Create Tomorrow, The WGSN Podcast

Hello and welcome to the fortnightly Create Tomorrow podcast bringing you the latest innovations impacting the future of design and product.

In this episode of WGSN’s Create Tomorrow podcast, we report from this year’s SXSW festival, the annual event in Austin, Texas which brings together tech, film, music, education, and culture – it’s always buzzing with new ideas and concepts. As leaders in trend forecasting, we travel the globe, researching new concepts and trends to inform our work, and SXSW is one of our calendar highlights.

Tune in to hear from our experts on the ground. Senior Strategist of Insight Cassandra Napoli quizzes colleagues Liz Tan, Strategist at WGSN Insight, and Carol Aquino, Head of Consumer Tech, about their SXSW discoveries. Hear how SXSW helps inform our work at WGSN and why it’s such an important event to attend.

How can the beauty of light help solve the climate crisis? What does it mean to see the stars at night? And what can we learn from fireflies? These are the questions answered by the enlightening artworks of Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde.

Daan is the founder of the social design lab Studio Roosegaarde, most famous for Spark, organic sustainable fireworks inspired in part by his love of fireflies. Studio Roosegaarde’s immersive, large-scale artworks operate at the intersection of art, design, and engineering and are often poetic and mesmerising and always thought-provoking.

WGSN’s executive editorial director Bethan Ryder and Director of Strategic Forecasting Lisa White talk to Daan about his passion for light, something that radiates from global projects, which address the climate crisis and ask how we can learn from nature to create a better tomorrow.

We’re constantly scouring the globe for the latest trends, and in this episode of Create Tomorrow we report back from Maison & Objet, the biannual interiors trade fair in Paris. One of the most important global events for the interior design industry. 

Director of WGSN Interiors Gemma Riberti shares her fair highlights, from the colours she’s tracked to the unstoppable rise of the outdoor market. Plus exciting new sustainability materials, including a patent-pending innovation that transforms rice husks into precious objects of beauty.

We find out why tactile neutrals, rustic ceramics, soft leather detailing and a focus on wood will dominate, and Gemma picks her favourite take-home piece from the fair.

Why is 2024 set for a warm glow? Tune in to hear how WGSN – in collaboration with sibling business Coloro – forecasts the colour of the year 18 months in advance and why this year’s shade is such a warming, gentle and versatile hue. 

Exploring the inclusive, nourishing power of Apricot Crush with WGSN’s editorial director Bethan Ryder is Petra Lundgren, longtime colour trend forecaster for global fashion brand H&M, together with Urangoo Samba, head of colour at WGSN.

So why are we crushing on an apricot shade, and how does it relate to digital lavender, which proved such a hit last year (Episode 69)?

Petra talks about wellness and digital influences on colour selections, the emotive quality of colour and how WGSN helps her set a more sustainable colour agenda at H&M. While Urangoo explains the role AI plays in WGSN’s tracking of colours on the fashion catwalks globally and what the key drivers are that influence consumers’ colour choices.

Plus, why the similarity between WGSN’s Apricot Crush and Pantone’s Peachy Fuzz is a positive sign of creative consensus in a polarised world.

Very much near-forecasting, in this episode we preview the year ahead, considering how the key events from politics, sports and entertainment will impact consumers and brands.

WGSN’s editorial director Bethan Ryder speaks to Joe McDonnell, director of Insight, as he discusses 2024’s major events in relation to consumer behaviour. Discover how elections affect consumer confidence. Why it's a year of sport and how that will continue to fuel the outdoor boom. Plus, why consumers in a cost-of-living crisis will still invest in fun.

We’ll also review the major film releases planned for 2024. So with that in mind sit back, grab your popcorn, and enjoy.

Will the robots take over? How will brands tackle sustainability? And what will become our favourite tipple in 2024? Tune in to get the answers as we discover just some of the trends WGSN is forecasting for the coming year. Join Carla Buzasi, CEO of WGSN and the host of this end-of-the-year episode with her fellow WGSN guests Andrea Bell, VP of Consumer Insights, and Lisa White, Director of Strategic Forecasting and Creative Direction. And if you’re listening to this from the comfort of a heated blanket on your chair... find out how we called it in 2022. Happy 2024 to you all!

