Need to Know
06 : 03 : 18

UK – Department store Selfridges has released a new campaign exploring different definitions of luxury. Part of Selfridges’ Radical Luxury series, the four-minute film, entitled The Greatest Luxury, which adopts an over-the-top kitsch aesthetic, features three creatives offering their idea of indulgence beyond the acquisition of material wealth.

Directed by Kathryn Ferguson, the film is a platform for musician and activist, Mykki Blanco, choreographer Holly Blakey and fashion designer Gareth Pugh, to explore luxury as an individual state-of-mind. ’I think having a body that moves is a luxury,’ says Blakey ‘It’s a lot about aligning mind and body in order to find a place of freedom.’

In line with Transcendent Wealth, the film demonstrates the evolving mindset of luxury consumers who are searching for personal development over physical signifiers of wealth.

New York – Revere is a new range of plant-based pre- and post-workout supplements with a focus on long-term health benefits rather than short-term gains. In line with Upstream Eating, the start-up taps into nutritional expertise to help improve physical performance, incorporating familiar superfoods like green tea, beetroot and sweet potato.

The protein supplement market is expected to show significant growth for the foreseeable future, reaching $21.5 billion by 2025 but as co-founder Jasper Nathaniel explains, many of the products currently on the market offer a hit of energy at the cost of ‘intense jitters and terrible crashes’.

‘We’re certainly not wrong for wanting more energy or better results faster,’ Nathaniel told Business Insider. ‘But it would probably be a lot healthier to avoid the supplements that cause jitters and crashes and have an ingredient list full of things we can’t pronounce.’

UK – Billed as the UK’s first reusable tampon applicator, D. by Dame seeks to reduce the effect tampons are having on the environment. Similar in premise to Thinx's re-usable applicator for the US market, the self-cleaning product has been created in partnership with medical engineers to ensure that it is both hygienic and comfortable. Developed over the course of 14 months, the product is manufactured using Mediprene, a material widely used in the medical and pharmaceutical markets and coated with antimicrobial sanipolymers to help keep it clean.

According to the brand, 100 billion menstrual products are thrown away globally each year, all of which either end up in landfills or polluting the ocean. Dame is part of a raft of brands that are shifting communications around menstruation and feminine hygiene care, working to normalise periods through better-designed products.

For the first time, the number of cars connected to the US wireless network in 2017 outstripped the number of smartphones added. As the Internet of Things gains momentum, automotive brands like Mini and General Motors are increasingly connecting their cars in order to expand their service offering. They, and other car marques are working to reframe cars as devices as opposed to simply vehicles that transport people.

For more on how connectivity is shaping mobility in the future, see our Far Futures series.