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Travel platform Curated Spaces is powered by trusted tastemakers

Curated Spaces, UK

UK – Travel start-up Curated Spaces has launched a booking platform that puts personal style, trusted recommendations and curated experiences at the heart of travel discovery.

The platform connects travellers with hand-picked boutique stays – from design-led hotels to cosy cabins – selected by those creators and tastemakers that people already follow and trust. To date, Curated Spaces features over 50 stays, including UK destinations Beaverbrook, Boath House and Thyme, alongside tastemakers such as Laura Jackson, Estée Lalonde, Gina Goes To and Connor O’Donnell.

Developed by entrepreneurs Molly Cooper and Alex Oldfield, Curated Spaces is designed to cut through overwhelming algorithmic content, making travel discovery more human and every booking a personalised experience. Creators can turn their recommendations into bookable experiences, gaining attribution and fair rewards while growing engaged communities.

As consumers question the credibility of traditional influencers, they increasingly seek authentic, curator-led recommendations across categories, from fashion to travel – a dynamic highlighted in our EQ-Commerce macrotrend report.

Strategic opportunity

By combining trusted tastemakers with travel discovery, brands can tap into the convergence of the creator and travel economies, offering experiences that feel personal, authentic and guided by expertise rather than algorithms.

Ulta Beauty opens UB Marketplace to 100 emerging brands

US – Ulta Beauty has launched UB Marketplace, a new online platform introducing more than 100 emerging beauty and wellness brands to its website and app. Designed as an invitation-only marketplace, the initiative allows Ulta to rapidly onboard trending labels without the lengthy in-house vetting process of traditional retail.

Powered by Mirakl’s enterprise technology, the platform lets brands manage their own listings and imagery, while Ulta ensures a consistent look and feel across its e-commerce experience. Shoppers benefit from unified search, cart and checkout functions, plus Ulta Beauty Rewards and in-store returns at more than 1,400 locations.

The move is a response to growing consumer demand for access to niche, first-to-try brands, particularly among Gen Z and Millennial audiences. Featuring names like Nuxe, Ogee and Saturday Skin, UB Marketplace strengthens Ulta’s category authority while giving shoppers faster access to innovation and emerging beauty trends.

In our Innovation Debrief 2025: The New Age of Discovery report, we highlighted how search fatigue and algorithm overload are causing consumers to turn to immersive brand spaces for product discovery.

Ulta Beauty Marketplace

Strategic opportunity

Collaborate with or build curated platforms that enable rapid integration of emerging brands, giving consumers continuous access to novelty, experimentation and discovery

Stat: Gen Z women are shaping a new liberal majority in the US

Photography by Cottonbro Studio

US – New polling highlights a sharp political gender gap within Gen Z, positioning young women as the most liberal demographic in the US, according to an annual survey of more than 20,000 adults by The 19th News and SurveyMonkey.

While just 26% of Gen Z women approve of Donald Trump’s performance as president, 47% of Gen Z men do – closely mirroring national sentiment. Across all ages, a higher percentage of women (67%) than men (55%) think abortion should be legal, with support strongest among Gen Z white, Black and Hispanic women (74%, 77% and 76%, respectively).

Support for gender-affirming care reaches 71% among Gen Z women, compared to 49% of Gen Z men and well above the 53% national average, while 81% of Gen Z women believe toxic masculinity is a problem for society.

This generational gender split signals a growing cultural and political force likely to shape America’s future. To learn more about the growing political gap between young men and women, and the fragmentation and isolation it is contributing to, head to our Gen Z Now and Next macrotrend report.

For more on navigating brand communications in an increasingly fragmented landscape, read our Resilience Branding report.

Strategic opportunity

Position your brand as a safe space for constructive conversations on social issues for Gen Z. Host educational events or produce social media content that encourages thoughtful discussion and diverse perspectives without stoking division