Need to Know
25 : 06 : 18

Detroit – Automaker Ford plans to take over the Michigan Central Station and surrounding areas in its hometown Detroit, to serve as a campus for its exploration of the future of mobility.

The facility, located in Corktown, will specifically host experiments in autonomous and electric vehicle ventures. The space will be focused on testing design solutions for a new transportation system that makes mobility more convenient and accessible through connected vehicles, smart roads and innovative public transport.

‘This will be the kind of campus where the emerging economy thrives – a collaborative ecosystem of companies, educators, investors, and innovators. This is where part of our team will live and work as a part of this community, alongside the customers and neighbours whose lives we’re trying to make better,’ says Jim Hackett, Ford President and CEO.

As governments struggle to manage the rapid pace of change, corporations are seeking greater roles to sustain the growing demands on city infrastructure. Ford’s plans will contribute the urban revival of the city of Detroit. For more on the future scenarios of branded cities, you can purchase our report here.

London – A recent graduate of the Royal College of Art, Bianca Saunders showcased her debut collection at London Men's Fashion Week last week. With references to her British-Jamaican heritage, the pieces explore the lesser-known aspects of black masculinity.

‘It’s about challenging what’s already out there. There’s the really hyper-feminine black guy and the opposite,’ Saunders told Vogue, ‘and I felt like there’s no representation of the guy, who sits in between.’

Taking inspiration from self-conducted research with her male friends, Saunders created clothing that was neither overtly feminine or inherently masculine. The pieces include lightly ruffled shirts, crimped cropped tops and shiny nylon trousers.

For more on the changing face of masculinity, see our recent series here.

UK – The British retailer is trialling a new fashion service that enables customers to sell unwanted items back to the brand, in return for a store gift card.

Currently being tested on over 100 John Lewis customers, the app-based service shows users all their branded purchases within five years and offers a John Lewis e-gift card in exchange for any items which are no longer wanted. Once a customer has a minimum of £50 worth of clothing to sell a courier will collect the products within three hours.

‘We hope that by making it as easy as we possibly can for customers to pass on clothing that they’re no longer wearing we can ensure that the maximum life is extracted from items bought from us’, says Martyn White, Sustainability Manager at John Lewis.

The initiative comes at a time when sustainability is important in consumers minds, but still loses out to convenience. For more on why consumers are currently selectively sustainable, read our interview with Dr Daniel Benkendorf, a professor of psychology at the Fashion Institute of Technology,

The global high-net-worth individuals (HNWI) wealth is expected to reach £80 trillion ($106 trillion, €91 trillion) by 2025. According to Capgemini’s World Wealth Report 2018, it is likely to exceed that target as 1.6 million more individuals gained high-net-worth status since the 2017 edition of the report.

The research suggests that the growth of the luxury sector will continue to rise, particularly among the Asian and North American markets, which collectively accounted for three-quarters of all HNW population growth in the past year. For more insights and trends in the luxury world, see our sector focus here.