Need to Know
29 : 08 : 19

Beijing – The new accessory consignment store employs a cohort of professional consultants to educate customers on the individual items for sale.

Designed by Studio8, the Musée flagship is an open platform for luxury accessories in Beijing. The store assistants are focused on enriching customers’ in-store experience by offering them in-depth insight into the items on sale.

‘Every accessory that people possess is an abstract object that serves a certain function or purpose,’ says Studio8’s principal designer Shirley Dong. ‘This changes when people place more importance and value on the object, whether through the brand, colour, material, or handcrafting process. Luxury goods then become time travellers, with an ever-increasing value and preciousness.’ The studio has adopted a ’soft boundary’ approach to its design in order to better facilitate unstructured way-finding and encourage item discovery.

The resale market is booming. With consumers looking for more ethical, sustainable, and circular ways to obtain luxury good it is currently growing 24 times faster than traditional retail. In response to this shift in mindset we are now seeing a host of new brands creating innovative resale platforms.

Sweden – The Swedish retailer has partnered with the construction company Skansa and the Queen of Sweden’s Silviahemmet foundation to offer housing that is adapted to the needs of elderly people with disabilities and dementia.

Part of Ikea’s BoKlok project, which promises low cost sustainable homes for everyone, the SilviaBO homes provide dementia-friendly layouts and design features. These include ramp entrances and colour-coded way finding, as well as secure gardens and clubhouses to encourage socialising between residents. The design-led homes have been developed to offer an aesthetic that is not defined by their functionality.

According to BoKlok’s website a fifth of the Swedish population is now over 65, a figure that will increase to around a quarter by 2050. ‘To take care of elderly people, that cost is exploding,’ Jonas Spangenberg, BoKlok’s CEO told CNN Business. ‘It’s much cheaper for society and the public to give them service back home.’ For more on how brands can empower ageing populations through design, read our opinion piece from Future Facility’s Kim Colin.

A new report by Nielsen has found that Australian men are taking more care over their appearance than ever before. Some 69% of the country’s men now use at least one male grooming product, such as beard oil or facial cleanser. Men aged 25 to 54 are increasingly subscribing to new product categories like facial cleansers and moisturisers, while the use of traditional bathroom products like hair care, deodorants and aftershave are decreasing. Usage of deodorant and aftershave, for example, has fallen by 5% and 8%, respectively. To better understand the global nuances around men’s beauty, read our dedicated Market.