shaped by hyper-personalised tech, sustainability, and ethical innovation – forcing brands to progress Gen Alpha strategies.
We explore Gen Beta’s defining traits – from the rise of inclusive postpartum care and innovative infant nutrition, to why some Gen Z parents choose to go offline and the increasing need for safety online. Find out how Gen Beta will be and what this means for brands with Cassandra Napoli, Create Tomorrow’s host, Allyson Rees, WGSN’s Senior Lifestyle Strategist, and Claire Lancaster, WGSN’s Head of Food and Drink.
In this episode, we are looking at winning over tween and teen consumers online and at retail which is something our guest, Meghan Hurley, Claire’s Vice President of Global Marketing knows a lot about.
Straight from her session at this year’s National Retail Federation’s Big Show held in New York, she talks to WGSN's Cassandra Napoli about winning with modern consumers.
Meghan reflects on how Claire’s targets Zalpha consumers (the fringe generation sandwiched between Gen Z and Gen Alpha aged 9-14) by cocreating campaigns and products alongside them and aligning with their preferences for phygital experiences.
It’s 2025, and chrono-normativity, hustle culture, and unhealthy habits are out. Which movements are shaking things up across industries?
Ditching societal norms of traditional adult milestones, the Forever Young Adult is trailblazing their own timeline. Consumers are grappling with global challenges by seeking ease and dressing in comfortable Day-jamas, tending to their needs with Therapeutic Laziness.
Discover more trends WGSN forecasts for the coming year. Join Carla Buzasi, CEO of WGSN with her colleagues, Lisa White, Director of Strategic Forecasting and Creative Direction, and Cassandra Napoli, Head of Marketing and Events at WGSN Insight.
Future Dusk is a dark, moody and intriguing hue, offering a fresh take on dependable dark blue, sitting between blue and purple. Simultaneously familiar and futuristic, its sense of mystery and escapism feeds into themes of transition – be it from dark to light, or dusk to dawn – perfect for a period of immense change. Listen to find out how this transformative colour is painting our future.
In this episode, we look at the 2027 STEPIC forecasts which track the challenges and opportunities for 2027 across six areas: Society, Technology, the Environment, Politics, Industry, and Creativity (STEPIC). This proprietary methodology at WGSN acts as the lens through which we predict trends years in advance.
Joining our host, Cassandra Napoli, are WGSN experts – Lisa White, Content Director of Strategic Forecasting, Ella Hudson, Head of Research, and Martina Rocca, Foresight Lead. Find out how we explore the drivers, innovation, and key emotions set to impact 2027.
Today’s niche pop cultural references are dynamically shifting the language of tomorrow. From “skibidi” to “hawk tuah,” decode the everyday slang words and phrases Alphas and Gen Z are using to engage them effectively and authentically.
WGSN’s Head of Marketing and Events and Create Tomorrow’s brand new host Cassandra Napoli explores how young people are shaping the future of the English language with their online behaviors. Joining her are WGSN’s Senior Strategist Liz Tan and Fashion Strategist Mia Jacobs who uncover how brands can harness the language of the youth and seamlessly insert themselves into the conversation.
The WGSN podcast Create Tomorrow has a brand new permanent host: Cassandra Napoli, Head of Events and Marketing at WGSN. Cassandra speaks with Lisa White, Director of Strategic Forecasting at WGSN for the penultimate Create Tomorrow before she takes over the podcast.
Having hosted and starred on previous WGSN podcasts, we mark her appointment with a special episode to get to know her and what she does. Hear what inspires Cassandra, her journey into trend forecasting, and what her first episode of Create Tomorrow is all about.
Can leather be sustainable? Discover how innovative technologies are transforming leather into a high-performing, biocircular material that starts and ends with nature. This episode of Create Tomorrow explores Ecotan Leather, a natural leather tanning technology which replaces traditional chemical-based tanning, like chrome, with plant-based alternatives.
Join Lisa White, WGSN’s Director of Strategic Forecasting, and Randi Seiff, US Representative for Ecotan Leather, CEO and Co-founder of Treun House Atelier as they discuss how the fashion industry is embracing sustainable luxury. Learn from Randi leading the way by designing sustainable leather trainers with benefits for human and planet health
How much do you care about personal body care? From reaching for the razor to popping pills and brushing your teeth, we reveal personal care trends today that will stay for a few years.
Join Francesca Muston, VP of WGSN Fashion and Megan Bang, Beauty Analyst of WGSN and author of WGSN’s Future of Personal Care 2027 report in this episode of Create Tomorrow. Learn about trends destigmatising body hair, erectile dysfunction and reduced libidos and what brands can do to infuse glimmers or small moments of joy in our everyday personal care.
The holiday season is fast approaching and with it comes the annual scramble for gifts. This year, it looks like we are not quite as generous as we used to be – half of us are expecting to buy fewer goods and services and 95% of us will be looking for the best deals. This means that brands need to prioritise discounts to profit from the holiday season.
Join us in this episode about holiday shopping and gifting where we also explore the importance of personalisation, delivering value and sustainable choices with WGSN’s Director of Interiors, Gemma Riberti and Director of Insight, Joe McDonnell.
How are we shopping and what informs how we make big purchases? The idea is simple – take your time to choose products you love and expect to continue to use for years to come.In this episode of Lives of Tomorrow, we’re discussing slow retail – where consumers are making more considered purchases, especially when it comes to big purchases and items for the home.
WGSN Insight Director Joe McDonell, Senior Strategist Candice Medeiros and Senior Strategist Rachel Gwyther look into products, apps and how retail feeds into this ethos. Find out consumers’ top priorities and how this impacts the big purchases we make for the home.
Following the masterpiece New York Fashion Week, we review cutting-edge catwalk movements and how they form the wider trends we’ve been tracking at WGSN.
Joining host Francesca Muston, VP of WGSN Fashion, is Kim Cupido, WGSN’s Senior Editor for Catwalks. Kim shares key trends our catwalks team captured and how brands are implementing them. We delve into the details of catwalk data, WGSN’s image recognition AI tool, and how this helps us update every item on runways globally with fast, accurate and actionable coverage and analysis.
Today marks the start of Maison & Objet 2024 – the holy grail event in the world of decor and design. The biannual international trade fair showcases the best in lifestyle, interior design and home decor in Paris. In this podcast, we explore everything from key product design trends to the latest retail trends, sharing the insights you need and the highlights of this year’s Maison.
WGSN Director of Strategic Forecasting Lisa White welcomes Maison veteran, Interiors Director Gemma Riberti and Insight Director Joe McDonnell. Listen in on the Maison Objet standout events with key designers like Mathieu Lehanneur and designer of the year 2024 Lionel Jadot to inspire your interior flair.
What do fashion buying and Rachel Green from Friends have in common? In this episode of Create Tomorrow, we discuss fashion buying and the tools buyers have for strategic decision-making. VP of WGSN Fashion, Francesca Muston, and WGSN Director of Fashion, Monisha Klar discuss the process of fashion buying and the trends directing the future of fashion.
With WGSN’s fashion buying platform launch, we discover future-proof trend decision intelligence and buying-specific forecasts following the product-to-market lifecycle. Take a break and listen in on how to make well-informed decisions, lead a buying team, and manage the day-to-day operations of specific categories.
WGSN has been tracking a rise in appetite for outdoor adventures including glamping and nighttime activities. In this episode, we discuss this expanding demand and detail key trends shaping the future of sports and outdoors.
Senior Insight Strategist Cassandra Napoli hosts this chat with our Sports & Outdoor experts – Content Strategist, Caitlin Folgner, and CMF Senior Strategist, Jennifer Birch. From soft adventure to easily accessing health and wellness benefits of the outdoors for new participants, get on board the opportunities and design directions this movement presents.
We’ve been forecasting the rise of rugged luxury bringing modern convenience and rich comfort to camping, where travellers can enjoy the outdoors leisurely without having to invest in new luxury gear amid a cost of living crisis. Listen in on how brands can strategise around colour, materials, and product development trends for hardware and apparel across industries.
The Olympics is not only about running the fastest, jumping the highest, and throwing the shot put the farthest. It is also about looking good while you do it. Yes, Olympic fashion is very much a thing and in this episode, you’ll learn all about it.
We hear about the fashion surrounding the Paris 2024 Olympic games – discussing key trends, sustainable choices, and WGSN Olympic fashion design highlights.
Lisa White, Director of Strategic Forecasting at WGSN hosts this Olympic kit fashion design special with guests Charlie Bardsley, Active Strategist, and Rebecca Saygi, Swimwear Strategist.
Hello and welcome to WGSN’s fortnightly Create Tomorrow podcast, bringing you the latest innovations impacting the future of design and product.
In this episode, we discuss the dinner party. This classic culinary social situation is evolving in terms of who is being invited, what’s being served, and what gifts are being brought along if you’re invited to one.
Forget about spending hours making fancy French cuisine. The new dinner party is small and more practical – as well as being more cost-effective than dining out. And don't feel bad about asking your guests for help either.
Our host for this delicious podcast is Jen Creevy, Director of WGSN Food & Drink, with guests at the table, strategists Millie Diamond and Rachel Tan. Bon appetit!