Are you swapping your panettone for Christmas pudding? Toasting Lunar New Year with a Teatail? Or livening up your Hanukkah sufganiyot with Mexican guava flavours? If not, this episode might encourage you to dip into these new trends.

As the year draws to a close, we tickle your tastebuds and take a look at how annual festive food and drink traditions are changing with new twists and emerging trends. Our Editorial Director at WGSN Bethan Ryder, aka Head Chef, leads this chat, with sous chefs Director of Food & Drink Jen Creevy and Strategist Millie Diamond adding insight and anecdotes to this festive platter.

We reveal the exciting things happening in seasonal flavours and talk about what will be on our tables while feasting with family and friends. Whether you’re indulging in Christmas, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah or Lunar New Year, there’s something here for everyone. Not to mention a few tips on how to set a beautiful festive table overflowing with maximalist shareables.

Appetite whet? Press play for all things taste and flavour.

Join us for a rifle through the underwear drawer of fashion, as we examine this often contentious category, which historically has been very polarised. Intimates and Lingeries is often a category split between the fun - read sexy - and the functional and never the twain shall meet. But the smalls category has come on in leaps and bounds and in this episode we chart the shift towards inclusiveness, review the latest trends and look ahead to the future.

Exploring the finer details of the intimates and lingerie market is our special guest host Francesca Muston, VP of WGSN Fashion with colleagues Lorna Hall, Director of Fashion and Sofia Martellini, Senior Strategist Fashion. 

We broach topics like leak-proof wear, reflect on seminal cultural underwear moments and how the pandemic redefined comfort for bras and consider the progress yet to be made on inclusivity in the male underwear category. Plus, expect to hear about how internet-breaking Kim Kardashian (Skims) and Rihanna (Savage x Fenty) have been pivotal in recent shifts in this category. So pull on your big girl pants and tune in…

Plump, swivel seats that offer massage functionality and bed-down flat, wraparound screens, lighting that boosts circadian rhythms and reduces stress and scentscaping possibilities… Lounge or spa? Neither actually. This could be the car interior of the future if CASE innovations (tune in to discover what that is) continue to evolve, helping to push boundaries in car manufacturing and design.

In this episode of Create Tomorrow, we explore the future of electric vehicles from a tech and design perspective. More specifically, how automated driving will impact the car interior – with EVs likely to evolve into a ‘lounge on wheels’.

WGSN Editorial Director Bethan Ryder leads this conversation with Carol Aquino, Head of Consumer Tech, and Angela Ringo, Senior Trend Forecaster and Editor on the Interiors team. Bethan finds out how automakers are embracing innovative ideas that bring supreme comfort and relaxation to the car interior, integrating wellness, while also including state-of-the-art screen technology. 

Are you sitting comfortably, because the EV design journey has only just begun...

How do brands speak to us as we age? Does the language used encourage us to buy from them or steer clear? Food for thought on this conversation around age beauty and brands. Director of Editorial at WGSN Bethan Ryder speaks about the age-agnostic shift we are seeing in beauty products. Age-agnostic is essentially a move away from skin resilience claims – serving the need, not the number – and a shift from ‘age appropriate’ makeup. To help flesh out this idea, Bethan speaks to Cassandra Napoli, Senior Strategist on Insight, and Pia Fisher, Beauty Strategist. Cassandra and Pia give insight and examples of the ways brands are pivoting on the language used in relation to beauty products for older consumers. Bethan dispels the claim that youth is the pinnacle of beauty, citing pop culture references of where ageing is celebrated, in the form of Madonna and Pamela Anderson. The team explore the idea of ageing well and embracing your age amid the backdrop of an AI renaissance. Examples of the latter include Hollywood actors being de-aged, and influencers ‘hacking’ their biological age by using social media filters. Cassandra shares tips on the language brands should be adopting, the importance of online communities and the power of visibility – how seeing ourselves in campaigns makes us more inclined to engage with brands.

In this episode, WGSN Interiors strategists discuss the key trends in Holiday decor, from tablescaping to gift wrapping.

Host Bethan Ryder, Editorial Director at WGSN, speaks to Bonnie Pierre-Davis and Cassandra Gagnon about how consumers are approaching gifting for the Holiday season, interior trend aesthetics and ways we can gift wrap with a focus on sustainability.

