LSN : Daily Signals : A daily recap from Web Summit 2025: Circular and creator economies take centre stage

Hyrular launches surreal beauty that breaks the mould

Hyrular, UK

UK – Hyrular is a new luxury beauty brand bringing a surreal, sci-fi edge to make-up.

Inspired by avant-garde fashion and cinematic aesthetics, the brand aims to create products for those who want to break free from conventional beauty norms and embrace bold, unusual looks.

The debut offering, Nebubalm, is a vegan multi-chrome lip balm that comes in two striking shades. It features light-reflecting finishes with pearlescent and shimmer effects, capturing Hyrular’s mission to make beauty that is imaginative, expressive and visually striking.

‘Why is no one making beauty for us? The industry’s demand for sameness leaves no room for the strange, the cinematic or the surreal,’ Hyrular says in its launch statement. The brand is positioning itself for consumers who want imaginative, visually striking products rather than conventional beauty dictated by algorithms and elite ideals.

This approach aligns with LS:N Global’s upcoming macrotrend, The Great Beauty Blur, which explores how brands can embrace friction, complexity and cultural nuance to foster authentic engagement and spark consumer curiosity.

Join us for tomorrow’s webinar on The Great Beauty Blur by RSVPing here.

Strategic opportunity

By making strangeness and surrealism central to their creative language, brands can cultivate a beauty culture where complexity and curiosity outweigh uniformity

A daily recap from Web Summit 2025: Circular and creator economies take centre stage

Portugal – More than 70,000 attendees and 2,500 start-ups have gathered in Lisbon for Web Summit 2025, where circular innovation and the creator economy have taken centre stage.

On Monday 10 November 2025, opening speakers included TikTok star Khaby Lame, tennis champion Maria Sharapova and Lovable AI CEO Anton Osika, each exploring how technology is reshaping their industries.

Circularity led early discussions on Tuesday 11 November, as the full event kicked off with Syre CEO Dennis Nobelius announcing a multi-year partnership with Nike to integrate the company’s circular polyester into Nike’s performance lines – a major shift in its materials strategy. Nobelius pointed to the exclusivity and innovation of recycled products as a selling point for brands, reflecting insights from our Rebranding Sustainability series which detailed the need for a new approach that embeds sustainability in business models, rather than platforming it.

Meanwhile, Visa’s global head of product Mark Nelson unveiled the company’s strategy to develop financial tools for creators, recognising them as SMEs and accommodating their non-traditional revenue models. Gen Z influencers and entrepreneurs Grace Beverley and Josh Richards echoed this evolution, highlighting how creators are building sophisticated businesses rooted in audience insight, rather than merchandise sales. For more on how influencer culture is changing the world as we know it, head to our The New Creatorverse report.

Web Summit 2025. Photography by Paul Devlin, Lisbon, Portugal

Opening night of Web Summit 2025. Photography by Ramsey Card, Lisbon, Portugal

Grace Beverley at Web Summit 2025, photography by Carlos Rodrigues, Lisbon, Portugal

Strategic opportunity

Develop financial tools for a new generation of entrepreneurs – from saving guides for irregular income to AI agents that automatically chase invoices – as creators become fully fledged business operators shaping the future of business

Stat: Retailers warned of festive staffing crisis as 73% of employees plan to quit

Walmart, US

UK – UK retailers could face a staffing crisis ahead of Black Friday and the Christmas rush, as new research from sharetech platform Vestd reveals that nearly three-quarters (73%) of retail employees are looking to leave their jobs.

Vestd’s Workplace Values Study found that almost one in four retail staff plan to quit within the next three months, citing heavy workloads and poor work/life balance as key pressures. The report also noted rising incidents of anti-social behaviour towards staff, with many being offered training to handle abuse from customers.

Mental health emerged as a key concern, ranking third among workplace benefits. Yet almost a third of retail employees said they don’t feel comfortable discussing mental health issues at work, despite 94% experiencing stress.

Financial rewards were ranked as employees’ top priority, with bonus and performance-based schemes seen as more motivating than traditional staff discounts. Nearly 60% also said share ownership would make them more loyal to their employer.

Vestd founder and CEO Ifty Nasir warned: ‘Employers must address these issues to retain staff and avoid a huge walkout during the busiest shopping period of the year.’

Explore our Retail Staff Futures and Work States Futures reports to uncover the key strategic opportunities shaping the future retail workforce and workplace.

Strategic opportunity

Integrate mental health support, flexible scheduling and clear career paths into the employee value proposition, using technology and training to make wellbeing a core driver of retention and resilience