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Aesop’s new Hainan store uses algae to elevate the luxury retail experience

Aesop Hainan. Design by Jessie French, China

China – Luxury cosmetic brand Aesop’s latest store, in Hainan, is pushing the boundaries of sustainable design, using algae to create an immersive, ocean-inspired retail space. The brand’s in-house designers have transformed the shop into a cavernous, light-filled environment where vast ceiling oculi and a four-metre algae-coated entrance column replicate how sunlight refracts underwater.

The ambitious project was initially challenged by algae’s natural hydrophilia, which risked becoming tacky and mould-prone in Hainan’s humid climate. In response, Aesop partnered with designer Jessie French, a specialist in algae-based bioplastics, to develop a pioneering preservation method informed by conservation science.

With 2,000 aluminium panels coated in algae, the result is a luminous, ever-shifting installation that casts iridescent reflections across the store’s central basins.

Our Innovation Debrief 2024–2025 report explored algae as the hero ingredient for a healthier, more sustainable future. By incorporating the eukaryotic organism into its store design, Aesop has created an otherworldly experience appealing to demand for Escapism Retail.

Strategic opportunity

Transform retail into an immersive escape by designing surreal, sensorial spaces. Utilise biomaterials, fluid architecture and hypnotic lighting to evoke awe and turn shopping into a transportive experience

Conceivable Life Sciences is transforming IVF with robotics and AI

US – Conceivable Life Sciences – the biotech company using AI to revolutionise IVF – has secured £14.3m ($18m, €17.2m) in funding led by ARTIS Ventures, bringing its total capital raised to £31m ($39m, €37.3m).

The company is pioneering the world’s first AI-powered, fully automated IVF lab, addressing the inefficiencies of traditional manual processes. Using robotics and AI, Conceivable automates more than 200 intricate lab steps required to create embryos for IVF, including the delicate procedure of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), which it successfully performed on-site and remotely.

The financing will support a commercial pilot, including a 100-patient Institutional Review Board study, and prepare for a US launch in early 2026. In a previous study, the technology achieved 22 pregnancies from the first embryo transfers.

In our Family in 2050 report, speculative artist Lisa Mandemaker poses a future in which artificial wombs become the preferred method of reproduction and the practicalities and considerations that might arise as a result. For more on the next leap in the ever-evolving IVF and egg-freezing treatments, head to Fertility Market: The New Cycle.

AI imagery by The Future Laboratory, UK

Strategic opportunity

The automation of IVF labs will lower costs and increase access to treatment. Healthcare, insurance and wellness businesses should anticipate demand for AI-driven fertility solutions, personalised reproductive health services and a potential IVF-baby boom

Stat: Fragrance becomes the second-largest luxury beauty category in 2024

Maison Diptyque, London, UK

US – Fragrance took centre stage in beauty retail in 2024, emerging as the second-largest category in prestige beauty behind make-up, according to year-end data from Circana. The category accounted for 28% of overall prestige beauty sales, surpassing skincare for the first time.

The high-end fragrance sector grew by 12%, with perfume seeing an exceptional 43% increase and eau de parfum up 14%. Luxury brands accounted for 12% of total fragrance sales, while mass market fragrance was the fastest-growing beauty category.

The wider beauty landscape experienced a mix of disruption and stabilisation. ‘Sales performance normalised after years of double-digit growth in prestige, and there have been a lot of disruptors in retail,’ said Larissa Jensen, Circana’s senior vice president of beauty and industry adviser.

Prestige make-up rose by 5%, while mass-market make-up declined by 3%. Body sprays surged by 94%, and hair and body items also saw steady growth, with scalp care products showing particularly strong expansion.

For more insights on what’s new and next in the fragrance market, head to our Scent Retail Futures microtrend report.

Strategic opportunity

Consider exploring premium fragrance offerings with higher concentration and longer-lasting scents. For instance, can you collaborate with a luxury brand – from fashion to automotive – to capture this momentum?