Hello and welcome to WGSN’s fortnightly Create Tomorrow podcast, bringing you the latest innovations impacting the future of design and product.
Surfer, filmmaker, and journalist Chris Nelson joins WGSN Editorial Director Bethan Ryder to discuss his documentary 'The Big Sea'.
In this episode, we dive into the big sea a new documentary exploring the connection between the $10b surfing industry and Cancer Alley in Louisiana in the US. Cancer Alley is a region along the Mississippi River in Louisiana with many factories and chemical plants. The pollution from these plants has made the air and water unhealthy, causing high rates of cancer and other illnesses among the residentsThe documentary sheds light on the toxic truth behind a single material - Neoprene a material used to make swimsuits.
Chris and Bethan discuss greenwashing and more about the film because it demonstrates the crucial role designers and brands can and must play in creating a better future for people and the planet.
Hello and welcome to WGSN’s fortnightly Create Tomorrow podcast, bringing you the latest innovations impacting the future of design and product.
In this episode, we discuss the emerging styles, subcultures, consumer drivers
and aesthetics in youth fashion that we’ve been tracking at festivals across the globe.
WGSN Youth Fashion Strategists Mia Jacobs and Jaeyeon Park join host Graham ‘Kraggy’ Krag, Senior Commissioning Manager at WGSN to find out how subcultures and multi-genre festival line-ups are shaking up the festival fashion scene.
Hear why fandom dressing is growing in popularity and find out who the ‘Mini Tylers’ are and what the ‘Signature Lana’ looks like.
Hello and welcome to WGSN’s fortnightly Create Tomorrow podcast, bringing you the latest innovations impacting the future of design and product.
In this episode, the WGSN Consumer Tech team discusses how technology – or more accurately, the way we interact with technology – can help improve the lives of people from marginalised communities.
Joining host Lisa Yong, Director of Consumer Tech, are WGSN UX strategists Arianne Anabukiand Abdulrahman Hadi.
Find out how user experience design can help create social inclusion, the importance of considering a holistic approach, and how to make sure accessibility is at the centre of the design thinking.
With more and more people having access to a smartphone, we also discuss how negative user experience can impact how we engage with brands. Plus we go into detail about the ‘dark mode’ on smartphones and discuss just how accessible this really is.
Hello and welcome to the fortnightly Create Tomorrow podcast, which brings you the latest innovations impacting the future of design and products.
Planning a vacation? Hands up if you overpack, underpack, or just epically fail when packing for a holiday. Well, this episode is for you. Sprinkled in among the forecasting chat, we have some hacks and tips on how to travel light with style. Unfortunately, we don’t have any advice on the best just-in-case item to pack when you get invited onto a yacht (inside joke – press play to find out more).
Take flight with us on this journey into the future of travel, as we discuss how coolcations and wellcations are likely to impact fashion design. Joining our host WGSN editorial director Bethan Ryder are Brielle Saggese, Insight Strategist, and Sara Maggioni Head of Womenswear. Find out how holiday habits are changing, due to climate change, wellness concerns and the White Lotus effect and what this means for your vacation wardrobe.
The team unpacks the latest trends in travel, from set-jetting to sleep tourism and helpful hacks like the TikTok-famous 333 method. Pack your hand luggage – and let’s go!
Hello and welcome to the fortnightly Create Tomorrow podcast, bringing you the latest innovations impacting the future of design and product.
IRL retail is very much back with a bang. Discussing the green shoots of physical retail 2024 is Joe McDonnell, Director of Insight, together with our Insight retail experts Laura Saunter, Senior Strategist, and Candice Medeiros, Strategist.
Tune in to learn more about the return of the mall rat, why retail stores outperform store closures for the first time in over a decade, and how consumers are demonstrating contradictory spending behaviours – trading down on essentials to treat themselves to big-ticket experiences.
Stores aren’t just about buying but socialising and community building, with retailers offering value adds, such as yoga classes, workshops, personalised experiences, and more, creating opportunities for fostering connections. The team discusses the impact of AI in retail and how it might be best used in the future. They also explore the rising popularity and increasing criticism of the ‘buy now, pay later’ model. Plus, discover the exciting innovations likely to drive change in tomorrow’s retail environment.
Milan Design Week is the world’s biggest event dedicated to design and innovation – and WGSN’s team of experts visit every year. In this episode, hear from WGSN forecasters Lisa White, Director of Strategic Forecasting and Creative Direction, Gemma Riberti, Director of Interiors, and Helen Palmer, Head of Materials, Textiles & Knit, as they dive into this year’s fair which takes place as the Salone del Mobile at Rho Fiera Milano, plus Fuorisalone, comprising countless installations and events throughout the city.
Our Interiors experts report live from Milan to reflect on their highlights so far which include hyper-tactility, elemental materiality, and products playing with, or inspired by water. Expect to hear about Milan Design Week regulars, such as the Rossana Orlandi Gallery, Moooi, Dimoregallery, Hermès and FormaFantasma, plus what global brands Google and Samsung showcased. The trio discuss the WGSN trends they spied including the prevalence of curtains and soft spaces, the rise of darkness, and the products, talks, or installations that brought them ‘Glimmers’.
Hello and welcome to the fortnightly Create Tomorrow podcast, bringing you the latest innovations impacting the future of design and product.
In this episode of WGSN’s Create Tomorrow podcast, the WGSN Beauty team reflects on Cosmoprof Bologna – the biggest annual beauty trade show in the world that sets the agenda for all categories of beauty. Special guest host Clare Varga, Director of Beauty at WGSN, hears the highlights from her team’s experts – Head of WGSN Beauty Sienna Piccioni and Beauty Strategist Pia Fisher.
From AI-inspired beauty products and innovative scalp analysis tech, to the latest key ingredients and the rise in personalised beauty, discover the innovations and trends that brands and consumers can expect to see in the coming months. Enjoy a beautiful listen!
Hello and welcome to the fortnightly Create Tomorrow podcast bringing you the latest innovations impacting the future of design and product.
In this episode of WGSN’s Create Tomorrow podcast, we report from this year’s SXSW festival, the annual event in Austin, Texas which brings together tech, film, music, education, and culture – it’s always buzzing with new ideas and concepts. As leaders in trend forecasting, we travel the globe, researching new concepts and trends to inform our work, and SXSW is one of our calendar highlights.
Tune in to hear from our experts on the ground. Senior Strategist of Insight Cassandra Napoli quizzes colleagues Liz Tan, Strategist at WGSN Insight, and Carol Aquino, Head of Consumer Tech, about their SXSW discoveries. Hear how SXSW helps inform our work at WGSN and why it’s such an important event to attend.
How can the beauty of light help solve the climate crisis? What does it mean to see the stars at night? And what can we learn from fireflies? These are the questions answered by the enlightening artworks of Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde.
Daan is the founder of the social design lab Studio Roosegaarde, most famous for Spark, organic sustainable fireworks inspired in part by his love of fireflies. Studio Roosegaarde’s immersive, large-scale artworks operate at the intersection of art, design, and engineering and are often poetic and mesmerising and always thought-provoking.
WGSN’s executive editorial director Bethan Ryder and Director of Strategic Forecasting Lisa White talk to Daan about his passion for light, something that radiates from global projects, which address the climate crisis and ask how we can learn from nature to create a better tomorrow.
We’re constantly scouring the globe for the latest trends, and in this episode of Create Tomorrow we report back from Maison & Objet, the biannual interiors trade fair in Paris. One of the most important global events for the interior design industry.
Director of WGSN Interiors Gemma Riberti shares her fair highlights, from the colours she’s tracked to the unstoppable rise of the outdoor market. Plus exciting new sustainability materials, including a patent-pending innovation that transforms rice husks into precious objects of beauty.
We find out why tactile neutrals, rustic ceramics, soft leather detailing and a focus on wood will dominate, and Gemma picks her favourite take-home piece from the fair.
Why is 2024 set for a warm glow? Tune in to hear how WGSN – in collaboration with sibling business Coloro – forecasts the colour of the year 18 months in advance and why this year’s shade is such a warming, gentle and versatile hue.
Exploring the inclusive, nourishing power of Apricot Crush with WGSN’s editorial director Bethan Ryder is Petra Lundgren, longtime colour trend forecaster for global fashion brand H&M, together with Urangoo Samba, head of colour at WGSN.
So why are we crushing on an apricot shade, and how does it relate to digital lavender, which proved such a hit last year (Episode 69)?
Petra talks about wellness and digital influences on colour selections, the emotive quality of colour and how WGSN helps her set a more sustainable colour agenda at H&M. While Urangoo explains the role AI plays in WGSN’s tracking of colours on the fashion catwalks globally and what the key drivers are that influence consumers’ colour choices.
Plus, why the similarity between WGSN’s Apricot Crush and Pantone’s Peachy Fuzz is a positive sign of creative consensus in a polarised world.
Very much near-forecasting, in this episode we preview the year ahead, considering how the key events from politics, sports and entertainment will impact consumers and brands.
