Need to Know
09 : 09 : 19

By Olivia Houghton, Alex Hawkins and Holly Friend

Vollebak creates a circular T-shirt, W Hotels encourages guests to record themselves eating, and how cannabis is usurping the healthcare market.

In today's news:

Rogue Wave is the antithesis of luxury vodka

A mukbang menu for W Hotel’s room service

This T-shirt will biodegrade in 12 weeks

Stat: Cannabis could replace prescription medications

Rogue Wave is the antithesis of luxury vodka

BrewDog Vodka. Branding by LOVE Creative

Brewdog Vodka, branding by LOVE Creative

UK – Scottish beer brand BrewDog has unveiled a single malt vodka that celebrates its Aberdeen heritage.

Its purposely humble-looking Rogue Wave brand has a distinctly anti-luxury identity, created by Manchester-based agency LOVE. The agency took inspiration from BrewDog founder James Watt’s family history and ties with the North Sea, discovering a true story about James’ cousin Alex: a one-armed sailor who lost his arm in a fishing accident.

This story provided inspiration for the brand and label design, which feature a deliberately lo-fi illustration and typography reminiscent of Aberdeen dockyards and fishing boats. As a tribute to Alex’s oilskins, the colour orange runs throughout, also setting the brand apart from the red colourway used by many vodka brands.

By avoiding the traditional luxury tropes associated with vodka branding, Rogue Wave stands a greater chance of appealing to Anti-Luxurian consumers.

A mukbang menu for W Hotel’s room service

Mukbang menu, W Hotel, Washington, DC

Washington DC – The hotel chain has introduced a Sip & Slurp menu designed for guests to live-stream themselves eating.

W Hotels is capitalising on the Mukbang trend, a South Korean phenomenon in which vloggers record themselves eating food. The Sip & Slurp room service package costs $295 (£240, €267) and comes with a plug-in microphone and stand for guests' mobile devices, to help them film their Mukbang experience.

The extravagant menu features two types of burger, a filet mignon steak, a cheese and charcuterie board, and a carrot cake tower. The new service has been unveiled to highlight the W Washington’s new renovation, which reimagines the hotel chain as a ‘playfully luxe’ destination.

As well as using internet trends to enhance the often underwhelming nature of room service, W Hotels is tapping into the concept of Gastronomy Fetish, turning dining into a highly visceral experience.

This T-shirt will biodegrade in 12 weeks

London – Technical apparel brand Vollebak has created a biodegradable T-shirt made entirely from plants and algae.

The T-shirt is made from eucalyptus, beech and spruce trees that are chipped and pulped, before being turned into fibre, then yarn and finally fabric.

Its green square motif, meanwhile, is made entirely from algae. To turn it into a printable ink, algae is filtered and turned into a paste, which is left to dry in the sun to create a fine, green powder. This powder is then mixed with a water-based binder to make algae ink.

Owing to its entirely natural composition, the garment can be composted or buried in the garden to biodegrade in as little as 12 weeks. ‘The only thing different about this T-shirt is that it grew in soil and water, and that’s where it’s designed to end up,' says Steve Tidball, co-founder of Vollebak. 'All you need to do is remember to compost it at the end of its life. Here it will biodegrade, turn into soil, and help new plants to grow.'

For more pioneering examples of circular processes in textiles and fashion, read our dedicated listicle.

The Plant T-shirt, Vollebak

Stat: Cannabis could replace prescription medications

American adults are increasingly using cannabis and hemp products as an alternative to medical prescriptions, according to a study by Radius Global Market Research. The report found that more than 44 million American adults (58%) aged 55 and older used cannabis for pain management in 2018.

While cannabis products are an established source of pain relief for adults in the US, these stimulants are also being used by younger generations for medical reasons. Some 51% of those aged 18-34 used cannabis or hemp products for sleeping, while 29% of adults aged over 18 consume these to reduce their usage of prescription medications.

As cannabis and CBD wellness products gain popularity around the world, more people are turning away from the highly clinical – and sometimes inaccessible – medical sector in pursuit of more holistic healthcare options.