LSN : Daily Signals : The Campaign: Depop reframes second-hand fashion as secret to personal style

The Trend: Mood-matching Fashion

Pinterest, Global

Fashion discovery is evolving, guided by emotional cues and powered by generative AI. Rather than surfacing static product results, next-gen tools are responding to how consumers feel by giving emotionally relevant styling suggestions.

While search remains the cornerstone of online fashion discovery, keyword-led queries often miss the emotional intent behind a shopper’s desire. Mood-driven systems mean that users can prompt AI with information that’s rooted in feeling and context. This leads to more personal, fluid and adaptive results which align with the shift from static search to conversational commerce.

In April 2025, OpenAI integrated product recommendations into ChatGPT to deliver non-sponsored results directly within chat windows. As highlighted in our SXSW London 2025: The Pursuit of AI Optimism report, marketers are increasingly weighting their advertising budgets away from traditional search in order to optimise their visibility on large language models and AI agents.

In May 2025, global visual discovery engine and social media network Pinterest rolled out a multimodal search update in the UK, US and Canada. Powered by visual language models, the tool helps users build a richer visual vocabulary and translates the subtle nuances of a ‘vibe’ into tailored results. ‘Often, we surface inspiration even before users have the words to describe what they’re looking for,’ said Dana Cho, vice president of design at Pinterest, in a conversation with LS:N Global.

Learn more about the future of Mood-matching Fashion here.

The Big Idea: Viva Tech 2025: Five Sustainable Fashion Start-ups

At VivaTech 2025, fashion-focused innovators showcased how AI can be used to tackle the industry’s sustainability challenge.

As environmental regulation tightens across Europe, Trace for Good is positioning itself as the go-to operating system for traceability. Designed to integrate seamlessly across supply chains, Trace for Good offers a shared source of truth between retailers and suppliers.

The tool enables brands and suppliers to work from a single source of structured, verifiable truth, streamlining environmental and social data collection, standardising reporting formats and embedding transparency across complex supply chains.

Elsewhere, Losanje is pushing the boundaries of upcycling by combining craft with automation. A laureate of France 2030 and recognised by BPI and ADEME for its ecological innovation, the company transforms surplus and second-hand textiles into new clothing and accessories – for both its own collections and partner brands.

Losanje’s solution automates cutting regardless of garment construction or fibre blend, including materials typically excluded from recycling. This accelerates production cycles and expands capacity for large-scale circular design.

Our Viva Tech 2025: Five Sustainable Fashion Start-ups report lays out three more examples of fashion tech start-ups reshaping the future of sustainable production.

Solaya, France

The Campaign: Depop reframes second-hand fashion as secret to personal style

Where Taste Recognises Taste by Uncommon for Depop, UK

Fashion resale platform Depop (now a subsidiary of Etsy) has launched its largest US campaign to date. Created by Uncommon Creative Studio, Where Taste Recognises Taste dramatises the emotional connection between buyers and sellers, introducing the idea of Depopelgangers – style twins who discover each other through second-hand fashion.

The campaign marks a tonal shift for the London-based platform, transitioning from educational messaging to cinematic storytelling designed to appeal to a wider demographic beyond its Gen Z base.

‘Second-hand isn’t only sustainable, it’s also where the most interesting, personalised wardrobes are built through genuine style connections within our wildly diverse and global community. It’s one thing making second-hand accessible, but it also needs to be exciting,’ says Sonia Biddle, interim chief product officer and marketing leader at Depop.

The campaign echoes insights from New Codes of Value, which identified the values shift away from blind consumerism towards savvy spending that leaves the individual feeling better post-purchase than before. Head to our Rebranding Resale report for more examples of the upscaled marketing initiatives, luxury partnerships and circularity-led retail concepts that are redefining resale and helping consumers enact this shift.

The Viewpoint: Wearable Skincare

Sylva, UK

Sylva’s founder Tallulah Harlech was diagnosed with psoriasis, the chronic autoimmune skin condition, when she was just nine years old and has since seen countless doctors, healthcare professionals and tried alternative therapies. Steroid creams, immunosuppressant injections and even veganism played a crucial role in toning down her condition.

'I wanted to heal completely, and so in 2019, I got off the medication to see whether I had done enough therapy.'

Her journey as a founder started when she roamed the Future Fabrics Expo in London in search of fabrics that would protect her skin condition. ‘I needed to know there’s more than just organic cotton and bamboo. I needed to know if there was anything with dermatological or scientific backing,’ she says.

Harlech came across Pyratex, an interlock made with Tencel – a cellulosic fibre obtained from wood pulp using recyclable solvents – and a seaweed-based fibre. Produced in Austria and knitted in Portugal, the material is anti-bacterial, anti-irritation, eliminates free radicals – reactive oxygen species that can interact and damage the skin – and has skincare properties. Seaweed naturally contains amino acids, vitamins and minerals that are beneficial for the skin.

Drop one was launched in October 2024 with three items: a top, a pair of leggings and a dress retailing between £195 ($252, €233) and £390 ($505, €466). Items are made from Pyratex SeaCell 15, a blend of 65% Tencel, 28% SeaCell and 7% elastane, all knitted in Portugal.

In March 2025, LS:N Global spoke to fashion stylist and consultant Tallulah Harlech to discuss Sylva, her own functional apparel brand designed with skincare in mind. Access the full interview now.

The Space: Iris van Herpen unveils Sympoiesis at Paris Haute Couture Week

Iris van Herpen, Sympoiesis, Paris

At Paris Haute Couture Week, Iris van Herpen unveiled Sympoiesis, a collection steeped in material innovation.

Among the standout pieces was a luminous gown infused with 125m living bioluminescent algae (pyrocystis lunula) and a wedding dress spun from Brewed Protein – a bio-based fibre derived from fermented sugar cane.

The glowing algae dress, developed in collaboration with biodesigner Chris Bellamy, is the result of a meticulous 35-step process. To remain alive, the garment requires carefully controlled conditions of humidity, light and temperature – turning the act of wearing into one of stewardship.

Meanwhile, Brewed Protein – developed by Japanese biotech company Spiber – marks a milestone in sustainable luxury. With the opening of the world’s first commercial protein polymer plant and a European outpost, Spiber is positioning itself as a key player in the future of regenerative materials. Its products can be broken down into nutrients and reused in the fermentation process to create new protein.

For van Herpen, whose work has long existed at the intersection of couture and experimental design, the living dress is more than a fashion spectacle: it’s a poetic provocation – a call to care for the ecosystems that inspire and sustain us.

As highlighted in our Biofabricated Futures report, biofabrication is emerging as a progressive regenerative approach that provides businesses with a path to sustainable growth.