WGSN’s editorial director Bethan Ryder speaks to Joe McDonnell, director of Insight, as he discusses 2024’s major events in relation to consumer behaviour. Discover how elections affect consumer confidence. Why it's a year of sport and how that will continue to fuel the outdoor boom. Plus, why consumers in a cost-of-living crisis will still invest in fun.
We’ll also review the major film releases planned for 2024. So with that in mind sit back, grab your popcorn, and enjoy.
In this episode, editorial director Bethan Ryder is joined by colleagues Raeesa Brey, Cassandra Gagnon, and Natacia Lim to reveal three of WGSN’s cities to watch in 2024.From coastal concrete jungles to hyper-connected tech hubs preserving traditional cultures, here’s our pick of the cities now rising to meet the changing demands of urban living.We forecast our clients' buzziest destinations for creativity and innovation in 2024, but also reflect on how the newness and excitement impact natives of the different cities.
Will the robots take over? How will brands tackle sustainability? And what will become our favourite tipple in 2024? Tune in to get the answers as we discover just some of the trends WGSN is forecasting for the coming year. Join Carla Buzasi, CEO of WGSN and the host of this end-of-the-year episode with her fellow WGSN guests Andrea Bell, VP of Consumer Insights, and Lisa White, Director of Strategic Forecasting and Creative Direction. And if you’re listening to this from the comfort of a heated blanket on your chair... find out how we called it in 2022. Happy 2024 to you all!
Are you swapping your panettone for Christmas pudding? Toasting Lunar New Year with a Teatail? Or livening up your Hanukkah sufganiyot with Mexican guava flavours? If not, this episode might encourage you to dip into these new trends.
As the year draws to a close, we tickle your tastebuds and take a look at how annual festive food and drink traditions are changing with new twists and emerging trends. Our Editorial Director at WGSN Bethan Ryder, aka Head Chef, leads this chat, with sous chefs Director of Food & Drink Jen Creevy and Strategist Millie Diamond adding insight and anecdotes to this festive platter.
We reveal the exciting things happening in seasonal flavours and talk about what will be on our tables while feasting with family and friends. Whether you’re indulging in Christmas, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah or Lunar New Year, there’s something here for everyone. Not to mention a few tips on how to set a beautiful festive table overflowing with maximalist shareables.
Appetite whet? Press play for all things taste and flavour.
Join us for a rifle through the underwear drawer of fashion, as we examine this often contentious category, which historically has been very polarised. Intimates and Lingeries is often a category split between the fun - read sexy - and the functional and never the twain shall meet. But the smalls category has come on in leaps and bounds and in this episode we chart the shift towards inclusiveness, review the latest trends and look ahead to the future.
Exploring the finer details of the intimates and lingerie market is our special guest host Francesca Muston, VP of WGSN Fashion with colleagues Lorna Hall, Director of Fashion and Sofia Martellini, Senior Strategist Fashion.
We broach topics like leak-proof wear, reflect on seminal cultural underwear moments and how the pandemic redefined comfort for bras and consider the progress yet to be made on inclusivity in the male underwear category. Plus, expect to hear about how internet-breaking Kim Kardashian (Skims) and Rihanna (Savage x Fenty) have been pivotal in recent shifts in this category. So pull on your big girl pants and tune in…
Plump, swivel seats that offer massage functionality and bed-down flat, wraparound screens, lighting that boosts circadian rhythms and reduces stress and scentscaping possibilities… Lounge or spa? Neither actually. This could be the car interior of the future if CASE innovations (tune in to discover what that is) continue to evolve, helping to push boundaries in car manufacturing and design.
In this episode of Create Tomorrow, we explore the future of electric vehicles from a tech and design perspective. More specifically, how automated driving will impact the car interior – with EVs likely to evolve into a ‘lounge on wheels’.
WGSN Editorial Director Bethan Ryder leads this conversation with Carol Aquino, Head of Consumer Tech, and Angela Ringo, Senior Trend Forecaster and Editor on the Interiors team. Bethan finds out how automakers are embracing innovative ideas that bring supreme comfort and relaxation to the car interior, integrating wellness, while also including state-of-the-art screen technology.
Are you sitting comfortably, because the EV design journey has only just begun...
How do brands speak to us as we age? Does the language used encourage us to buy from them or steer clear? Food for thought on this conversation around age beauty and brands. Director of Editorial at WGSN Bethan Ryder speaks about the age-agnostic shift we are seeing in beauty products. Age-agnostic is essentially a move away from skin resilience claims – serving the need, not the number – and a shift from ‘age appropriate’ makeup. To help flesh out this idea, Bethan speaks to Cassandra Napoli, Senior Strategist on Insight, and Pia Fisher, Beauty Strategist. Cassandra and Pia give insight and examples of the ways brands are pivoting on the language used in relation to beauty products for older consumers. Bethan dispels the claim that youth is the pinnacle of beauty, citing pop culture references of where ageing is celebrated, in the form of Madonna and Pamela Anderson. The team explore the idea of ageing well and embracing your age amid the backdrop of an AI renaissance. Examples of the latter include Hollywood actors being de-aged, and influencers ‘hacking’ their biological age by using social media filters. Cassandra shares tips on the language brands should be adopting, the importance of online communities and the power of visibility – how seeing ourselves in campaigns makes us more inclined to engage with brands.
In this episode, WGSN Interiors strategists discuss the key trends in Holiday decor, from tablescaping to gift wrapping.
Host Bethan Ryder, Editorial Director at WGSN, speaks to Bonnie Pierre-Davis and Cassandra Gagnon about how consumers are approaching gifting for the Holiday season, interior trend aesthetics and ways we can gift wrap with a focus on sustainability.
We find out what trends and drivers are emerging in seasonal decor from the WGSN Interiors team’s visit to the International Trade Fair for Seasonal and Festive Decorations, Christmasworld and Atlanta market.
We also find out why there is a shift away from traditional gifting to a rise in the conscious crafting movement, where people are making and designing their own as gifts.
It wouldn’t be a WGSN podcast without projections for next year, so Bonnie and Cassandra also share what they see carrying through to 2024.
In this episode, WGSN Creative Director Lisa White and acclaimed climate fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson discuss biodiversity, sustainability incentives and regulations, and whether AI is impacting human creativity.
Kim Stanley Robinson has been writing for over 40 years and has published more than 20 books, focusing on near and far futures. He talked with Lisa as part of WGSN’s recent Trends Days – a biannual brainstorming event exploring future forecasts – where they discussed the future of the biosphere, nature and human nature, plus how speculative fiction can and should play a role in the worlds of business and industry.
Stan’s work incorporates so much of what we value at WGSN, in particular our STEPIC methodology, which focuses on insights into Society, Technology, the Environment, Politics, Industry and Creativity. Through his rigorous research and storytelling skills, he gives readers a seat in the future to better understand how our actions today can and will impact the outcomes of tomorrow.
Exploring Inclusive Design with Lekker Architects at Singapore Design WeekFrom ceramics that conduct electricity to visions of the inclusive urban environments of tomorrow, in this episode, we preview Singapore Design Week (SDW) which runs until October 1. Dawn Lim, executive director of DesignSingapore Council, talks about this festival of creativity which focuses on the future of sustainability, tech and care for our society – topics we are constantly dissecting at WGSN. We also catch up with the duo behind Lekker Architects, Ong Ker-Shing and Dr Joshua Comaroff, who are curating a project for SDW called FI&LD, which is inspired by a sports field and promotes the concept of inclusivity through play. The duo are pioneers in the field of inclusive design, and won Singapore’s annual President’s Design Award this year for their IKEA-inspired book, Hack Care: Tips and Tricks for a Dementia-Friendly Home.
In our final episode of mini-episodes reporting from the London Design Festival, an annual event that takes over the UK capital every September, we visit Material Matters on London’s Southbank. Now in its second year, the fair has sprung from a podcast of the same name and occupies the atmospheric Bargehouse at the Oxo Tower. On until September 23, across five floors, it houses over 40 brands, designers, makers, manufacturers and organisations who all celebrate the importance of materials in bringing us closer to a circular economy. We speak to the journalist and podcaster behind the fair, Grant Gibson, and also hear about new material innovations and techniques from the likes of leading UK design duo Pearson Lloyd, East London-based contemporary crafter Gareth Neal and Danish textile artist Tanja Kirst.
In our next episode, we jump from the London Design Festival to Singapore Design Week.
In episode two of our series of mini-episodes reporting from the London Design Festival, an annual event that takes over the UK capital every September, we visit some of the exhibitions on show in the west side of town at Brompton Design District. Curator of the area, design writer and consultant Jane Withers, explains the theme, Conviviality – The Art of Living Together, and shares some of her highlights. We catch up with East London-based designer and woodworker Rio Kobayashi (6:41mins) and hear about his colourful debut solo show, Manus Manum Lavat, which includes furniture pieces reinvented and reborn through colour, artisanship and marquetry. Also in this episode, hear from design duo Peter Pilotto and Christopher de Vos Caballero (16:30mins) , who return to Cromwell Place for the first time since 2017 and have shifted their focus from fashion to home. Phase 2 consists of rugs created in Nepal, lacquered tables made in the UK, upholstery exhibited on vintage sofas, embroidered velvets, and also a range of gender-inclusive clothing. We hear about their inspirations for the collection, from malachite to design longevity.
