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A phygital showcase for Nigeria’s creative talent

Browns has re-shifted its focus to phygital experiences, spotlighting emerging African talent across music, fashion, art and culture by partnering with Homecoming

Homecoming and Browns 2020, Nigeria

London and Lagos – The annual Homecoming festival of Nigerian creativity is collaborating with London fashion store Browns East for a phygital 2020 edition.

Upholding the goal of Homecoming to spotlight emerging African talent across music, fashion, art and culture, this year’s iteration presents an e-zine alongside an array of digital events and in-store activations. The zine, Ni Agbaye, which means ‘in the world’, focuses on the global influence of Afro culture, exploring cultural exchange through a range of mediums and voices from the diaspora.

Combining panel talks, interviews, customised artwork and an exclusive fashion collection sold at Browns East, Homecoming gives a platform to African creatives beyond their local audience. Discussing the Browns East collaboration, Grace Ladoja, founder of Homecoming, says: ‘We're stocking 15 designers; most are from Nigeria and for some, it’s their first stockist. It was really important for us to get their products in-store so that we could spotlight them globally to a new audience.’

As the African Fashion Market continues to gain momentum on an international scale, globally-minded retailers have an opportunity to provide inspirational in-store spaces that support nascent design talents.

Nike (M) is its first range of maternity activewear

Maternity collection by Nike

Global – The sports brand's first-ever maternity line draws on feedback and insights from active women and female athletes.

Designed to cater for women during and after pregnancy, the Nike (M) capsule range comprises its Nike One tights, a breastfeeding-friendly pullover, the Swoosh bra and a tank top. The philosophy behind the collection is to support and strengthen women’s relationship with sport as their bodies change throughout the different stages of pregnancy.

Nike analysed 150,000 comparison scans of non-pregnant and pregnant women and gathered feedback from nearly 30 athletes who were either classified as mothers-to-be or post-partum. In this way, the brand ensured that the design process of Nike (M) was both data-driven and human-centric. ‘The more we listened to expecting mothers and post-partum mothers, the more we learned, reworked and innovated through inclusive design,’ says Carmen Zolman, Nike senior design director for apparel innovation.

As brands increasingly cater for the female experience, they are designing pregnancy products and services that reflect modern women's tastes while still catering for their needs. For more, explore our microtrend, Pregnancy Wellbeing.

Tmall taps into retailtainment to reach Gen Z luxurians

Tmall Luxury, Shanghai

Shanghai – China's Tmall Luxury retail platform is launching a digital space, New Luxury, to bolster brands' connections with Generation Z.

With this generation widely regarded as the future driving force for luxury sales, Tmall is turning to entertainment as a way to engage and educate young consumers. Under the banner of New Luxury, the hub combines brand-led editorial, product marketing and shoppable elements to entice consumers. Soho Mag is its content-driven channel offering fashion and luxury brand news developed with editors and influencers, while Soho Live is a daily live-streaming service dedicated to luxury drops.

A membership upgrade is also available for high-spending Gen Z luxurians, unlocking access to personalised shopping services. Recognising the existing browsing and live-streaming habits of Gen Z, the platform will also allow members to connect with key opinion leaders (KOLs) to receive personal, real-time fashion feedback about particular outfits or purchases.

As explored in the China Luxury Retail Market, as its economy begins to bounce back from Covid-19, the nation’s luxury retail market is trialling innovative digital initiatives.

Stat: APAC consumers put convenience before data security

Accessories for the Paranoid by Pia-Marie Stute and Katja Trinkwalder

Asia-Pacific consumers favour convenience over data security when using apps, according to the Curve of Convenience 2020 report from technology company F5 and Kantar.

Out of 4,100 survey participants from countries including Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan and Singapore, more than nine in 10 (96%) said they would choose a convenience and a frictionless user experience over security. According to the report, some APAC consumers don’t feel responsible for their data – 43% expect businesses to protect their data while another 32% believe the government should keep their data safe.

In turn, brands have an opportunity to engage customers during app development and around security features before a platform is launched. ‘To truly integrate convenience and security, businesses should proactively involve consumers across the development of the applications, not only at the end,’ says Adam Judd, F5 senior vice-president of sales for Asia-Pacific, China and Japan.

As digital privacy and data breaches become pertinent issues, consumers are calling on brands to offer them the option to decide when, how and where to share their data – something we explore further in the Privacy Hardware microtrend.