8 ETHICAL CONSUMPTION
7 FASHION & DESIGN
The so called ‘great unbuttoning’ – or working from home in our trackie pants – has caused some problems in the fashion industry, but the shows for ’22 were such a riot of colour, silliness and a lot of skin that some say they herald the return to dressing up. What’s more likely is a split: some will go the ‘peacocking’ route; for others, smart-casual is about as far as dressing up goes.
About the fashion shows: It was interesting to see the power shift. It used to be that the front row was powered up by the likes of Vogue editor Anna Wintour and celebs; this year, it was populated by TikTok influencers, all under 24. TikTok creators sell products from their live streams and takea cut of the sales.
◗ CLIMATE CONCERNS
Consumers are questioning where their garments come from and choosing second-hand clothes. Some big brands are jumping in too: Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Ralph Lauren all offer to take back their own used items to repair and resell… a canny move on their part, because they can pick up fakes and take them out of the market at the same time.
Here in South Africa, H&M is partnering with Clothes to Good: the rewear, reuse and recycling of preloved garments and textiles are helping create employment. Japanese brand Uniqlo has been collecting used clothes since 2006 to donate to people in need. Those they can’t donate are converted into fuel or soundproofing material.
◗ INTERIORS
The Dulux Colour of the Year for 2022, Bright Skies, is based on the mood of the moment, they say. It is ‘a light, airy and optimistic blue that’s good for the soul’.
In keeping with this colour, interior design is moving towards Dutchcore, quite a step away from the minimalist, monotonal Scandi hygge. Closer to our South African hearts, this embraces gezellig, which we’re pretty familiar with. Basically, it means a warm comfortable, eclectic mishmash with lots of colour, knick-knacks, books and indoor plants. Relaxed and casual, it is centred on the idea of belonging and feeling at home. Successive lockdowns have made us feel isolated and ill at ease; design trends are all about trying to reverse that feeling.
This is about more than food and fashion; it’s about everything we do. Covid-19 has made us very aware of our own vulnerability, and the vulnerability of our systems and the planet as a whole. As a result, anxiety has skyrocketed. A climate survey in 2019 found that 90% of respondents around the world said thinking about the climate crisis made them uneasy. Gen Z-ers list climate change as their top global concern, according to a survey by Amnesty International. A US survey found that 54% of teens consider their carbon footprint when they buy something.
This is changing the way we consume. How brands behave matters – we want to know what their values are before engaging with them. The pandemic has made us realise that we all need to take responsibility if we’re to survive, and consumers want to see brands doing the same thing. It’s not just about not doing anything wrong; consumers want brands actively to do what’s right.
◗ DIGITAL CONSUMPTION
Every email we send, every piece of information we store in the cloud and every Google search has an environmental cost. Digital technologies emit almost the same amount of greenhouse gases as the airline industry emitted before Covid-19, and apparently by 2030 the volume of digital information stored worldwide will account for 8% of global electricity consumption. Going on a regular digital diet or regulating our digital usage on an everyday basis is not only good for us mentally and spiritually, but it’s also good for the environment.
9 ACTRESS TO WATCH LÉA SEYDOUX
Just mesmerising. The end.
10 THE FINAL FRONTIER: IMMORTALITY
There are already drugs that can stop telomeres from getting shorter (the shortening of these ends of human chromosomes is thought to be one of the main causes of ageing). And scientists already know how to reprogramme adult cells to turn them into embryonic-like stem cells, which are capable of being developed into any cell type in the body to repair or rejuvenate organs. Increasingly, ageing is being regarded as a curable illness, and many of the world’s richest people are looking for that cure: Larry Page, Jeff Bezos and Peter Thiel have all invested in science labs that focus on anti-ageing interventions. ❖