In our next episode, we head to Material Matters on London’s Southbank – keep your eyes peeled for the next drop.
As the London Design Festival kicks off, we take Create Tomorrow on the road for a series of mini-episodes reporting on the various events, installations and exhibitions that pop up across the UK capital every September. Tune in to hear our host Bethan Ryder, Editorial Director at WGSN, catch up with some of the curators, designers and studios contributing to this colourful and inspiring event.
The series kicks off with a visit to Spirit of Place at Strand Aldwych as we speak with contemporary designer Simone Brewster about her vivid cork sculptures decorating this newly pedestrianised space. Next, we hop over to Shoreditch to look around Mycelium Unearthed, a compact exhibition of organic designs staged by Osmose Studio, a UK-based regenerative and planet-centric design firm specialising in biodesign and mycelium materials. Aurélie Fontan, CEO & Creative Director of Osmose Studio, takes us on a tour of the various exhibits.
In our next episode, we head west to the Brompton Design District – keep your eyes peeled for the next drop.
Does AI pose an existential threat to designers? In this episode of Create Tomorrow, Director of WGSN Consumer Tech Lisa Yong discusses how AI is impacting the creative design process, and what it might mean for the future of creativity.
Joining Lisa are Reiko Morrison, WGSN’s Head of CMF, and Matt Zara, WGSN Consumer Tech Strategist. The team cover the many facets of generative AI, from ignorance surrounding the technology and how many aspects of our lives it already permeates, to the rise of deep fakes and wider ethical and sustainability concerns. More positively, they forecast how AI might function as a superpower for designers, taking care of the mundane tasks and freeing them to focus on the more creative aspects of their roles. Plus, they discuss what AI means for brands and how they can be more responsible with their use of AI, as well as the potential risks involved.
How can microorganisms such as algae, fungi and slime mould be used to create a better future? In this episode of Create Tomorrow WGSN Editorial Director Bethan Ryder examines the future of biodesign. Her guests are Marco Poletto and Claudia Pasquero, architects, academics and co-founders of ecoLogicStudio, who talk about how we might create a better future by learning from non-human species and microorganisms.Marco and Claudia are co-authors of Deep Green: Biodesign in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, which investigates the potential of nature-based technology for shaping the evolution of contemporary architecture and design. Partners in both work and life, Marco and Claudia met at the Polytechnic University of Turin in Italy while studying engineering, before attending London’s Architectural Association. They founded their studio in 2005, and have since built a unique portfolio of work that explores how we can create a better future by learning from non-human species and microorganisms – algae, slime mould, fungi – from a domestic to an urban scale.Marco and Claudia discuss BioBombola, a domestic algae garden; their innovative AirBubble playground focusing on cleaner air for kids; PhotoSynthetica, a building cladding system that uses the power of algae to convert CO2 city pollutants into biomass; and how biodesign can work with artificial intelligence to influence the future.
Is the low or no alcohol movement a passing fad or a new lifestyle choice that’s here to stay? WGSN discussed a more mindful approach to drinking alcohol back in November 2022. In this episode, we delve further into the low and no alcohol drinking movement, discover why it’s popular with Gen Z and discuss its global expansion. Plus we offer a taster of the interesting and diverse ingredients being used to enhance the flavours. Joining WGSN Editorial Director Bethan Ryder to talk low and no alcohol is Jen Creevy, Director of Food & Drink, alongside strategists from her team, Rachel Tan and Millie Diamond.
Tune in to find out about this growing billion-dollar drinks sector and how the sober-curious movement taps into the increasing importance of wellness, inclusivity and personal choice. Find out why low and no alcohol is expanding its influence beyond evenings to breakfast and brunch with drinks featuring flavour notes of marmalade and toast – and even into social sports with new brands like Racquet Rosé. It’s time to raise a toast to low and no alcohol, swap ‘damp’ for ‘dry’ and get your name down for the ‘sober party’.
At WGSN, our mission is to stay ahead of the curve for our clients. In this episode of Create Tomorrow, we explore the coastal cities making strides in retail, hospitality and culture.Our City by City team share insights on must-visit destinations in Asia, South America and Europe for fresh and inspirational experiences – all featured in our latest Coastal Guide. Globetrotting across continents, we pinpoint the most exciting spaces, places, designers and brands that offer escape and inspiration in equal measure.Our on-the-ground experts share the most note-worthy markets, must-try drinks and emerging brands from the Coastal Guide.And if you're tempted by the digital nomad lifestyle, we share the best locations to call home... join us on our coastal trip.
Could wood be the key to building more sustainable cities? In this episode of Create Tomorrow, architect Andrew Waugh and WGSN’s Editorial Director Bethan Ryder explore the power of engineered timber and how it might help us to build a better future for people and the planet.
Andrew Waugh is co-founder with Anthony Thistleton of British architecture practice Waugh Thistleton, which has completed a total of 30 projects built with cross-laminated timber (CLT) in the UK and France. CLT is a super-strong construction material made from layers of kiln-dried dimensional lumber, which are oriented at right angles to one another and then glued to form structural panels.
The conversation looks at how low-carbon cities could be built from CLT; the financial and wellness benefits of timber buildings and biophilia as opposed to concrete ‘cast caves’; the need for more diversity in architecture; and how AI will impact the industry. Plus, we hear the story of Waugh Thistleton’s first timber build in south London back in 2003.
Andrew and Bethan wrap up by talking about the need for more diversity within the architecture profession and a winning suggestion for the UK’s Houses of Parliament.
Jeans and a T-shirt? Cowboy boots or wellies? When it comes to festival wear are you more practical or performative? In this episode of Create Tomorrow, we find out what fashion trends are dominating the current and future landscape of festival fashion.WGSN has been tracking festival fashion across the globe for years now, delivering unique insights on emerging styles and aesthetics, product trends and evolving consumer attitudes – particularly among younger cohorts.With festival season upon us, and the TikTok hashtag #FestivalFashion approaching one billion views, we reflect on the diverse evolution of festival outfits – from ever-shifting youth culture to the rising influence of global stadium tours.In this episode, host Kraggy (Graham Krag), Prints & Graphics Strategist on WGSN Fashion, is joined by Youth Fashion Strategists Mia Jacobs and Jaeyeon Park to discuss what this truly means for brands – and why the industry should pay particularly close attention to this year’s festival season.Mia and Jaeyeon also talk about nostalgic tech and the impact stadium tour fashion is having. World tours – from the likes of Beyoncé, Harry Styles and Taylor Swift – have opened up opportunities for retailers because of their long duration, giving brands more time to market tour merchandise.In this episode, we chart the top festival trends we’ve been tracking, and predict the impact this will have on brands in the future.Learn more about WGSN forecasts here.
In this episode, Bethan Ryder, Editorial Director at WGSN is joined by guests Simon Mitchell, co-founder of architectural studio Sybarite, and Laura Saunter, Senior Strategist at WGSN. Together, Bethan and guests explore the landscape of luxury retail, from the return of the mega flagship in the post-pandemic era to how luxury brands are meeting the needs of the most discerning consumers by delivering memorable in-store experiences. Simon and Laura bring valuable insights on designing luxury retail spaces around the world, how China is leading the way, the influence of sustainability on the design process, and the evolving relationship between consumers and brands within the physical retail environment. Find out why retail design is theatre. Why stores and malls need to deliver delight and joy. And how luxury brands are becoming cultural curators. Hear from Simon Mitchell, co-founder of luxury retail design specialists Sybarite, on how a Katharine Hamnett store inspired him to follow a design career back in the 80s and how working with Marni taught him how you could push the boundaries of retail design.
Welcome back to Create Tomorrow. On this week’s episode Claire Lancaster, WGSN head of Food & Drink and Katherine Schub, Forecaster and Strategist on our Food and Drink team join Bethan to discuss snacking culture.
Consumers are snacking more than ever, whether for comfort, for their health or for convenience. In this episode, host director of Editorial at WGSN and her expert guests explore consumers’ evolving snacking tastes plus the pioneering brands on the market right now.
Bethan, Claire and Katherine find out why snacking has cult appeal, how brands are collaborating with creators to release limited edition snacks and how this is impacting the food and drink landscape.
Listen to hear Katherine and Claire’s favourite snack, we don’t get to hear Bethan’s because well… listen to find out why.
Vollebak is a British fashion brand focusing on designing clothes that will see us through extreme environments, war and space exploration.
Co-founder of the clothing company Steve Tidball joins host editorial director Bethan Ryder and WGSN head of activewear Yvonne Kostiak to discuss the future of clothing for the next century, innovations in the activewear market and why Vollebak doesn’t produce seasonal collections like most clothing brands.
Steve talks about Vollebak's inception, the brand's journey into the future and of course the Jason Bourne-esque pants designed to last 100 years.
This is the concluding episode of our Milan Design Week Special series in which we’ve explored some of the key trends and brought you insights and interviews from the 2023 edition, which takes place across the city and also at Fiera Milano exhibition centre located just outside the city.
