1. Missguided challenges perceptions of perfect skin in new campaign
UK – Continuing its #KeepOnBeingYou movement, fashion e-tailer Missguided has launched a new campaign celebrating and empowering six women with varying skin conditions.
Embracing psoriasis, scarring and albinism, #InYourOwnSkin challenges the wider fashion industry’s attitudes towards beauty and flawless bodies, and encourages women to feel confident and comfortable in their own skin.
‘The campaign’s anti-commercial approach shows the unique positioning of the brand built on inspiring a strong self-empowered message; to embrace your flaws and to not strive for what the world perceives as perfection’, the brand said in a statement.
Missguided is just one of a handful of brands addressing a more diverse approach to Inclusive Beauty.
2. Exploration and education inspire speciality coffee e-tailer
US – Online coffee destination Trade is providing consumers with a personalised, education-led retail experience that delivers speciality coffee directly to their door.
With more than 350 US brands to choose from, Trade leads consumers to their perfect coffee through a short quiz that teases out preferences such as their preferred mode of brewing and strength of coffee. To ensure the best at-home experience, each coffee bag is roasted to order and shipped within 24 hours. Catering to a range of budgets and quantities, Trade’s prices range from £9.09 ($12.25, €10.34) for a 300g bag, to £40.07 ($54, €45.61) for 10 ounces.
For today’s youth, coffee has transformed from a consumable product to an experience-driven culture that allows them to connect with wider brands and people. Trade is tapping into this by creating a platform for exploration and education that explains the key differentiators between brands and beans.
3. Clean at Sephora addresses shifting beauty preferences
US – Retailer Sephora has announced the launch of Clean at Sephora, a new online and in-store division offering over 2,000 products that uphold ‘clean beauty’ standards.
As defined by the company, these clean products will be formulated without SLS, SLES, parabens, formaldehyde, phthalates and mineral oils and will be clearly identifiable by a specific label on the product packaging. The Clean at Sephora range will include hair, beauty and skincare products from 50 brands including Drunk Elephant and Boscia.
As consumers become increasingly interested in the source ingredients of beauty products, brands are demonstrating transparency through new product lines, natural ingredients, initiatives and branding. Despite this, a new study by Clemson’s university found that many consumers fail to notice sustainability labels on crowded packaging.
4. Foster + Partners developing India’s first sustainable city
India – The architecture firm Foster & Partners is continuing to demonstrate a civic-minded approach to design with plans to bring India’s first sustainable city to the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
Located on the banks of the River Krishna, the new state capital Amaravati will benefit from fresh supplies of water and solar energy. Water taxis will be a key method of transport, in addition to electric vehicles, while dedicated cycling routes and shaded paths for walking will help to improve citizen health. Foster + Partners describe the development as uniting decades of research into sustainable cities, incorporating the latest technologies that are currently being developed in India.
As witnessed in Bangalore, pollution is one of the biggest concerns for citizens in countries such as India. In an effort to combat this, architects and brands alike are reimagining how to integrate sustainability across a larger scale.
5. Consumers still naïve to environmental impact of tourism
A new study by researchers from the University of Sydney describes the major impact of tourism on the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. As the foundation of travel, transport is having a significant impact on the environment, as well as other tourist activities such as shopping and food consumption.
While governments and brands are learning how to better protect these environments from overtourism, consumers still lack understanding about what sustainable travel entails or how best to achieve it. The travel industry is now being challenged to ensure consumers are better educated in – and aware – of responsible travel practices.
6. Thought-starter: What are luxury brands bringing to the resale market?
Fuelled by Gen Z spending power and the circular economy, the market for reselling fashion is on the rise.
Reselling of clothing and accessories is striding away from notions of worn out, secondhand goods and becoming a positive force in fashion’s circular economy. Now, luxury brands and retailers are stepping into the resale ring, overcoming their anxieties surrounding the sale of preowned designs.
Much of the growth within the fashion recommerce market can be attributed to Gen Z’s interest in ‘drop’ culture and the market for hype. As a result, new platforms and initiatives that tap into Gen Z's resale mindset are emerging – and winning major financial investment.Stadium Goods a resale marketplace that specialises in sneakers and footwear, raised over £3.4m (€3.9m, $4.6m) in equity funding in January 2017.
This isn't only true of Gen Z and thrifty shoppers, however. The high-net-worth hunger for preowned is the reason luxury resellers have flourished.Stella McCartney recently collaborated with The RealReal in the creation of The Future of Fashion is Circular, a call to action that asked consumers to think differently about fashion purchases.
Read the full report here.