Signals

UK – NPOL, short for Normal Phenomena of Life, is a newly launched radical concept store and online platform with ambitions to promote and champion biophilic living.

A collaborative venture between Faber Futures, Ginkgo Bioworks and graphic design agency Studio Airport, NPOL claims to be the world’s first biodesign-native lifestyle brand. The normalphenomena.life platform has a twofold mission – to create beautifully crafted products using ground-breaking biotechnologies, and to become a destination to discover existing innovations across various product categories. The brand’s own NPOL Originals line is a curation of interdisciplinary collaborations between designers, biologists, engineers, material scientists and other practitioners, ranging from microbial-dyed garments to artist edition prints.

Essentially, NPOL will help to apply lab-based innovation to everyday products and reflects growing consumer demand for eco-friendly and tech-driven offerings. Such ventures will be needed to make the biotech market less opaque for consumers as some segments, such as bio-fashion, are rapidly growing.

US – According to a report published by decision intelligence company Morning Consult in September 2023, 57% of Gen Z, and 41% of all surveyed adults, said they would become an influencer, given the opportunity.

Of the 2,000 US adults surveyed, more than half (53%) of Gen Z said they view influencing as a respectable career choice and a similar percentage said they would leave their jobs if they could sustain their lifestyle through influencing.

Both Gen Z and Millennials also have more faith in influencers than ever, with the study revealing that since 2019, trust in social media influencers has risen from 51% to 61%. As explored in our Accredited Influencers microtrend report, this trusting relationship has enabled influencing to become a legitimate career path with real societal power.

But influencer trust is not equal across the board. In an effort to use social media more positively, we are witnessing a rise of the expert influencer, with young people seeking out professionals and positive role models in digital spaces.