Bethan Ryder, WGSN Executive Editorial Director is joined by Director of Interiors Lisa White and Head of Interiors Gemma Riberti as we explore materials, a trend that had a strong focus at this year’s Milan Design Week.
Tune in to hear about creative material contrasts, recycled glass, a biodegradable hemp chair and an innovation that might help us to detect dangerous UV rays in the future.
This is the third in our series of episodes in which we bring you some of the key trends, insights and interviews from Milan Design Week 2023.
The annual Milan Design Week is considered the world’s biggest event dedicated to design which takes place at Fiera Milano exhibition centre located just outside the city, plus across the city as Fuorisalone in showrooms, palazzos and other venues.
Bethan Ryder, WGSN Executive Editorial Director is joined by Director of Interiors Lisa White and Head of Interiors Gemma Riberti as we explore our sustainability trend.
In this episode we focus on an interview with Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin, co-founders of Formafantasma, the research-driven design studio who are leading the conversion on sustainability and design not just from a materials perspective but also a human one. And also catch up with Dutch designer Maarten Baas, who created a private jet of recycled denim for his collaboration with G-Star RAW.
This is the second in our series of episodes in which we bring you some of the key trends, insights and interviews from Milan Design Week 2023.
The annual Milan Design Week is considered the world’s biggest event dedicated to design which takes place at Fiera Milano exhibition centre located just outside the city, plus across the city as Fuorisalone in showrooms, palazzos and other venues.
Bethan Ryder, WGSN Executive Editorial Director is joined by Director of Interiors Lisa White and Head of Interiors Gemma Riberti as we explore our outdoor lifestyles trend.
We focus on an interview with Marie Kristine Schmidt, chief brand officer at the Danish company Gubi, speaking as we toured their installation at the iconic Bagna Misteriosa in Milan.
Over the next four episodes our Interiors experts will be bringing you key trends, insights and interviews from this year’s Milan Design Week. Subscribers can find a suite of six trend analysis reports covering all the trends you need to know from this year’s event, in this short series of podcasts we’ll cover four of those trends.
The annual Milan Design Week is considered the world’s biggest event dedicated to design which takes place at Fiera Milano exhibition centre located just outside the city, plus across the city as Fuorisalone in showrooms, palazzos and other venues.
Expect to hear from innovators, disruptors and designers from Formafantasma and Danish company Gubi’s chief brand officer Marie Kristine Schmidt to German designer Markus Benesch and the makers of a compostable hemp chair.
In this episode, Bethan Ryder, WGSN Executive Editorial Director is joined by Director of Interiors Lisa White and Head of Interiors Gemma Riberti to discuss our first trend, the overall sense of optimism at the festival, it's the first time in four years it returned to its April slot and the joy was palpable.
Redefining masculinity, men’s make-up has grown in popularity, driven by celebrity pioneers like Pharrell Williamsand Brad Pitt launching brands and K-pop idols openly wearing and experimenting with make-up.In this episode Sienna Piccioni, Head of WGSN Beauty, Senior Strategist on Fashion, Nick Paget and Jaeyeon Park, Youth Fashion Strategist based in Seoul, South Korea share the need-to-know brands and strategies for catering to this new cohort.Host Bethan Ryder chairs a conversation covering male makeup stigmas, its history, the language brands are adopting to capitalise on this rising trend and how dating apps and the pandemic have encouraged the normalisation of male makeup.
Biotechnology company Modern Synthesis have developed a biomaterial from bacterial fermentation that can be used to create a low-carbon alternative to traditional clothing fabrics.Modern Synthesis founder Jen Keane explains her process to this week’s host Helen Palmer, head of materials at WGSN and Lucila Saldana, Footwear & Accessories Editor at WGSN.The biomaterial was developed in the company’s London lab and in this episode of Create Tomorrow Jen Keane talks about the development, stigmas around synthetic biology and GMO materials and about fabric innovations of the future.
This week WGSN Director of Insight Joe McDonell in conversation with Cassandra Napoli, Senior Strategist, and Brielle Saggese, Insight Strategist, they discuss this year’s SXSW festival.
For those unfamiliar with SXSW, it’s an annual festival in Austin, Texas that brings together creatives, innovators, and entrepreneurs from around the world to share ideas, showcase their work, and connect with others in their industries.
Joe, Cassandra and Brielle all attended the 36th SXSW and in this episode, they give us a full rundown on the emerging trends and major discussion topics from this year’s event.
Cassandra and Brielle share some of their most interesting highlights from this year’s SXSW including AI mental health resources, snacks being used as political signalers, and video games that help surgeons prepare for surgeries.
The virtual influencer market is booming. In fact, virtual influencers are set to yield three times more engagement than human influencers. They're ushering in a whole new world of sponsorship potential and dynamic multi-platform entertainment possibilities for brands to be a part of over the next decade, as these characters and the technology supporting them mature. It's anticipated that they will transform everything from pop-culture and online shopping to education and work. In 2030 the digital human market is set to be worth about $530 billion globally, which is up from just $10 billion in 2020.
In this episode Senior Strategist at WGSN Cassandra Napoli, speaks to Christopher Travers, an entrepreneur focused on the area of pseudononymity and various forms of online identity, to break down this incredibly complex and layered topic and to share his expert commentary on the constantly evolving world of virtual influencers.
In January WGSN walked the halls of Maison & Objet in Paris, one of the most important trade shows in the world for home interiors and products. We analysed the product design trends from bouclé to paper maché, sustainability to scentscaping.
Today we kick off by discussing the central theme of the show this year, which was all about Care, whether that means people or the environment, indoors or outdoors.
This week our host Bethan Ryder is joined by WGSN’s head of Colour Urangoo Samba and Caroline Guilbert, Creative Content Lead at Coloro to discuss this year's colour of the year, Digital Lavender. Tune in to find out why are we seeing it everywhere, from consumer tech and fashion to the colour palettes in TV dramas?
Every year WGSN produces colour forecasts for our clients in collaboration with our partner business Coloro. In this episode the team chats about what Digital Lavender signifies and why it's so popular right now, whilst touching on a few other colours that we’ve forecast as key for this year.
As we roll into 2023, we decided to discuss one of our most popular reports with the team that put it together; WGSN's "Cities to Watch 2023".
The cities we highlight are always creative hubs, but they also tend to reflect some of the bigger consumer trends we’re seeing around the world, and so this year’s choices are perhaps less obvious than usual and truly testament to the rise of digital nomads – people who have relocated out of big cities following the pandemic, or who have simply chosen to work remotely in livable, less hectic cities.
2023 is just around the corner. In this episode, we divulge some of the top trends we are forecasting for next year. So, what can you expect in tech, interiors and what we’ll eat and drink next year and beyond? Get the answers here. Carla Buzasi is the host of this end-of-the-year show and her guests in this episode are Andrea Bell, VP of Consumer Insights, and Lisa White, Creative Director of WGSN.
Andy Cato is an arable and livestock farmer and co-founder of WildFarmed. In this episode we hear about Andy’s journey from grammy-nominated musician, as one half of Groove Armada, to award-winning farmer and all round trailblazer trying to find a more restorative and sustainable way of growing food. Not just through actually farming but also by creating a community of fellow farmers like him and by working with schools to educate the next generation.
Andy is in discussion with our Director of Food and Drink Jen Creevy.
In this episode Bethan Ryder is joined by Director of Beauty Clare Varga, Head of Food and Drink Claire Lancaster and Director of Consumer Insight Joe McDonnell to address changing consumer behaviour in the light of the cost of living crisis and what brands can do to reassure and retain consumers in the months ahead.
If you’re a WGSN subscriber you’ll find many reports covering the cost of living on our Consumer Insight platform and across all the products from fashion to food & drink.
If you want to find out how to subscribe, head over to WGSN.com to discover how you can get access to our service. We’re constantly publishing new content focussing on how we can design a brighter, better future for our industries – including food & drink, interiors, beauty, fashion and consumer tech.
This week WGSN Editorial Director Bethan Ryder is joined by Reiko Morrison WGSN's Head of CMF and Benjamin Hubert, founder of the London-based industrial design agency Layer Design.
Layer recently launched a monograph, published by Phaidon, during the London Design Festival which coincided with an exhibition which ran as part of the inaugural Material Matters fair. The book covers the various stages of Benjamin Hubert’s career and the many products he’s designed for the likes of Bang & Olufsen, Vitra, Moroso, Cappellini, Muuto and more.
Hubert had a design career in his sights while still at school and initially wanted to design cars, but went into product design instead and has designed a huge range of products from lighting to tech, and it’s tech in particular where Layer Design excels at creating incredibly tactile products though a combination of materials.
The three discuss how they see the future of Consumer tech evolving with less screens and a rich sense of materiality and haptic happiness.
In anticipation of the release of WGSN’s Home Lifestyles 2025 white paper, Carla Buzasi sat down with creative director and director of interiors Lisa White to talk about the product opportunities for your business in the home of 2025 as it further evolves into a multipurpose place to work, unwind, exercise, educate the kids, entertain friends and so much more. Listening for a taster about this insightful piece of WGSN research.