We find out what trends and drivers are emerging in seasonal decor from the WGSN Interiors team’s visit to the International Trade Fair for Seasonal and Festive Decorations, Christmasworld and Atlanta market.

We also find out why there is a shift away from traditional gifting to a rise in the conscious crafting movement, where people are making and designing their own as gifts.

It wouldn’t be a WGSN podcast without projections for next year, so Bonnie and Cassandra also share what they see carrying through to 2024.

In this episode, WGSN Creative Director Lisa White and acclaimed climate fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson discuss biodiversity, sustainability incentives and regulations, and whether AI is impacting human creativity.

Kim Stanley Robinson has been writing for over 40 years and has published more than 20 books, focusing on near and far futures. He talked with Lisa as part of WGSN’s recent Trends Days – a biannual brainstorming event exploring future forecasts – where they discussed the future of the biosphere, nature and human nature, plus how speculative fiction can and should play a role in the worlds of business and industry.   

Stan’s work incorporates so much of what we value at WGSN, in particular our STEPIC methodology, which focuses on insights into Society, Technology, the Environment, Politics, Industry and Creativity. Through his rigorous research and storytelling skills, he gives readers a seat in the future to better understand how our actions today can and will impact the outcomes of tomorrow.

Exploring Inclusive Design with Lekker Architects at Singapore Design WeekFrom ceramics that conduct electricity to visions of the inclusive urban environments of tomorrow, in this episode, we preview Singapore Design Week (SDW) which runs until October 1. Dawn Lim, executive director of DesignSingapore Council, talks about this festival of creativity which focuses on the future of sustainability, tech and care for our society – topics we are constantly dissecting at WGSN. We also catch up with the duo behind Lekker Architects, Ong Ker-Shing and Dr Joshua Comaroff, who are curating a project for SDW called FI&LD, which is inspired by a sports field and promotes the concept of inclusivity through play. The duo are pioneers in the field of inclusive design, and won Singapore’s annual President’s Design Award this year for their IKEA-inspired book, Hack Care: Tips and Tricks for a Dementia-Friendly Home. 

In our final episode of mini-episodes reporting from the London Design Festival, an annual event that takes over the UK capital every September, we visit Material Matters on London’s Southbank. Now in its second year, the fair has sprung from a podcast of the same name and occupies the atmospheric Bargehouse at the Oxo Tower. On until September 23, across five floors, it houses over 40 brands, designers, makers, manufacturers and organisations who all celebrate the importance of materials in bringing us closer to a circular economy. We speak to the journalist and podcaster behind the fair, Grant Gibson, and also hear about new material innovations and techniques from the likes of leading UK design duo Pearson Lloyd, East London-based contemporary crafter Gareth Neal and Danish textile artist Tanja Kirst.

In our next episode, we jump from the London Design Festival to Singapore Design Week.

In episode two of our series of mini-episodes reporting from the London Design Festival, an annual event that takes over the UK capital every September, we visit some of the exhibitions on show in the west side of town at Brompton Design District. Curator of the area, design writer and consultant Jane Withers, explains the theme, Conviviality – The Art of Living Together, and shares some of her highlights. We catch up with East London-based designer and woodworker Rio Kobayashi (6:41mins) and hear about his colourful debut solo show, Manus Manum Lavat, which includes furniture pieces reinvented and reborn through colour, artisanship and marquetry.  Also in this episode, hear from design duo Peter Pilotto and Christopher de Vos Caballero (16:30mins) , who return to Cromwell Place for the first time since 2017 and have shifted their focus from fashion to home. Phase 2 consists of rugs created in Nepal, lacquered tables made in the UK, upholstery exhibited on vintage sofas, embroidered velvets, and also a range of gender-inclusive clothing. We hear about their inspirations for the collection, from malachite to design longevity.  

In our next episode, we head to Material Matters on London’s Southbank ⁠⁠– keep your eyes peeled for the next drop.

As the London Design Festival kicks off, we take Create Tomorrow on the road for a series of mini-episodes reporting on the various events, installations and exhibitions that pop up across the UK capital every September. Tune in to hear our host Bethan Ryder, Editorial Director at WGSN, catch up with some of the curators, designers and studios contributing to this colourful and inspiring event.

