Signals

UK – Clean and vegan beauty brand Merit and jewellery brand Completedworks have unveiled their limited-edition jewellery collection to complement Merit’s debut fragrance, Retrospect. The collaboration between the independent, women-owned brands celebrates sculptural design and everyday luxury. 

The collection features two earring styles, gold vermeil studs and silver dangling earrings with organic pearls, drawing inspiration from the fluid silhouette of the Retrospect bottle. Available individually or as a set with the fragrance, the pieces merge modernity with nostalgia, offering wearable art for fashion-conscious consumers. 

Aila Morin, CMO of Merit, stated: ‘We see fragrance as an accessory, so when expanding Retrospect, we naturally turned to jewellery. Completedworks’ expressive designs beautifully merge modern sensibility with classic materials.’ Anna Jewsbury, founder of Completedworks, said: ‘The earrings are a direct response to the fragrance’s fluid shape, blending structure with organic forms, creating timeless yet unexpected pieces.’

In our Luxury States: New Codes of Luxury 2024–2025 macrotrend report, we analysed how brands need to embrace community, heritage, craftsmanship and responsible behaviour to resonate with a younger, highly discerning consumer base. This smart partnership and strategic approach expand both brands’ product eco-systems, effectively broadening their appeal and enhancing their overall value proposition.

US – Family-friendly films dominated the US box office in 2024, with PG-rated titles accounting for a third of ticket sales – the highest share since 1995 – according to Axios analysis of Box Office Mojo data. 

Animated movies have led this boom, accounting for 25% of all domestic ticket sales. Disney’s Inside Out 2 became the highest-grossing animated film ever, while Moana 2 broke Thanksgiving records with £173m ($221m, €209m) in domestic sales during the holiday weekend. Universal’s Despicable Me 4 also surpassed £3.9m ($5bn, €4.7m) in global box office sales. 

Analysts attribute this momentum to families seeking cost-effective entertainment over pricier trips.

In our Generation Z: Now and Next 2024–2025 report, we identified the rise of ‘kidult’ culture – that is, adults buying Squishmallows, Hello Kitty, Moomin – as a response to traditional markers of adulthood being harder to achieve in an increasingly fragmented and unpredictable world.