This week WGSN's Director of Food and Drink Jen Creevy talks to co-founder and CEO of WhatIF Foods Chris Langwallner. WhatIF foods is a trailblazing business attempting to fix a broken food system by making daily staples like noodles and milk from nutritional, previously overlooked ingredients such as the Bambara nut. These crops are grown using regenerative practices and value chains as opposed to supply chains that also empower farmers in regions around the world.
This week Bethan Ryder talks with Beauty experts Hannah Mauser, Sienna Piccioni and Brielle Saggese about the huge trend right now for celebrity owned beauty brands. From Pharrell to Gwyneth Paltrow, Kim Kardashian to Kate Moss, and even Stella McCartney, it seems like you're not an A-Lister right now without your very own skincare range. At the time of publishing we hear Brad Pitt has also launched a genderless skincare line.
But how does this differ from the celebrity endorsements of the past? What role has social media played in the boom? And which brands do we see chiming with WGSN's trend forecasts for the future?
This week Bethan Ryder talks with Beauty experts Hannah Mauser, Sienna Piccioni and Brielle Saggese about the huge trend right now for celebrity owned beauty brands. From Pharrell to Gwyneth Paltrow, Kim Kardashian to Kate Moss, and even Stella McCartney, it seems like you're not an A-Lister right now without your very own skincare range. At the time of publishing we hear Brad Pitt has also launched a genderless skincare line.
But how does this differ from the celebrity endorsements of the past? What role has social media played in the boom? And which brands do we see chiming with WGSN's trend forecasts for the future?
Denim is a fashion category which is so intrinsically linked to lifestyle both from a practicality point of view, but also in terms of cultural and social identity - people are passionate about their jeans so when we see new trends shaking things up the impact is significant.
Denim had a tough time during the pandemic. As we all went into that first lockdown we quickly slid into slouch - the move to sweatpants was overnight and many feared the denim category wouldn’t recover, but recover it did - almost as soon as lockdowns lifted, and it’s projected to continue growing with Allied Market Research projecting it to hit $88.1bn by 2030 but the denim industry post-pandemic looks very different to the one we knew and loved.
In this episode the team discusses everything from fit cycle data, TikTok and Y2K brand influencers, to sustainability and new fabric innovation.
In this episode Bethan Ryder WGSN's Executive Editorial Director is joined by Director of Food and Drink Jen Creevy, Head of Food and Drink Claire Lancaster and WGSN Insight Strategist Brielle Saggese to discuss drinks trends across the demographics from Boomers to Gen Z.
The conversation began by reminiscing about their favourite cocktails of the 80s and 90s and how the general mood of nostalgia that was sparked by the pandemic has trickled into the drinks market.
This week WGSN CEO Carla Buzasi is joined by travel trailblazer Robin Hutson: OBE, Chairman of The Pig hotels, sustainability champion and officially the UK's second most powerful hotelier.
If you've been lucky enough to visit any of his destinations that dot the south of England, you'll know that these boutique retreats are famous for their amazing food and gorgeous interiors, but there's a lot more to their success than just what they look like.
This week WGSN Business Development Manager Sam Boakye and Insight Strategist Mel Larsen talk to British writer, curator and broadcaster Ekow Eshun about his new exhibition "In The Black Fantastic" now showing at London’s Hayward Gallery.
Ekow has been described as a ‘cultural polymath’ by The Guardian, he is chairman of the Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group, overseeing the most prestigious public art programme in the UK, and the former Director of the ICA, London. He is the author of critically lauded books Black Gold of the Sun, Africa State of Mind, and, most recently In the Black Fantastic.
At WGSN part of our STEPIC methodology that we use in our trend forecasting includes looking at culture and creativity, and so in that vein we invited Ekow on the show to talk about the exhibition and accompanying book. We spoke more widely about themes of The Black Fantastic vs Afrofuturism, the power of speculative film and fiction, the relevance of artists from Chris Ofili to Beyonce in expressing the Black experience and the concept of double consciousness.
This is the concluding episode of our Milan Design Week Special series in which we’ve explored some of the key trends and brought you insights and interviews from the 2022 edition, which incidentally was the 60th anniversary for the fair that began it all Salone del Mobile.
In this episode the WGSN team discuss Craft Renaissance, a trend that seems to run and run, where we see traditional craftsmanship and artisanal skills are renewed for a contemporary audience.
This is the third in our series of shorter episodes in which we bring you some of the key trends, insights and interviews from Milan Design Week 2022.
In today's episode the WGSN team discuss the Inclusivity and Wellbeing trend. Installations and products that were about designing for inclusivity and that raised awareness around diversity and mental health were a key focus at this year's event.
This is the second in our series of episodes in which we bring you some of the key trends, insights and interviews from Milan Design Week 2022.
In this episode, Bethan Ryder WGSN Executive Editorial Director is joined by Director of Interiors Lisa White and Head of Interiors Gemma Riberti as we explore our Updated Icons trend.
In this episode we focus on an interview with designer Tom Dixon.
Over the next four days our Interiors experts will be bringing you key trends, insights and interviews from Milan Design Week. Our Trends report lists 13 trends you need to know from Milan Design Week, in this short series of podcasts we’ll cover four of those trends. Expect to hear from design world luminaries from Faye Toogood to Jonathan Anderson and Tom Dixon, plus exciting emerging designers such as Krill Design and the team behind the Huggable Chair, fantastic examples of circular and inclusive designs.
Our first trend is Nature First.
Following the pandemic many professionals around the world are still combining remote and office working. What’s more it’s looking good for productivity. PepsiCo research found that when given more flexibility, and when given a hybrid option, they see an in 15% increase in productivity and 31% less absenteeism. So what does this more fluid, flexible future of hybrid working mean for people, brands and businesses in the future? We explore this on today’s podcast; from the tech we are likely to demand and adopt, to the type of environments and interior spaces required to tempt us back into the workplace for those meaningful collaborative moments.
Will holograms serve to bring us closer to remote-working colleagues? Will biophilic design keep us feeling nurtured and build company loyalty? And what’s the great reset? Tune in to find out what the future holds for the workplace and where the product design opportunities might lie for brands and businesses.
Michael Pawlyn is a biomimicry expert, TED talk star and founding director of the London-based practice Exploration Architecture, he is also co-author with Singapore-based urbanist, curator and writer Sarah Ichioka of the book Flourish: Design Paradigms for our Planetary Emergency. Published just last year, it’s a persuasive read that tackles existing orthodoxies around sustainability and posits real world design and architecture solutions and strategies to move towards a future where the planet can truly flourish.
Central to Pawlyn and Ichioka’s book is the argument for a paradigm shift, as inspired by the late systems thinker Donella Meadows, and a move away from conventional sustainability to regenerative design and development.
As we read news reports of microplastics being present in human blood and the latest UN climate report issued by the IPCC reminded us that time has nearly run out to meet the 1.5°C warming target of the Paris Agreement, it’s clear we need to take drastic action in reducing plastic waste and our greenhouse gas emissions. So what alternatives are out there when it comes to wrapping up and protecting our products ready for consumers, and how much do consumers really care?
Toward the end of 2021, audio tech giant Sonos released its "Listen Better” report alongside a climate action plan in which is laid out its commitment to a more sustainable future for the business. A key figure driving this plan from within is Kitty Suidman whose role as Design Director of Product Sustainability at Sonos places her at the forefront of the brand’s drive to reduce its environmental impact, with a goal to reach carbon neutrality by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2040.
Joining Bethan Ryder and Kitty in conversation this week is Content Director of Consumer Tech here at WGSN Lisa Yong. Together they discuss how the structure of their businesses internal hierarchies can give sustainability a key role in everything they do and what tech brands can do to balance the tightrope of providing cutting edge products alongside fulfilling the increasing desire for longevity in products that consumers own.
WGSN has been tracking digital assets for many years now but we’re seeing a significant rise in the engagement across markets, regions, categories and consumer cohorts. Approximately 70% of Gen Z and Gen X global consumers rate their digital identity as important, meanwhile 65% rate digital ownership as important and more than 50% are interested in purchasing a digital asset in the next 12 months. In this conversation, WGSN Prints & Graphics Strategist Kraggy is joined by Nell Lloyd-Malcolm CEO and co-founder of XYdrobe, Oliver Royce, who is head of apparel and digital goods at Fnatic, and Ommy Akhe, creative technologist and leading figure in the augmented reality space, to discuss what the implications of these new rules are, and how fashion companies can authentically engage in this space.
Curious about crypto? Join Andrea Bell, director of WGSN Insight, as she hosts this episode unpacking all things crypto, from Web3 and the Metaverse to NFTs. Tune in as she discusses these topics with WGSN experts Cassandra Napoli, Senior Strategist on Insight, and Sarah Housley Head of Consumer Tech, and what they mean for brands and consumers, plus some of our favourite examples of brands taking advantage of cryptocurrencies in the real world.
If you’re a WGSN subscriber you can find many reports covering these subjects, web3, metaverse and the crypto class, plus all the latest trends and developments in Consumer Tech on WGSN.com.
