Need to Know
20 : 06 : 18

Houston – Due to open in 2020, the world’s first commercial space station Axiom Space has announced the launch of a new tourism programme that will offer guests the chance to visit the International Space Station (ISS).

Priced at £42m ($55m, €47m) a ticket, Axiom will fly guests to the ISS for a 10-day expedition. A two-year intensive training programme at Axiom Space Station is required to ensure individuals are prepared for their time in space. French designer Philippe Starck has been enlisted to create the luxurious interior of the habitation module at the station, while Italian outerwear brand Moncler will design the flight suit.

‘The interest in space tourism for private individuals has gained momentum as our capabilities of exploration continue to develop,’ says Michael Suffredini, CEO and president of Axiom Space.

Luxury travel experiences are becoming the new collectors’ items, offering consumers access to unexplored destinations. Axiom is taking this further with an experience that also challenges consumers’ physical and mental abilities as part of their exploration.

Global – Luxury fashion house Hugo Boss has developed its first men’s footwear collection produced from Piñatex, a natural material made of pineapple leaf fibres.

As synthetic leathers become increasingly recognised as more sustainable alternatives to traditional leather, luxury fashion labels are beginning to incorporate and promote the use of such materials in their collections. Billed as ‘vegan shoes’ by Hugo Boss, the brand has used Piñatex in the upper part of a limited-edition collection of men’s trainers in its BOSS Menswear range. The raw material that forms the base of Piñatex is the by-product of pineapple harvesting that has minimal environmental impact and provides additional income farming communities.

For more on leather alternatives formed from natural products, read our Synthetic Leather market focus.

London – Save Your Wardrobe is a new app that encourages consumers to document their wardrobe in an effort to reduce future purchases.

Registered users can upload the contents of their wardrobe through email receipts or from photographs that are then stored in an inventory. All of the information – from style and colour to size and brand – is recorded alongside each individual item. The app’s AI technology will create personalised lookbooks to inspire users to continue wearing items already in their wardrobe, rather than making new purchases.

‘We are building the platform around the belief that we can disrupt fashion consumption by giving our users a tool to manage their wardrobe mindfully and effortlessly. Our challenge is to increase the number of items we wear on a regular basis or find creative ways to give them a second life,’ explains Hasna Kourda, co-founder and CEO of Save Your Wardrobe. ‘We are curating an eco-system of services as a way to upcycle and extend the life of garments.’

For more on how brands can play an active role in the evolving fashion industry, download our Fashion Futures Report here.

As the perception and manifestation of money changes with each generation, consumers are becoming increasingly interested in digital currencies. The Point of Loyalty’s annual report found that 36% of loyalty programme members would rather be rewarded in cryptocurrency than with traditional points systems, suggesting consumers would prefer more tangible monetary rewards that allow them to pay for products using digital tokens.

For more on how brands are using cryptocurrencies to tap into the rewards and incentives market, see our microtrend here.