News 14.10.2024

Need to Know

Arsenal and Aries debut fashion collaboration, key takeaways from Agora Health and why young women in the UK face greater financial challenges than their male counterparts.

Arsenal and Aries unite for a fashion collaboration

Arsenal and Aries, UK

UK – Arsenal FC has unveiled its latest creative endeavour – a collaboration with luxury streetwear brand Aries. Marking the football club’s first partnership with an independent streetwear label, the collection pays homage to the ‘Arsenal faithful’ with a spiritual twist in its campaign film.

The film features Arsenal stars such as Bukayo Saka, Alessia Russo and Declan Rice, alongside notable fans from London’s creative scene, including actors and music artists like Kaya Scodelario, Ghetts and ShyGirl. Adding a unique touch, the soundtrack is a choral rendition of the iconic ‘One nil to the Arsenal’ chant, performed by London City Voices.

The 26-piece collection fuses both brands’ aesthetics, incorporating bespoke graphics that celebrate Arsenal’s legacy. Standout features include the club’s founding year 1886 within Aries’ temple logo, and the redesign of the Arsenal name in Aries’ signature typeface.

This collaboration continues Arsenal’s strong creative momentum, following recent campaigns celebrating Ian Wright and an artistic refresh of Emirates Stadium. As the club battles in the Premier League, its off-field innovations are setting a high bar in football culture, a topic we explore in Game-Changers: The Future of Sports Fandom.

Strategic opportunity

Brands can leverage collaborations with creative, independent partners to foster deeper emotional connections and engage niche communities to elevate brand identity and increase its cultural capital

Agora Health empowers women with hormonal health education

Agora Health, UK Agora Health, UK
Agora Health, UK Agora Health, UK

UK – In recognition of Menopause Awareness Month, Agora Health, a women’s wellness brand founded by a mother-daughter duo, hosted an expert panel at Ember Locke in Kensington, London. The event aimed to provide accredited guidance on women’s hormonal health, featuring general practitioner Dr Theshanka Amarasinghe, obstetrician-gynaecologist Dr Nicola Adana Okeahialam, psychotherapist Stephanie Queen, women’s fitness coach Rachele Louise and nutritionist Stephanie Smith.

The panel discussed the significant gender health gap in the UK, revealing that one in four women feel that their pain is not taken seriously (source: Gender Pain Gap Index Report by Nurofen). Chronic pain is a common experience for women, who typically have 450 periods over their lifetime, with 75% suffering from premenstrual symptoms. More severe conditions, such as endometriosis (affecting one in 10 women), fibroids (affecting two in three), and PCOS (affecting one in 10), further highlight the widespread lack of understanding, treatment and prevention, which leads to ongoing suffering for many women.

This underscores the urgent need for systemic change, especially given that absenteeism from work due to heavy periods, endometriosis, fibroids and ovarian cysts costs the UK economy nearly £11bn ($14bn, €13bn) annually, according to a report by the NHS Confederation, Create Health Foundation and London Economics. Research suggests that an additional £1 ($1.3, €1.2) invested per woman in obstetrics and gynaecology services could yield a £319m ($417m, €381m) return to the economy.

The panel outlined key goals for the next 5–10 years, advocating for the integration of women’s health at schools. This includes incorporating female-focused nutrition into food education and promoting cycle-conscious fitness in physical education. They emphasised the importance of women trusting their intuition through a deeper understanding of their bodies. Addressing research gaps for women and ethnic minorities, alongside leveraging technology such as wearable devices to recognise bodily patterns and interpret symptoms, could significantly enhance this understanding.

Our Innovation Debrief 2024–2025 highlights how brands are also investing in science-backed technological solutions in commercial settings. For instance, the EmSella device, from aesthetic clinic Therapie, uses electromagnetic energy to stimulate the pelvic floor and restore bladder control, exemplifying how technology can support women's health, particularly in the postpartum period.

Our full interview with Agora Health will be available soon in our Viewpoints section. 

Strategic opportunity

Leverage accredited education to empower women with the confidence to trust their inner wisdom and advocate for their health, while encouraging science-driven companies to allocate resources toward advancing women’s wellness

Microsoft’s Xbox efforts cut 1.2m metric tons of CO2e emissions

Beyond Generations campaign by Xbox Beyond Generations campaign by Xbox

Global – Microsoft has announced that its sustainability initiatives for Xbox have prevented the release of 1.2m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions over a span of three years. CO2e is a comprehensive measure that includes all greenhouse gases, not just carbon dioxide. To put this into context, these emission reductions by Microsoft are comparable to the combined annual distance driven by approximately 74,000 Americans. 

Key to this achievement is the Xbox Sustainability Toolkit, a tool designed to help developers identify and optimise energy-intensive code processes. Additionally, Microsoft introduced a carbon-aware setting, which optimises updates and downloads during times when the local power grid relies less on fossil fuels. Another significant change was the update of all Xbox consoles to default to shutdown mode instead of sleep mode. While shutdown results in slightly longer boot times, it consumes far less energy while still allowing updates and downloads in the background. 

However, Microsoft's broader goal of becoming carbon negative, water positive and zero waste by 2030 faces new challenges as the company expands its focus on AI technologies. 

As highlighted in our Future Five: Sustainability report, sustainability will no longer be seen as merely a moral obligation but a core business imperative by 2024. 

Strategic opportunity

Consider developing or integrating carbon-aware features into products and services that optimise energy consumption based on the availability of renewable energy sources

Stat: Young British women face greater financial challenges than their male peers

Photography by Liza Summer
Photography by Liza Summer

UK – Research indicates that young British women aged 18–30 are significantly hindered in their careers compared to their male counterparts and are facing a ‘sticky floor’ that traps them in low-paying jobs. A survey of around 5,000 young people highlights a troubling financial divide: 41% of young women report their financial situation has worsened in the past year, while only 27% of young men feel the same. Additionally, 55% of young women feel dread about their finances, compared to 43% of young men.

Claire Reindorp, CEO of Young Women’s Trust, told The Guardian: ‘The cost of living crisis hasn’t gone away… it’s biting down on them very hard.’ The report also notes that systems failing to provide affordable childcare disproportionately affect women’s ability to compete in the workforce. 

In our FemFin: Female-forward Finance report, in partnership with Allied Irish Banks (AIB), we analyse how women are pioneering a financial system change – global banks and financial service providers should take note.

Strategic opportunity

Implement and advocate for pay transparency policies that reveal gender pay gaps, enabling leaders to address disparities and ensure fair compensation

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