Luxury

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

News 28.09.2023

Need to Know

Uncovering the brands shaping the beauty industry’s future, Tinder’s new exclusive subscription for serial daters and why NFTs are supposedly worthless.

What’s next for beauty?

Global – From holographic temporary hair dyes and clean hygiene systems for skincare to multi-sensorial experiences in perfumery, beauty industry players are combining science, care and entertainment to keep consumers on their toes.

‘As you’ll discover when you tap into our beauty sectors and reports, beauty isn’t just about light, colour and cleanliness this season, it’s also about multi-sensorial experiences,’ says Chris Sanderson, co-founder and chief creative officer at The Future Laboratory.

Watch Chris’s brief overview of the best innovators featured in our analysis of Longevity Lifestyles, Chameleon Cosmetics, Purified Beauty and Synaesthesia Scents.

Find out more

LS:N Global members can find our Beauty, Health and Wellness Futures report here. LS:N Global is the trends and consumer foresight platform that powers The Future Laboratory’s services, which include our highly regarded Strategy team who can help unpack the relevance of our Beauty, Health and Wellness Futures report specifically for your business. So get in touch with us now to find out how we can help you make a better, more resilient future happen.

South Korea welcomes a second vertical farm café

Sik Mul Sung. Design by Unseenbird. Photography by Yongjoon Choi, South Korea
Sik Mul Sung. Design by Unseenbird. Photography by Yongjoon Choi, South Korea
Sik Mul Sung. Design by Unseenbird, photography by Yongjoon Choi, South Korea
Sik Mul Sung. Design by Unseenbird, photography by Yongjoon Choi, South Korea

South Korea – In 2022, Sik Mul Sung introduced a new hospitality format with its Seoul-based vertical farm café. Following the success of its initial location, the concept is back with a second branch.

Sik Mul Sung is the brainchild of agritech start-up N.Thing and architecture practice Unseenbird. The concept allows customers to witness the processes involved in operating a vertical farm, from seeing the vegetables being grown without soil or sunlight to cooking and eating, all in one place. The new branch is located in a large shopping centre in the suburban town of Incheon sure to introduce many visitors to the innovative farming system. Inside, diners can enjoy salads and ice cream while contemplating the glass-encased cultivation room where ingredients are grown, or shop for fresh vegetables, plant kits, seeds and utensils.

Combining regenerative practices with convenience and eatertainment, Sik Mul Sung has found a recipe for success.The concept’s expansion suggests there is room to explore commercial opportunities of new urban farming.

Strategic opportunity

Vertical farming concepts are gaining traction among urban consumers. For businesses, this is an opportunity to meet this demand with eating experiences that are equally awe-inducing and easily accessible

Tinder introduces £410 monthly subscription plan for serial daters

Global – Unveiled in September 2023, Tinder Select is the platform's new high-end subscription plan offered to its most active users for £410 ($499, €475) per month.

This exclusive tier offers premium features like VIP search, matching and conversation, although specific details have yet to be disclosed. The company stated that this offering is currently accessible to fewer than 1% of Tinder’s most active users.

While Tinder Select represents a significant price increase compared to its other subscription options, which start at £20.60 ($24.99, €23.75) per month, the dating app aims to cater for highly engaged and active users seeking more effective ways to connect. Tinder’s current top 10% of users by time on the app contributed an average of 53% of total time spent on the platform this year, according to research firm Apptopia.

Match Group, Tinder’s parent company, has previously ventured into high-priced subscription models with the acquisition of The League, a dating app with a weekly fee of up to £823 ($1,000, €950). Although Match Group expects Tinder Select to attract a limited number of new subscribers, it anticipates a considerable impact on revenue.

As explored in Video Dating Futures, dating apps must evolve to remain relevant in an oversaturated market. For Tinder, attracting new users remains a challenge, and it will get more complex as even Roblox aims to become a platform for dating.

Tinder, US

Strategic opportunity

Explore the potential for premium subscription models within your own industry or platform. Identify high-value offerings catering for your most engaged users – increasing revenue and customer loyalty in the process

Stat: The majority of NFT collections no longer have any value

Mintus, UK Mintus, UK

Global – A September 2023 report by cryptocurrency platform dappGambl has found that the majority of non-fungible token (NFT) collections are essentially worthless.

