Need to Know
08 : 09 : 22

Sydney, Australia – Cheap clothing and crude oil are more closely related than many consumers may realise. Now, merino wool company Woolmark is exposing the fashion industry’s reliance on unclean energy with the Wear Wool, Not Fossil Fuel campaign.

Based on data that claims that an Olympic pool’s size worth of crude oil is created every 25 minutes to make synthetic garments, the advertisement depicts three people attempting to escape a pool of black crude oil. ‘Did you know that about 70% of all clothes today are made from synthetics? That’s another word for oil. We’re literally wearing oil,’ say Sil van der Woerd and Jorik Dozy, directors of Studio Birthplace, one of the creative studios behind the film.

By choosing natural fabrics instead of clothing made from synthetics, consumers can reduce the fashion industry’s impact on the planet and promote sustainability in the sector.

Copenhagen – The humble tennis ball basket has been given an elevated redesign, courtesy of Copenhagen label Palmes and design duo Frederik Gustav. The stained oak design transforms the often-overlooked item from a simple tool to something almost architectural: ‘a sculpture infused by inherent function’, says Palmes.

The limited-edition design takes something that is usually taken for granted, although it is an essential piece of training equipment for tennis players practising shots hour after hour, and elevates it to a luxury item. It’s about acknowledging the hours that go into improving and the dedication it takes to win; hence, the basket’s name, Trophy.

As Palmes describes it, the piece is designed to be: ‘a poetic companion that is with us throughout the endless hours, hours and hours that we find ourselves grinding away, forehand to backhand and backhand to forehand, on the tennis court’.

As we explored in Sportive Affluents, brands are infusing familiar sporting pursuits with a luxury edge, helping to revive previously stuffy categories and attracting attention from a new generation of affluent consumers.

Despite the widespread perception of the creator economy as a youth-focused industry, new research shows that Millennials still dominate the space, with the average creator aged 40, while Gen Z account for just 14% of creators. The study by Adobe, Creators in the Creative Economy, finds that 42% of creators are Millennials, with a slight majority of these (52%) male. The study does not include creators under the age of 16, precluding a sizeable number of pre-teen creators online.

The report defines a creator as someone who makes creative work to share online at least once a month in the hope of increasing their social media presence. This differentiates creators from influencers, who are defined as having more than 5,000 followers and are able to make money from their content. Influencers account for only 14% of creators.

While an endless stream of TikTok trends give the impression that younger users are the driving force in this field, it’s Millennials that form the backbone of the Creator Economy, having been the first generation to monetise social media content and adopt the creator lifestyle.