Need to Know
12 : 02 : 18

Australia – Faceless Youth Pre-Apocalypse (FYP-A) is a new kids streetwear label created for 2–14-year-olds that seeks to take a politicised stance against the current state of society.

A reflection of our increasingly Dislocated World, the collection, which includes hoodies, t-shirts and tracksuit bottoms as well as the more unusual addition of air pollution masks, features slogans such as ‘We are our only hope’ and ‘Not suitable for children’. The entire collection is deliberately unisex to encourage children to think outside of traditional gender binaries.

‘Besides our background in streetwear, its inclusivity and history in progressive thinking played a role in our decision to start making it for kids,’ says co-founder Warran Wright. ‘As we see it kids today are some of the most aware and forward-thinking people yet, who may or may not want to continue wearing clothing informed by gender norms, celebrity culture and the like. Children are just as diverse as adults, after all.’

US – The brainchild of John Shegerian, Som Sleep is a new non-carbonated cold drink designed to promote healthy sleeping patterns and combat the health issues associated with insomnia.

The drink, which comes in either original or low-sugar, includes the active ingredients L-theanine, GABA and melatonin, which work together to promote relaxation and aid sleep.

In addition, each can contains 100% of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vitamin B6, which helps in the body’s production of melatonin, and 10% of the RDA of magnesium, known for helping to reduce insomnia.

As explored in our Sleep Market, brands are recognising the value of sleep as a way of nurturing consumers’ wellbeing.

US – Online pharmaceutical brand Keeps addresses androgenetic alopecia, otherwise known as male pattern baldness.

With a particular emphasis on young men – around two-thirds of whom will experience some kind of hair loss by the age of 35, according to the American Hair Loss Association – the branding has been designed to resemble a more approachable, lifestyle aesthetic than traditional hair loss treatments.

As the website points out, however, ‘hair loss is a medical issue’ and therefore before treatment users are connected with a medical practitioner to ensure that they are prescribed the correct dosage of finasteride and minoxidil, two treatments proven by the Food and Drug Administration to be 90% effective in preventing hair loss.

See our Modern Male Medicare microtrend for more on the pharmaceutical brands that are speaking to the healthcare needs of young men.

In an age of self-checkouts, research suggests that this technology is making consumers numb to ethical implications of theft. According to Barbara Staib, director of communications of the National Association for Shoplifting Prevention, most shoplifters are otherwise law-abiding citizens, but in eradicating the human element they are able to better rationalise shoplifting to themselves. We will be exploring this idea in our upcoming Morality Recoded macrotrend, one of three macrotrends featured at this year’s Trend Briefing.