Need to Know
08 : 08 : 19

California – Evenprime is an American brand of skincare imbued with the nostalgic aesthetic of 1990s anime.

Drawing on Asian pop culture, its branding challenges packaging clichés and gender norms in the personal care industry. ‘We didn’t just want to sell soap. We wanted to sell a feeling,’ says co-founder Rickie Ashman. ‘As kids, our interest in fashion and beauty stemmed from playing games like Final Fantasy and watching shows like Sailor Moon. We decided to explore this tension in the hope of bringing people together.’

The unisex range of gentle, dermatologist-approved formulas have also been developed in collaboration with chemists in South Korea. Products feature hero K-beauty ingredients such as galactomyces ferment filtrate, antioxidant-rich botanical extracts derived from Kakadu plum and sea buckthorn, as well as niacinamide and hyaluronic acid. In a similar vein, our K-beauty Lite microtrend explores product launches inspired by K-beauty but made for a Western market.

London – To celebrate Google Assistant’s integration on Sonos devices, the audio brand has created an immersive, multi-sensory installation.

The three-day Brilliant Sound Experience deconstructed the listening experience and visualised music’s effects on the mind. Divided into two parts, the installation explored how sound becomes music and why music resonates on an emotional level. In the first section, Structure of a Song, visitors were invited to experience the layered composition of tracks from artists such as The National and Slowthai in order to explore the moment in which sound becomes music.

The second space, Emotion of Music, enabled visitors to see real-time visualisations of their brain’s reaction to music. To achieve this, visitors wore an EEG headband while listening to songs from British record company Beggars Group's portfolio of labels. As demand for memorable consumer experiences increases, brands such as Sonos are looking to technology to expand our understanding of sensory stimuli on our emotions.

Miami – The team behind Frida Baby has launched a product line catering for the much-overlooked fourth trimester.

Frida Mom is a new line of products dedicated to postpartum mothers, many of whom return home from hospital with little support or advice on looking after their bodies after labour. With many turning to internet hacks for solutions, the Frida Mom collection aims to demystify the raw realities of the fourth trimester, with items such as disposable mesh underwear, ice maxi pads and perineal healing foam.

While the Frida brand is already known for its candid attitude to parenthood, CEO Chelsea Hirschhorn believes extending this to post-natal recovery – an entirely new category – will empower women at their most vulnerable. ‘The problem with postpartum recovery begins with a woman’s lack of knowledge and ability to prepare for what’s really about to go down. The intimidation factor – before, during and after – is debilitating,’ says Hirschhorn.

Frida is disrupting the feminine hygiene industry, challenging the taboos around the vagina, childbirth and early stages of parenthood.

Sale prices of luxury homes in metropolitan areas are in modest decline, marking the first annual drop in recent years, according to a new report from Redfin. Although 24 metropolitan areas experienced double-digital growth in home sales, home sales fell in almost 40 West Coast US cities.

The study also found that US cities such as Phoenix, Austin and Virginia are experiencing higher demand, while coastal metropolises are losing their allure. ‘Many people are leaving places like New York and California, which have high taxes, in favour of places that don’t have an income tax,’ says Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin. ‘We’re also seeing a lot of movement due to tech companies opening big offices outside of their headquarters.’

To see how this urban upheaval will affect sectors such as retail, hospitality and the workplace, attend our Luxury & Hospitality Futures Forum on 5 September.