We’ve seen alternatives to meat and dairy products on the market for some time now, and the embracing of plant-based meat alternatives have sky-rocketed in the past few years, it is inevitable that this combination of culinary skills and scientific knowledge will play out across the food and drink space. WNWN Food Labs is just one of many new and exciting brands trying to forge ahead in this growing market with their first product, a zero-cacao chocolate bar, created from alternative plant-based ingredients. They are part of a small but growing movement called “alt-choc”.
Joining WGSN CEO Carla Buzasi is Dr Johnny Drain, aka ‘the Walter White of Fermentation’ and founder of WNWN food labs, and WGSN’s Head of Food and Drink Jen Creevy, to discuss consumers’ growing awareness of the ethics of our food supply chains, the power of fermentation in the latest plant based foods and what products WNWN could be planning next.
Wellness themes play a major part in our flagship report Big Ideas 2024 which has just landed on all our product design platforms. One of our most popular reports with clients, this report looks ahead to see how trends will shape what consumers need and want in two years’ time and we apply it to all of the industries we serve.
Listen to find out what a bathfluencer is, why we’re becoming interested in mood foods and why snacking can actually be good for you. Plus, which Friends star has launched a cleaning line… no it’s not Matt Le Blanc.
Ramdane Touhami is a creative visionary, serial entrepreneur and the man behind global beauty brand Buly 1803, which he founded in 2014 with his wife and business partner Victoire de Taillac and sold in October last year to LVMH. Not a bad trajectory for the son of an apple picker who was himself homeless 25 years ago. He recently published, The Beauty of Time Travel (Gestalten), which explores how you construct a global brand ”from the bottom up”.
Bethan Ryder, WGSN's Executive Editorial Director and Lisa White, Director of Interiors join Ramdane to ask how to resurrect an historic brand, what role creativity plays in business and whether he is looking forward to designing in the metaverse.
This week we throw the spotlight on outdoor lifestyles. A topic we've been closely tracking at WGSN as the pandemic has shifted consumer behaviour, with many people embracing nature and activities in the fresh air. Alongside hiking and wellness trends such as forest bathing we're witnessing an increase in what you might call 'social sports', from surfing to skateboarding and currently in the northern hemisphere a winter sports boom and with it the rise of an associated aesthetic: Gorpcore. So grab your activewear and lets take this week's episode outside.
Links:
- YT - Arc'teryx
- Arc'teryx TikTok #1
- Arc'teryx TikTok #2
- Arc'teryx TikTok #3
This week, WGSN CEO Carla Buzasi is joined by three members of the WGSN's consultancy team, Mindset, to discuss the top priorities design brands should have for 2022. Spanning North America, Asia and Europe the three Mindset experts are used to challenging briefs from diverse brands wrestling with creating better products and experiences for their consumers. All understand design brand challenges and consumer behaviour, and are here to give a quick lesson in brand resilience and planning for the future.
2022 is just around the corner. In what has been another year of ups and downs, we're now looking forward to the clean slate of a brand new year. At WGSN that means nailing down the key trends for the coming year and ensuring you're set for a super-successful 2022. So what can you expect to see trending next year? This week we talk through the team's most significant trend predictions for the coming year.
We're in the midst of party season in many regions of the world whether celebrating Christmas or looking ahead to Lunar New Year. While many of us had hoped we'd be in a far better place than last year, with the arrival of the Omicron variant, festivities are again in question.
This week we discuss how things are shaping up for home entertaining, over the next few months.
With a global sense of disappointment it's even more crucial to discuss and determine how brands and creatives can design systems and products that respond to the climate emergency.
This episode we are joined by Carole Collet, Professor in Design for Sustainable Futures at Central St. Martins University in London where she is director of Maison/0, the Central St. Martins LVMH platform for regenerative luxury and also co-director of the Living Systems Lab, a research lab which explores the inherent properties of biological living systems to develop new knowledge in the field of ecology via creative practices in art, design and architecture.
As we enter what is traditionally the busiest time for retail in many regions, we felt it was time to shine a light on bricks and mortar stores and discuss what brands and retailers can do to lure consumers back.
What's the future of the store and what hybrids or strategies can businesses employ to play a part in creating thriving cities again. Or is there something else entirely new around the corner which we will see in the near future?
The topic of sustainability is never far from the top of our agenda at WGSN and with the publication of our new white paper "Create Better", this episode we will be talking about new practices and lessons that everyone who works in design can learn from. Against the backdrop of COP26 it also feels like the right time to challenge ourselves to do much more in this space.
We are seeing huge consequences of global warming right now, you just need to look out of your window or read today's headlines, and here at WGSN we believe that it's time for the design industries to start putting words into action, which is what this episode is all about.
At WGSN we have published a number of reports recently about the shifts and strategies in selling sex on Insight, sexual wellness on Beauty and inclusive sex tech on our recently launched Consumer Tech platform.
It's always been a hot topic but what's exciting is that the sexual conversation is expanding and there's a shift towards more open, honest and diverse conversations, depictions and explorations of sex and sexuality from a multiplicity of viewpoints.
This week WGSN CEO Carla Buzasi speaks to Copenhagen Fashion Week CEO Cecilie Thorsmark who, as leader of this sustainably focussed fashion week, is on a mission to change the way the entire fashion industry thinks about its impact on the environment and the wider world around them.
Cecilie has be consulting with the wider industry around her mission to drive genuine change in both the fashion week she runs but also with the hope that systems that are put in place in Copenhagen can be translated for other fashion weeks elsewhere in the world.
In July 2021 Mark Zuckerberg declared that the future of Facebook is the metaverse, but as a concept it’s not new, having first been coined in the 1992 sci-fi novel, Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. It now yields nearly 6m results in Google Search, though it's far from universally defined.
At WGSN we introduced the concept of the metaverse in Future Innovations 2022, calling it a shared virtual space that can be roamed widely. We then published a Research Radar, exploring its potential as a successor to the internet, poised to become the future of all digital media and commerce.
In this episode we’ll be discussing the signs that brands and consumers are moving towards this future immersive phygital world. We explain how brands can enter it and look at the parties transforming it and the potential it holds for the future.
This week, WGSN Executive Editorial Director Bethan Ryder speaks to author, designer and educator Carla Diana & WGSN's head of Consumer Tech Sarah Housley about the future of social robots.
According to consultancy firm Frost and Sullivan the global robotics market will reach $38.3bn by 2024. What's more the global adoption rate of robotics and automation in digital supply chains is set to increase from 39% in 2020 to 73% in 2025. During the pandemic, robots moved from manufacturing lines to service roles; in China the need for touch free services has given the unmanned economy a significant boost and sales of robots are growing at more than twice the rate of global trajectories.
This week we are welcoming a new member of the WGSN team as we embark on the next chapter of the company. Having made our name forecasting trends for fashion, beauty, interiors, food & drink and consumer lifestyles, we now turn our attention to the exciting world of consumer tech.
Joining Carla Buzasi, CEO of WGSN, is our Director of Consumer Tech Lisa Yong who speaks about why this rapidly changing industry is so important no matter what design world you work in, plus new trends on the horizon and how she and the team predict what will happen next.
The wider concept of gender identity has altered in the public conscious over the past decade, with a more positive understanding emerging that gender is fluid and not a binary thing. This has been powered by the internet and social media, which has given voice to LGBTQ+ communities and activists. Education is more accessible and as a consequence notions of masculinity are also being viewed as a spectrum rather than a hackneyed set of strongman stereotypes.
Over the past year as the pandemic took hold globally, consumer awareness of their own health and wellbeing, and also the food that we are putting into our bodies played a massive role in dealing with the global health crisis and propelled the plant based food industry even higher in market share. The growth rate in the US more than doubled in 2020 as sales surged 27% to $7 billion dollars according to the Plant Based Foods Association and the Good Food Institute.
Joining WGSN President and CEO Carla Buzasi to talk about the growing craving for all things plant based is Lita Dwight, the founder of Bryt Life Foods alongside WGSN’s very own Kara Nielson, who heads up our food and drink platform.
This episode explores how the COVID-19 pandemic has created a pet boom, with humankind across the globe seeking solace affection and touch from furry friends. In the US, 69% of consumers own an animal and 37% have adopted one in the last six months according the Bank of America. The Washington Post reported that by mid-July shelters, non-profit rescues, private breeders and pet stores all reported more consumer demand than there were dogs and puppies to fill it.
WGSN Creative Director Lisa White is joined by Anab Jain and Jon Ardern, co-founders of Superflux, a studio that creates speculative worlds and tells future stories that help explain where civilization might be going and what we can do to influence these potential outcomes. Their byline is brilliant at explaining their mission in just seven words: Translating future uncertainty into present-day choices.
This week WGSN CEO Carla Buzasi speaks to the CEO and Founder of fashion-textile disruptor Bolt Threads, Dan Widmaier. Joining them is WGSN's Head of Materials and Textiles, Helen Palmer. The conversation focusses around Bolt Threads' revolutionary new non-leather, Mylo and explores innovation, industry change and sustainability in textiles and beyond.
