High-tech mask to help you meditate
And ten other startling new trends that are coming your way this year, according to a top futurologist
Want to know what you’re going to be eating, growing, buying and doing next year? Lucie Greene can tell you.
She is one of the world’s leading trend forecasters, whose job is to ‘tell brands what’s cool and what is going to be cool’, she says.
Over the years, clients have included amazon, Google, Marks & Spencer, Estee Lauder, RollsRoyce, Unilever and apple, all of whom have used her analysis to decide what products they sell and how they market them. So, how does she know what’s going to happen next?
Lucie, 38, originally from Surrey, started out in fashion business journalism, before realising that her knack for spotting trends was perfectly suited to ‘futurecasting’.
through her practice, Light Years, she tracks small changes in the social and consumer landscape to predict which trends might gain ground over the next 12 months.
Her successes include overseeing the first research on the rise of Generation Z, the young people whose growing buying power will determine a lot of what is to come in 2020.
‘In 2015, everyone was obsessed with Millennials, but I was looking at this exciting generation of 13-to-22-year-olds. I felt that generation had different attitudes to sex and gender and identity and was going to create havoc for brands.’
Here’s how Lucie thinks 2020 might look . . .
ANTI-AGEING YOUR HAIR
LaSt year was all about glowing complexions, but this year, shiny, healthy hair will top our beauty wish- lists, with ingestible hair supplements hitting shelves.
‘Hair health is being linked to the appearance of ageing,’ says Lucie, adding that this is down to an increase in reports of premature hair loss combined with a greater awareness of how stress, poor diet and hormonal imbalance can have a detrimental effect on hair.
On the beauty front we’ll also be stocking up on sun creams made from natural ingredients, as rising temperatures make sun damage a more pressing concern. and, says Lucie, we’ll ditch floral fragrances for unusual scents such as liquorice, black coffee and kumquat, as tastes evolve towards powerful flavours — just as they have with drinks, hence the trend for bitter cocktails such as negronis.
SUSTAINABLE GETS SEXY
‘SUStaInabILItY is not a hemp sack any more, it’s much more sexy,’ says Lucie, who believes ethical behaviour is becoming the new luxury. So expect animal leather to be phased out of designer handbags and replaced with sustainable alternatives, such as mushroom leather, which is already used by Stella McCartney.
High- end cosmetics will get an overhaul, too. Chanel has invested in plastic-free packaging brand Sulapac to make biodegradable versions of its iconic black-andwhite make-up cases, meaning once you finish a lipstick, the empty case can be popped on the compost heap, instead of going into landfill.
CHINTZ IS REBORN
‘WE’RE seeing a resurgence of layering textures, clashing colours, prints on prints and chintz,’ says Lucie, explaining a backlash against the minimalist aesthetic that’s dominated design for years.
Expect jewel-toned palettes, fabric lampshades, antique ornaments and Eighties wicker furniture (right). ‘the look is “living room of an aristocrat”,’ says Lucie, who cites chintz-tastic London restaurant Gloria as the top 2020 interiors inspiration.
STAYING SAFE
pOLItICaL turbulence will see us investing in security gadgets such as app- connected doorbells and home air-quality testers. ‘I call this the anxiety economy,’ says Lucie. ‘people are trying to stay sane in an era of constant unrest.’ Holidays will change, too. ‘We’re still craving experiences, but there’s a move towards making them responsible,’ says Lucie, which means staying closer to home. With the environmental effects of air travel under scrutiny, use of other modes of transport, such as boat, coach and train, will rise. Flight Free UK ( flight free. co. uk) aims to persuade 100,000 people not to fly in 2020 and has published a guide to staycation destinations accessible by road and railway. While not everyone will want to switch sunny getaways for a fortnight in Folkestone, Lucie believes we’ll go abroad less and won’t be so smug about it. ‘people will still go to bali, but won’t brag so much.’
