Luxury

An exploration of the luxury market through trends, insights and expert opinions.

News 09.01.2023

Need to Know

Make-up made more inclusive with L’Oréal’s smart beauty applicator, Davinci’s DC100 e-motorbike ushers in a new era of mobility and luxury goods are driving record sales at auction houses Sotheby’s and Christie’s.

CES 2023: Make-up made more inclusive with L’Oréal’s smart beauty applicator

Hapta by L’Oréal, US

US – L’Oréal has presented Hapta at CES 2023, a smart beauty tool designed to help people with limited hand and arm mobility to steadily apply make-up.

For the millions of people living with limited motor skills, some daily actions such as applying make-up can be challenging. To make beauty routines more inclusive, L’Oréal partnered with health research company Verily to adapt Verily’s stabilising technology, originally used for adaptive cutlery and utensils, and incorporated it into the first smart hand-held make-up applicator.

Just as adaptive cutlery allows people with reduced mobility to eat independently, Hapta enables precise and steady lipstick application at home. ‘Beauty tech has enabled us to provide every woman with beauty solutions adapted to their needs. With Hapta, we are making beauty more accessible, because everyone should have equal access to it,’ says Françoise Lehmann, Lancôme's global brand president.

At LS:N Global, we have been looking at Adaptive Beauty since 2019, but Hapta’s technology is taking accessible cosmetics one step closer to wide-scale adoption. The levelling make-up device will be launched in 2023, paired with lipsticks from L’Oréal-owned brand Lancôme. The company plans to develop additional devices, with a mascara applicator already in the works.

Strategic opportunity

The number of available adaptive tech solutions does not reflect the size of the market. With Hapta, L’Oréal and Verily highlight how knowledge-sharing and brand collaboration can help companies develop the right tools to bring about small but incremental changes for people with impairments

CES: Davinci’s DC100 robotic e-motorbike ushers in a new era of mobility

US – Mobility experiences have become a key sector at CES 2023 (Las Vegas, 5–8 January) and fast-growing Chinese manufacturer Davinci Motor Corp has chosen the event to unveil its super-futuristic, robotic DC100 electric motorbike.

Described as a ‘futuristic café racer designed to fully experience the joy of riding’, the motorbike is self-balancing, self-riding (with reverse, slow-start and downhill tech), can be remotely controlled and will run an open-source platform/API. The rider’s mobile phone doubles as both key and dashboard. It contains more than 1,000 chips and over 200 advanced sensors, all resulting in a real-time controlled power system for driving in all conditions. Moreover, it is capable of achieving 0–60mph (0–100km/h) in three seconds and has a top speed of 124mph (200km/h). It boasts a range in excess of 249 miles (400km), while a full charge takes just half an hour using level 3 DC fast-charging stations, but it is also compatible with other chargers – and even a portable charger.

Davinci’s model is ready for market and the brand hopes to secure US dealerships, having already been launched in Europe in late 2022. ‘As a tech-driven company, this show is top of our agenda for events where we want to represent ourselves as a tech company in the US and across the world,’ says Rosanna Libia, Davinci Motor Corp’s international business manager.

The DC100 is priced at £22,900 ($27,500, €‎26,000). See our Mobility series for further insights into the market.

DC100 by Davinci Motor Corp, China

Strategic opportunity

Electrified mobility has reached the adoption tipping point in the majority of developed markets; expect consumer interest in e-motorbikes, scooters and other urban-friendly vehicles to grow rapidly

Stat: 40% of major auction house bidders were new in 2022

Joopiter, US Joopiter, US

Global – For major auction houses, 2022 has been a record-setting year. End-of-year insights from Christie’s and Sotheby’s reveal how soaring sales of luxury goods have tipped the scale.

Christie’s achieved its highest annual sales total in art market history, at £7bn ($8.4bn, €8bn), while Sotheby’s was close behind with £6.7bn ($8bn, €7.6bn) in sales and is celebrating the highest-earning year in the house’s 278 years in business.

As they reach new heights, both auction houses have revealed how sales of luxury goods have facilitated these unprecedented results, and both are seeking to further develop these categories, which include vintage handbags and accessories, watches and jewellery, wines and spirits, and classic cars.

The persona of the auction buyer is also diversifying; 40% of bidders at Sotheby’s were newcomers in 2022 and nearly 50% of this group bought luxury goods, such as streetwear and memorabilia pieces. Another shift is the fast growth in the online channel, with more than half of luxury item sales by Christie’s in the past year happening online, paving the way for next-generation auction houses that quickly adjust to remain relevant to a new breed of young affluent consumers.

Strategic opportunity

The resale market is thriving at all price points and across multiple categories, offering many opportunities for businesses to consolidate and facilitate these transactions to ensure they reach younger collectibles connoisseurs

The Future Laboratory Events Calendar 2023

The Future Laboratory's Trend Briefing 2023 at the Royal Academy of Arts, UK The Future Laboratory's Trend Briefing 2023 at the Royal Academy of Arts, UK

Join us in 2023 for a series of inspiring video presentations, guest speaker panels and live Q&A sessions as well as our industry-renowned Trend Briefing in London.

Members of LS:N Global get free access to our full programme of online events in 2023. You can RSVP to these events via The Future Laboratory Community. Not yet a member? Get in contact with your account manager to set up your free account.

Join us online or in person this year and get inspired to make a better future happen with trends from Beta Boardrooms, Deep Work Dens and Polywork Campuses to embracing longevity as a core pillar in selling and synthesising tomorrow’s category innovations.

We hope to see you there.

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