The study, Dead NFTs: The Evolving Landscape of the NFT Market, analysed data from NFT Scan and CoinMarketCap and found that out of 73,257 identified NFT collections, 69,795 (95%) had a market cap of 0 Ether (ETH). The research estimates that some 23m investors own these valueless token collections.

dappGambl’s report also revealed that only 21% of the identified NFT collections had 100%+ ownership, meaning 79% have remained unsold, highlighting the issue of surplus supply versus dwindling demand for NFTs.

That said, the report concludes that NFTs are far from dead and experts predict that NFTs will soon undergo a transformation from collectibles to assets with tangible utility as the market matures. The tokens might find application in elevating brand loyalty, for instance.

Strategic opportunity

Take advantage of the negative press surrounding NFTs and prescribe new value to the tokens by considering innovative ways they can help create a life-long presence in your customers’ lives – beyond being an obsolete collectible

Five Airlines Uplifting In-flight Wellness

Big Ideas

Five Airlines Uplifting In-flight Wellness

Airlines are reviving luxury air travel, transforming the in-flight experience from exhausting to enriching and bringing wellness to 40,000 feet.
Travel : Hospitality : Wellness
Emerging Youth: UAE

Markets

Emerging Youth: UAE

The UAE’s Gen Z are leading the nation’s evolution by redefining tradition to mirror their own values and vision.
Youth : UAE : Gen Z
Travel with Purpose: TTG Luxury Travel Summit

Big Ideas

Travel with Purpose: TTG Luxury Travel Summit

Sustainable corporate culture, slow travel and luxury traveller experiences were key topics on the agenda at 2023’s TTG Luxury Travel Summit.
Travel : Hospitality : Luxury
Belmond: Luxury Travel’s Responsible Future

Viewpoints

Belmond: Luxury Travel’s Responsible Future

Belmond is setting high standards for responsible luxury hospitality. Celia Geyer, the group’s senior vice-president of design and project developm...
Luxury : Travel & Hospitality : Society
Six Indian Jewellery Brands Combining Heritage and Innovation

Big Ideas

Six Indian Jewellery Brands Combining Heritage and Innovation

India’s jewellery innovators are redefining tradition with technology and sustainability to shape the future of this timeless market.
Jewellery : India : Biological Jewellery
Five Luxury Brands Recrafting Heritage In-Store

Big Ideas

Five Luxury Brands Recrafting Heritage In-Store

Luxury brands are opening flagship and pop-up stores with new codes of craft and heritage embedded into the physical destination.
Luxury : Retail : Heritage
Luxury Recrafted

Macro Trends

Luxury Recrafted

The consumers – or rather the collectors – of tomorrow will expect luxury to signal status not through excess, but by acting as a guardian of craft...
Luxury : Society : Fashion
Seductive Opulence

Design Directions

Seductive Opulence

As wellness takes centre stage in luxury, brands are captivating discerning consumers with a provocative twist, using seductive imagery to craft al...
Wellness : Luxury : Seduction
AOI’s Ocean of Ideas Crafted to be Collected

Viewpoints

AOI’s Ocean of Ideas Crafted to be Collected

Farah Marafie discusses how her luxury label AOI is not catering for clients or consumers but for collectors of wearable artworks.
Luxury : Fashion : Art And Design
Dining Deluxe

Viewpoints

Dining Deluxe

LS:N Global speaks exclusively to creative agency Construct about crafting experience design for a new era of luxury dining.
Luxury : Dining Experience : Hotel Experience
State of Luxury: India

Markets

State of Luxury: India

A booming middle class of premium aspirers and the consistent increase of UHNWIs’ wealth strongly establish India as no longer an emerging destinat...
Luxury : India : Indian Luxury Market
Weaving Omani Heritage into Haute Parfumerie

Viewpoints

Weaving Omani Heritage into Haute Parfumerie

Amouage's chief creative officer Renaud Salmon talks to LS:N Global about embarking on a global retail expansion that creates a multisensory and a...
Luxury : Perfume : Middle East
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