Need to Know
15 : 07 : 19

Beijing – The concept store has opened in Dongsi, one of the city’s few historic hutong neighbourhoods (an area comprising alleys and narrow streets).

Archstudio has transformed the small building into a multi-brand, luxury concept store that uses mirrors and yards to create space and a sense of surrealism.

With more and more ostentatious high-rise buildings appearing every day, the city of Beijing is experiencing a period of colossal change. However, its inner-city hutong districts – which once made up a large part of the city – are finally being recognised by brands for their historic charm. Mirror Garden has tapped into this mindset, creating something that looks like an inconspicuous residential house from the outside, but becomes a contemporary space for fashion inside.

Read our State of Luxury market to see how domestic brands are being informed by their Chinese heritage when creating new spaces, campaigns and products.

Milan – Gucci Arcade is inspired by vintage video games of the 1970s and 1980s.

Through the interactive games, Gucci is facilitating a new type of relationship between consumers and the luxury brand. The first two games to be launched are Gucci Bee, which follows a format similar to Pac-Man and centres on a bee trapped in a maze, and Gucci Ace, which focuses on the iconic sneaker of the same name. The game follows the history of the brand, with each level representing a new era of gaming, from 8-bit to mobile-first.

In the coming months, Gucci will add new games to its app, each displaying recognisable symbols and branding from the fashion house. The launch is another example of creative director Alessandro Michele’s playful approach to updating what was once a traditional luxury house.

As eSports culture infiltrates the world of fashion, Gucci demonstrates why luxury brands should not ignore this huge area of growth.

California – The brand has developed technology that uses fermentation to create plant-based protein, which is genetically identical to dairy protein.

To showcase this innovation, the brand has launched limited-edition ice cream in three flavours, allowing consumers to trial the animal-free dairy product in a familiar format. Perfect Day’s proteins are created by genetically modifying yeast to produce dairy proteins casein and whey, making it possible to create plant-based products that match the nutrition, texture and taste of conventional dairy products.

‘What we’re doing here is completely new to the world,’ says Ryan Pandya, CEO and co-founder of Perfect Day. ‘We wanted our debut to be under the care of our own brand, so that we could demonstrate the consumer benefits inherent to our protein, while starting a conversation about this new approach to making food.’

For more, read our Next-generation Protein microtrend.

The legalisation of marijuana has led to a boom in snack sales in the US, according to market research firm Nielsen. As recreational cannabis becomes more mainstream, it is creating ‘big opportunities for the American food and beverage market – particularly for the snack and confectionery category’.

Nielsen data shows that sales of both salty and sweet snacks increased in the year ending April 2019. The research found that salty snacks reached sales of £23.6bn ($29.9bn, €26.4bn) and sweet snacks hit sales of £5.1bn ($6.5bn, €5.7bn).

Now legal in more than 11 US states, the cannabis market is not only booming, but is driving growth in the food and drink industry.