Need to Know
09 : 01 : 20

Paris – Fashion designer Virgil Abloh has teamed up with the Musée du Louvre in Paris on a one-off clothing collection including pieces adorned with paintings by Leonardo da Vinci.

The collection combines elements from the brand’s signature Off-White identity, including its bold four-way arrow logo. Abloh is no stranger to collaborations, having previously worked with brands such as Nike, Byredo and, most recently, Ikea. The designer’s move into the museum space has a twofold motive: offering a unique creative output while aiming to boost visitor numbers among young people.

Targeting Generation Z – an audience that are increasingly connected to culture and creativity – the collaboration reflects the potential power of merging streetwear with art. Adel Ziane, director of external relations at the Louvre, describes the collaboration as ‘a way for us to reach a new audience, a new manner to interest them in the Louvre’.

With young people feeling jaded by the homogenised nature of social media, they are increasingly turning to traditional arts to find relief, which we explore in our Big Idea: Generation Z are Driving an Arts Revolution.

US and France – French company Lexilife has introduced a smart light for dyslexics, The Lexilight, at this year’s CES exhibition.

The lamp functions by emitting pulses of light that enable one eye to gain power over the other, mitigating the difficulties faced by dyslexic people in having two dominant eyes that simultaneously send different messages to the brain. Developed after a series of tests with more than 300 dyslexic people, the innovation was widely successful in reducing eye strain and allowing dyslexic people to read faster and for longer. At present, Lexilife is conducting clinical trials with the aim of receiving medical certification in order to offer the lamp on a more commercial scale. At present, each lamp is priced at £549 ($715, €644).

With people increasingly turning to at-home technology as part of their holistic self-improvement, brands like Lexilife are innovating with targeted home and family solutions. For more, explore our Home and Family vertical.

Podcast-listening is proving particularly prolific in India, according to a study from PwC, offering a growing opportunity to promote streaming services to this ever-more connected nation.

PwC reports that at the end of 2018 podcast listenership hit 40m people per month in India – up by 57.6%, from 25.4m people the previous year. India is also becoming a hive of podcast-creation, with the country the world’s third-largest podcast-listening market after China and the US. Podcasts’ popularity can in part be attributed to the nation’s growing youth population and lengthy commutes. With music-streaming already proving popular in India, people are leaning into the convenience and efficiency of tuning into podcasts – especially at a time when video-based formats are competing for the attention of users.

Young people especially are engaging with digital platforms to enrich their lives rather than just promote themselves. For more, read our Paradox Personas macrotrend.