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Mongolia brings ancient dress systems to the Winter Olympics

Team Mongolia’s 2026 Olympic Outfits by Goyol Cashmere, Mongolia

Italy – Mongolia has unveiled the ceremonial and casual outfits for its team at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, using the global sporting stage to reassert ancient clothing systems.

Created in partnership with Goyol Cashmere, the collection draws directly from the dress of the Great Mongol Empire (13th-15th centuries), staying true to its construction, symbolism and function while introducing subtle modern refinements.

Traditional deels retain key features such as a high collar for protection and overlapping front panels designed for mobility and layered wear, reflecting centuries‑old nomadic practicality and symbolic detail. Crafted from Mongolian cashmere with silk trims and Ugalz motif embroidery, the ceremonial pieces are paired with casual knits ensembles inspired by alpine skiwear, integrating winter mountain references with motifs of the Mongolian ger and nomadic life.

Rather than positioning cashmere purely as a luxury material, the collection reframes it as survival technology – a fibre historically relied upon by nomadic communities to endure extreme winters. In doing so, Mongolia presents clothing as cultural infrastructure, shaped by the climate and lived experience.

The approach reflects a broader shift towards Luxury Recrafted, underscoring how history and craftsmanship define value, and allowing consumers to engage with items that are culturally and materially meaningful, beyond transient style.

Strategic opportunity

Brands can draw on heritage by retaining the function and symbolism of traditional designs, crafting products that remain culturally authentic while thoughtfully adapting them for contemporary use without compromising historical integrity

Foresight Friday: Alison Farrington, foresight content manager

Every Friday, we offer an end-of-week wrap-up of the topics, issues and ideas we’re all talking about. This week, foresight content manager Alison Farrington examines the interplay between cultural nuance and commercial clout in China, as the country approaches its annual Lunar New Year holiday – a time for family reunions, travel and renewal.

: Cultural fluency is the new competitive edge, as seen with Coach x CLOT’s Lunar New Year mahjong pop-up in Shenzhen that swaps symbolism for participation. The red tiles and sugar art experimentation offers play and reward. By designing with rituals, not aesthetics alone, brands earn relevance as consumers reward nuance, respect and cultural accuracy.

: Exploration becomes narrative currency as The North Face maps China’s northwest with the Ten Thousand Horses Festival (北面万马节). Rooted in cultural heritage and frontier testing, the Year of the Horse activation reframes premium sportswear through discovery, heritage dialogue and lived adventure rather than product alone. I love how this multi-location activation is themed as ‘Exploration Is Our Destiny’ and rooted in the role horses have played in China’s history from the Silk Route to high altitudes in the Wushaoling section of the Han-era Great Wall.

: Meanwhile, China’s southern resort island of Hainan is undergoing rapid transformation. The launch of island-wide special customs operations – creating the world’s largest Free Trade Port – enables freer entry of overseas goods and zero-tariff policies, reinforcing China’s strategic economic opening-up. The shift is already catalysing retail expansion and new business registrations, signalling renewed global confidence in China’s trade reforms. Learn more in our Destination Debrief: Hainan report.

The North Face Lunar New Year Campaign, APAC

: Against this backdrop, LVMH-owned DFS Group’s sale of its Hong Kong, Macau and Greater China operations to China Tourism Group Duty Free marks a changing of the guard. The move reflects a recalibration towards local leadership and the global promotion of ‘China Chic’, supported by a strategic retail partnership aligning both groups’ brand and growth ambitions, per Forbes reporting.

Quote of the week

'Chinese culture today is being shaped by two powerful forces: Top-down - deliberate statecraft policy, funding, and ideology, that builds the rails and guardrails for culture, from national policy initiatives to panda diplomacy to state-sponsored media channels. Bottom-up - a faster, messier surge of scenes such as food trends, video games, vinyl toys, street fashion and memes, that travel because they feel native to the internet, not to a ministry document'

Brian A. Wong, journalist (source: RADII).

Stat: Gen Z switches off the news feed

The Outer Work Newspaper. Design by Practice , US

UK – New research from Adobe Express points to a shift in how information is accessed in the UK. Just 8% of Gen Z adults consume news content, according to the survey of 2,000 UK adults, compared to 80% who use TikTok. This data suggests many Gen Z users are encountering news‑adjacent content through social feeds rather than verified reporting.

The findings also highlight a national move away from long-form reading. Two in five UK adults (40%) now prefer bite-sized content above all other formats, while 35% say they are watching more short-form videos than a year ago. Audio-only podcasts sit at the bottom of the pile, with just 8% engaging in this content.

Gen X are the most likely to disengage when content feels profit-driven (40%), while more than half of Boomers (57%) want more genuine brand content. Our Generations Now and Next macrotrend report unpacks the differing attitudes to news and technology between different cohorts.

While many consumers are switching off from traditional news sources, a counterculture is emerging as a rebellion against AI slop and algorithmic dependency, as explored in our The Rise of the Intellectuals report.

Strategic opportunity

Create social-first content that combines bite-sized immediacy with built-in credibility – trusted sources, fact-checking and community verification – so short-form feeds feel as reliable and authoritative as traditional news, while remaining accessible and engaging