Need to Know
19 : 07 : 22

UK – While idealised images of women’s bodies abound online, anatomically accurate depictions of vulvas are scarce. Tackling this issue, intimate health brand Canesten has launched the The Truth, Undressed, an educational platform intended to dispel common misconceptions and empower women and girls aged 11–18 to learn more about their genitalia.

The platform is part of the company’s Vagina Academy, an ongoing initiative to educate consumers about vulval and vaginal anatomy and health. To dispel the harmful notion that all vulvas look the same, the platform includes a library of images celebrating the anatomical diversity that can exist among women. The platform also focuses on vaginal health and offers educational resources about infections. 'We live in a world where porn is readily available on the internet, yet many young people don’t know the first thing about what kinds of infections there are or even what the vulva is supposed to look like,’ explains Daria Costantini, brand lead for Canesten.

Encouraging people to control of their sexual health and wellbeing, the initiative is part of the Sex Re-Education movement in which young people are seeking more realistic and inclusive perspectives.

Portugal – The sustainable fashion brand is taking inspiration from food and wine tours to promote its eco-conscious practices. Through its Factourism concept, the brand is positioning its factories as tourist destinations, where people can learn about the process of how organic clothes are made. The first tour is set to follow the journey of a white cotton T-shirt, starting with the weaving of the fabric and ending with the sewing-in of the label, and the brand plans to eventually offer hosted visits and guided tours across its factories.

While the brand is known for its ethical production and product transparency – with each price tag including a full price breakdown of the item’s cost – ISTO’s Factourism concept aims to solidify its claims in an accessible and tangible way. ‘We want to demonstrate that everything we tell [you] is true,’ says Pedro Palha, partner at ISTO. ‘That it really is made [sustainably] in Portugal.’

The launch of the new initiative heralds the brand showcasing an approach to open-source sustainability that provides material insight and education for its customers.

While China has led the way in recent years with its vast population of 1.4bn, India is set to take over as the world’s most populous country in 2023, according to research by the UN. These figures come as China experiences one of the lowest fertility rates in the world, at 1.15 children per woman.

More generally, the UN also notes that, by November 2022, the planet will be home to 8bn people. But this growth is happening unevenly, with more than half of the world’s population increase in the next 30 years set to happen in just eight countries – the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania.

With the world’s population in a state of flux, young people are set to drastically redefine the state of society. Already in India, the influx of Generation Zalpha is leading to new models of progress.