Polarity perfume: New scent responds to extremes

London – British milliner Stephen Jones launched a new fragrance and fashion film, Wisteria Hysteria, which captures the complex and polarised landscape of contemporary society.

Directed by Henry Pincus, the film is set in a world that is both rococo and futuristic. An angelic woman dressed in pure white sprays herself with the perfume, symbolising the release of a new side to her. She is then confronted by a strong and powerful antagonist wearing a contrasting black gown. The opposing characters represent the dual identity of the female, a recognition that the modern woman doesn’t want to be seen as just one thing.

Wisteria Hysteria looks at the future and the past, the light and the dark, the positive and the negative, the clean and the sensual. Increasingly, lifestyle industries are drawing inspiration from both utopian and dystopian themes.

‘As austerity becomes tempered with a new sense of optimism, we are witnessing the rise of extreme trends and counter-intuitive behaviour in shopping, health, dieting, even eating and drinking’, says The Future Laboratory co-founder Martin Raymond.

After years of austerity, consumer behavior is shifting between extremes. For more on what this means for brands and products, watch The Polarity Paradox preview film, and buy tickets for the SS14 Trend Briefing.