This week the WGSN team discusses youth and nostalgia, two things that have often (though it seems counterintuitive) gone hand in hand. Although teens and twenty-somethings often love a bit of retro, the term is definitely on the rise as a discussion topic on social media. It's a fundamental human emotion and has been very much on people's minds during the pandemic and over the past year of lockdowns, particularly among Gen-Z and Millennials.
WGSN CEO Carla Buzasi speaks to Nanushka Founder, Sandra Sandor and Peter Baldaszti the company’s co-owner and CEO. Over the years the label has made a name for itself through its ardent approach to sustainability while staying committed to its luxury roots.
Over the course of this conversation they discuss the changing consumer relationship with sustainable fashion, how Nanushka challenges suppliers to truly deliver sustainable solutions, and how to manage the growth of a business while maintaining that “family” ethos they had established from the start.
For consumers, the climate crisis is no longer a theoretical problem that will need to be solved in the future, but rather, it is something that is urgent and happening now. Having seen the swift action from governments around the world in response to the pandemic, consumers are now expecting a similar level of drive in response to the climate crisis.
All of this is driving broad shifts in consumer behaviour as the pandemic accelerated shifts around values, with people adopting a much more frugal mindset. This week we look at the role our industry can play as part of the solution.
The DNA of an Yves Béhar project is pushing design and technology boundaries to forge new territories often light years ahead of the mainstream. From sustainable shoe packaging for Puma, to Samsung's "The Frame" TV, his studio, fuseproject which he founded in 1999, explores the nexus between design and technology with a strong focus on sustainability and always with an optimistic, punk meets freewheeling west coast attitude.
Over the past year it's felt like stalemate. In our Groundhog Day existence, rarely has fashion seemed so pragmatic. We've seen sweatpants, puffer coats, wellies and walking boots selling out across the globe, while heels, tailored workwear and dresses are gathering dust.
So what does emerging from the lockdown mean for fashion from a product perspective? How do categories from workwear and partywear evolve and what happens next to loungewear?
WGSN CEO Carla Buzasi speaks to CEO and Co-Founder of beauty company Deciem, Nicola Kilner.
Carla and Nicola discuss, the impact of seemingly endless Zoom calls on consumers' beauty decisions, the reasons behind creating a social activist manager role within the business and offering a simplified, uniform product range to a global consumer among many other things.
Retail is once more in a state of flux. The pandemic led to huge shifts in consumer behaviour in 2020 and this is set to continue into 2021. In the US alone 11,000 stores closed and 40 major retailers went bankrupt last year. Online spending also reached new heights accounting for 27.3% of global overall retail sales, growing by a third over the course of the year.
Retailers need to adapt to a future where digitally facilitated shopping trips are the norm.
At WGSN we have been discussing the growing rental markets for fashion as well as furniture and interiors for a number of years now, this has accelerated in recent years due to the increasing consumer demand for sustainable and flexible lifestyles.
Henrietta Thompson co-founded Harth in 2018, and became a pioneer of the furniture rental market in the UK. In the last six months Harth has seen a 50% increase in rental requests and a 60% increase in stock listed by private lenders.
January tends to be the time of year when many of us pull our gym kit out of the back of our cupboards and generally set goals to become the best versions of ourselves.
The wellness sector is worth $4.5 trillion per year and has been growing at 6.4% annually, twice the rate of global economic growth.
Petah Marian is joined by experts from across WGSN to discuss how wellness is undergoing something of a detox to become more democratic, and why we need to start thinking about it as "wellbeing".
In a special episode WGSN CEO Carla Buzasi and Senior Strategist for WGSN Insight Petah Marian unite to take a look at some of the 10 key trends in consumer behaviour and product development for 2021 and beyond.
The trends reveal the future direction for business strategy, product and experience design for the fashion, beauty, lifestyle, interiors, food and drink industries.
In our final episode of the year the tables are turned as David Davies, Ascential's Chief Content Officer quizzes WGSN CEO Carla Buzasi on her high and lowlights of the year. They discuss the innovations Carla was most proud of and what kept her and the wider WGSN team going through the past 12 months.
The holiday season this year is going to be an incredibly complex one. People are dealing with restrictions on movement and gathering while still looking to find moments of joy and connection after an incredibly difficult year.
It goes without saying that the holiday season this year will be fundamentally different and companies hoping to win in this season will be required to adapt their conventional thinking.
Cities are locations which take up and outsized space in our imaginations. They are places that ambitious and creative young people aspire to go to in order to succeed and find their place in the world. Perceptions about cities in the wake of the pandemic have changed. The forecasts that deemphasize a physical presence in city offices are creating space for new visions of the city to emerge, ones that build towards a more humane sustainable and equitable future.
This week WGSN CEO Carla Buzasi is joined by Andrea Bell, WGSN's Director of Insight. Over the course of the conversation they discuss the impact of the pandemic on consumer behaviour, both this year and into the future, what that means for brands and businesses and how the design industry has to change as a consequence.
One of the places where we have seen some of the largest shifts over the past year has been in the home. Once a place where we might have just slept, it's now the centre of our worlds, becoming a place where we live, educate, eat, work and if we're lucky, have a little bit of time left to play.
While attitudes to space are changing, so too are the lifestyles around that space. This week Petah Marian is joined by the Lifestyle and Interiors team ahead of the product's new launch on November 2nd.
This week WGSN CEO Carla Buzasi is joined by Director of Beauty Jenni Middleton. The pair discuss the immediate impact that the beauty industry has seen from the pandemic, from the impact of masks on makeup to at home salon treatments and much more.
The global shutdowns earlier this year and continued restrictions on movement have plunged much of the world into recession.
As we operate through a difficult landscape for businesses, consumer behaviour is changing rapidly. Even for those that remain financially stable, the broader economic environment is making people feel more concerned about their financial circumstances.
In this episode we explore what this will mean for brands and businesses moving through this period.
This week, WGSN MD Carla Buzasi is joined by Director of WGSN Food and Drink Kara Nielsen.
The pair discuss how the global pandemic has influenced not only what we eat, but how we think about food and drink as well. Carla and Kara also divulge some of their lockdown discoveries.
Prior to the pandemic, we were facing an intimacy recession. Coronavirus has accelerated this shift even further, with lockdowns putting physical distance between us, and as people start to come back out into the world, there is a fear of contamination or transmission.
In this episode, we explore what the fear of touch looks like for consumers, and what it will mean for the beauty and retail industries. How can we remain safely apart while also finding ways of maintaining an emotional connection?
This week, WGSN MD Carla Buzasi is joined by Director of Lifestyle and Interiors and leader of the Creative Forecast team, Lisa White.
The pair discuss the acceleration of consumer trends for the interiors category, such as buying less but better, the importance of combining eCommerce with bricks and mortar showrooms, plant power, and the restorative effects of colour in your home.
Localism was emerging as a key trend before the pandemic, featuring in the Future Consumer 2022 Forecast, the Retail Forecast and the Shopper Forecast as well. It's a shift which has only accelerated through the pandemic period as lockdowns meant that we got to know our neighbours and shop from local stores as we weren't as able to travel.
This episode we explore how the localism trend is emerging around the world and how different markets are at different stages of recovery from the lockdown.
WGSN Managing Director Carla Buzasi is joined by Amiyra Perkins who as well as being one of the directors of WGSN's Mindset consulting business, also leads the Equality Vision team within the business.
In an honest and personal exchange the pair speak about the Black Lives Matter movement and why, in the year of the pandemic, it is forcing us all to reassess how we think about diversity and inclusion and more importantly, what we're going to do about it.
The events of the past six months have created a tremendous amount of anxiety, however, we are now seeing an opportunity to refocus on the positive experiences that we have had during lockdown and can continue to do so when we emerge from this crisis.
While this is not to make light of the devastating and tragic losses that many of us are experiencing right now, this break from life as normal is providing an opportunity for us to create a better, more optimistic future for our businesses and consumers.
In light of the protests and demonstrations against police brutality and social injustice that we have seen across America and around the world this week, we are taking the opportunity to highlight an episode of a podcast published by our sister brand Cannes Lions.
Last week their host Simon Cook had a frank and open conversation with Endeavor CMO Bozoma Saint John, which had such a clear and powerful message about racial inclusion and diversity, that we wanted to share that with you today.
How we eat has changed tremendously over the first half of this year, as enforced lockdowns have led to increased food stockpiling and most of the world eating all of their meals at home. This is leading to new attitudes towards food.
Today we explore the shifts that are taking place in the food & drink sector and and what will be the winning strategies for success in a post-coronavirus world.
This episode explores what the shift to the home will mean for broader design trends in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. As people continue to spend more time at home, businesses will have to create a sense of the stability and security to convince them to come back out into the world. The WGSN team dives into some of the key strategies that businesses will need to adopt to tap into the home consumer.
Our topic this episode is the future of the beauty industry in a post-COVID-19 world. Despite the quickly-shifting landscape, the beauty industry will play a big role as we begin on the road to recovery.
It is an industry that is likely to have increasing resonance as it evolves to meet a changing consumer and support their wellness needs in a very anxious and uncertain time.