TIME TO TALK TEFF
nEvER exactly seen as unhealthy, celery will be 2020’s superfood thanks to its anti-inflammatory properties, vitamin C content and help with digestion.
as well as drinking it in juices (with a shot of vitamin C-rich sea buckthorn), celery-infused skincare will help us tackle excess oil, enlarged pores and uneven skin texture.
and forget quinoa, it’s all about teff, an Ethiopian grain that contains three times more iron and almost twice as much fibre as other grains — and doesn’t require much water to grow (Lovegrass brown teff Grain, £ 3.99,
ocado.com, pictured right). With an earthy, nutty taste, we’ll be using it to make flatbreads for our smashed avocado brunches, which are here to stay.
HEALTHY BOOZE
aS aLCOHOL brands fight back against our increasingly sober lifestyles, a host of innovative alcoholic drinks with added healthboosting ingredients will be released, such as bootleg booch alcoholic Kombucha (£3.45, planet
organic. com). think beers containing turmeric, cocktails made with cold-pressed juices and wine packed with rehydrating electrolytes. It’s all about guilt-free drinking to reconcile the boom in wellness culture and our eternal desire to indulge, says Lucie.
‘If you’re exercising on a Friday night, how can you do something that still feels sociable afterwards without undoing all your hard work?’
the jury’s out on whether any of this will help stave off a hangover, however.
CLEAN GARDENING
HOt on the heels of clean eating and clean sleeping, gardening is about to clean up its act.
‘a connection is being made between what we are putting into our soil and our health,’ says Lucie. Expect ‘clean’ fertilisers made from all natural ingredients,
such as the food waste fertiliser by U.S. brand Sunday ( getsunday.com), and the organic GroChar Fertiliser (£16.95, sarah raven.com).
Reducing water use in the garden will also become a hot topic, so sales of plants that don’t require much hosepipe action, such as succulents, will increase.
LARD’S COMEBACK
It MIGHt sound outdated, but thanks to the current nose-to-tail food movement, lard is already on the menu in swish restaurants such as ROvI in London and Felix in venice, where they use it in place of butter on pasta.
In the domestic kitchen we’ll be doing the same, saving lard from our pork roasts and adding it to savoury dishes, even spreading it on bread, as experts say it has more flavour.
WEDDINGS GO VEGAN
OnCE, every hip wedding had a hog roast, but 2020 nuptials will come with a vegan twist.
think jackfruit canapes, silk-free bridesmaid dresses and soy candles. Happy couples will honeymoon at vegan- friendly hotels, such as the newly launched Saorsa 1875 in perthshire, which even uses vegan Societyapproved electricity.
VIRTUAL RELAXATION
FORGEt unplugging to unwind, virtual reality will be the new route to wellness.
‘It’s been used for some time by the army for treating ptSD, and now it’s expanding,’ says Lucie.
breathevR uses a computer game-type programme to help reduce anxiety through breathing exercises. available for £ 2.99 ( discoverneon.com/breathevr) and used on virtual reality headsets such as Oculus Go (£199, johnlewis.
com), the technology transports users to a sun-drenched meadow, where the deeper you breathe, the bigger the flowers grow.
Umay’s thermal Meditation mask, meanwhile, promises to reverse the effects of screen time by guiding users through breathing meditation. It also uses heat and vibration to soothe eyes.
Launching this winter, there’s no price yet, but there is a waiting list for pre-orders ( umay.care).
WOMEN TAKE THE LEAD
Data collected by television streaming services such as netflix indicates an appetite for strong female characters, says Lucie. ‘Just look at the success of tv series such as big Little Lies and Fleabag.’ She says 2020 will be the year of the female superhero, as Gal Gadot returns in Wonder Woman 1984, Scarlett Johansson stars in black Widow and Margot Robbie heads up the femalecentric cast of birds Of prey from DC Comics. there will be more representation of disabilities, minority ethnicities and the LGbtQ+ community, too. Look out for the Eternals, which will feature Marvel’s first deaf superhero, and producer Judd apatow’s new romcom centered around a gay couple. black actress Lashana Lynch (left) takes over the code name ‘007’ in the next James bond film no time to Die, raising the suggestion bond after Daniel Craig may not be the standard suave white male. ORIGINAL COPY . ORIGINAL COPY . ORIGINAL COPY . ORIGINAL COPY . ORIGINAL COPY