LSN : Daily Signals : Covid-19: Digital dining for virtually connected foodies

This fashion brand has created ‘living’ couture

Auroboros Couture Collection with Sarabande Foundation, London

London – Auroboros has created a couture collection that grows on the body.

The luxury fashion brand has developed one-of-a-kind pieces using biomimicry. Created with crystals that grow and change colour over time due to oxidisation, and eventually fall off, the designers hope that the growth process and evolution of garments will prompt wearers to think about fashion in a new light.

Offering unusual sustainability credentials, the undergarments in the collection are also biodegradable, but Auroboros hopes wearers will keep them after the crystals have fallen off. Paula Sello, one of the brand's founders and a designer in residence at London's Sarabande, the Alexander McQueen foundation which supports emerging artists and creatives, says: ‘It’s quite an exciting new way of creating couture because these pieces really live — and then fall apart, which means the wearer can really cherish that moment.’

For more on how the industries such as fashion and luxury are focusing on transformative materials in order to reduce ecological damage, explore our Material Far Futures report.

Covid-19: Digital dining for virtually connected foodies

Distant Dinner by Les Garçons, L'Éloi

Canada – Photography and director team Les Garçons has created a photographic series inspired by virtual dining.

Capturing the sensation of new conviviality and screen-based connectivity, the Distant Dinner series is centred around the common family gathering of an Easter meal. Presenting a long dinner table with central food items and screen-based diners positioned in place of each diner, the outcome stylises the often awkward and chaotic experience of digital dining.

Imagined as a way to document the new mealtime moments that are being shared via screens, Les Garçons provides an artistic documentation of the current reality of home-based dining – and a potential future for socially distant dinners.

Technology and dining are set to be increasingly entwined in future, as the food and drinks industry begins to embrace Home Eatertainment.

Covid-19: PornHub launches its cleanest porn ever

Global – PornHub has partnered with artists on a parody platform dedicated entirely to people washing their hands.

In collaboration with artists Ani Acopian and Suzy Shinn, ScrubHub uses the same interface as the original PornHub site, and features thousands of videos of people washing their hands, as well as numerous adult entertainers. While it is visually inoffensive, the platform uses typical pornography categories such as 'BDSM', 'bear' and 'feet'.

Humorously highlighting the important task of handwashing, ScrubHub also helps to spread awareness and raise money for Covid-19 relief. Corey Price, vice president of PornHub, explains: ‘We thought this presented a unique opportunity for Pornhub to bring some joy to something that has become so mundane and repetitive.’

Many digital platforms are finding ways to subtly raise awareness of newly important rituals. Quarantine Together, for example, prompts users with a handwashing reminder before they can use the app.

ScrubHub by PornHub in partnership with artists Ani Acopian and Suzy Shinn

Stat: Young adults turn to apps to keep family connections

According to the Youth in Pandemic study of 9,000 young adults conducted by Vice, young people globally are turning to new digital platforms to help them stay connected with friends, family and loved-ones during the pandemic.

As a result, 47% have increased their social media use, while 14% have downloaded a new app to stay in touch with family. As well as social connection, young people are also feeling informed and empowered by the apps that they’re using. In turn, 78% of them want to consume coronavirus-related content online to keep themselves and their loved ones informed.

With so many young people currently prioritising staying in touch with family over having glossy digital personas, we can anticipate a rise in Anti-Social Networks focused on more exclusive social groups.