The series kicks off with a visit to Spirit of Place at Strand Aldwych as we speak with contemporary designer Simone Brewster⁠ about her vivid cork sculptures decorating this newly pedestrianised space. Next, we hop over to Shoreditch to look around Mycelium Unearthed, a compact exhibition of organic designs staged by Osmose Studio⁠, a UK-based regenerative and planet-centric design firm specialising in biodesign and mycelium materials. Aurélie Fontan, CEO & Creative Director of Osmose Studio, takes us on a tour of the various exhibits. 

In our next episode, we head west to the Brompton Design District⁠ – keep your eyes peeled for the next drop.

Does AI pose an existential threat to designers? In this episode of Create Tomorrow, Director of WGSN Consumer Tech Lisa Yong discusses how AI is impacting the creative design process, and what it might mean for the future of creativity.

Joining Lisa are Reiko Morrison, WGSN’s Head of CMF, and Matt Zara, WGSN Consumer Tech Strategist. The team cover the many facets of generative AI, from ignorance surrounding the technology and how many aspects of our lives it already permeates, to the rise of deep fakes and wider ethical and sustainability concerns. More positively, they forecast how AI might function as a superpower for designers, taking care of the mundane tasks and freeing them to focus on the more creative aspects of their roles. Plus, they discuss what AI means for brands and how they can be more responsible with their use of AI, as well as the potential risks involved. 

Is the low or no alcohol movement a passing fad or a new lifestyle choice that’s here to stay? WGSN discussed a more mindful approach to drinking alcohol back in November 2022. In this episode, we delve further into the low and no alcohol drinking movement, discover why it’s popular with Gen Z and discuss its global expansion. Plus we offer a taster of the interesting and diverse ingredients being used to enhance the flavours. Joining WGSN Editorial Director Bethan Ryder to talk low and no alcohol is Jen Creevy, Director of Food & Drink, alongside strategists from her team, Rachel Tan and Millie Diamond.

Tune in to find out about this growing billion-dollar drinks sector and how the sober-curious movement taps into the increasing importance of wellness, inclusivity and personal choice. Find out why low and no alcohol is expanding its influence beyond evenings to breakfast and brunch with drinks featuring flavour notes of marmalade and toast – and even into social sports with new brands like Racquet Rosé. It’s time to raise a toast to low and no alcohol, swap ‘damp’ for ‘dry’ and get your name down for the ‘sober party’.

Could wood be the key to building more sustainable cities? In this episode of Create Tomorrow, architect Andrew Waugh and WGSN’s Editorial Director Bethan Ryder explore the power of engineered timber and how it might help us to build a better future for people and the planet.

Andrew Waugh is co-founder with Anthony Thistleton of British architecture practice Waugh Thistleton, which has completed a total of 30 projects built with cross-laminated timber (CLT) in the UK and France. CLT is a super-strong construction material made from layers of kiln-dried dimensional lumber, which are oriented at right angles to one another and then glued to form structural panels.

The conversation looks at how low-carbon cities could be built from CLT; the financial and wellness benefits of timber buildings and biophilia as opposed to concrete ‘cast caves’; the need for more diversity in architecture; and how AI will impact the industry. Plus, we hear the story of Waugh Thistleton’s first timber build in south London back in 2003.

Andrew and Bethan wrap up by talking about the need for more diversity within the architecture profession and a winning suggestion for the UK’s Houses of Parliament.

In this episode, Bethan Ryder, Editorial Director at WGSN is joined by guests Simon Mitchell, co-founder of architectural studio Sybarite, and Laura Saunter, Senior Strategist at WGSN. Together, Bethan and guests explore the landscape of luxury retail, from the return of the mega flagship in the post-pandemic era to how luxury brands are meeting the needs of the most discerning consumers by delivering memorable in-store experiences. Simon and Laura bring valuable insights on designing luxury retail spaces around the world, how China is leading the way, the influence of sustainability on the design process, and the evolving relationship between consumers and brands within the physical retail environment. Find out why retail design is theatre. Why stores and malls need to deliver delight and joy. And how luxury brands are becoming cultural curators. Hear from Simon Mitchell, co-founder of luxury retail design specialists Sybarite, on how a Katharine Hamnett store inspired him to follow a design career back in the 80s and how working with Marni taught him how you could push the boundaries of retail design.

Welcome back to Create Tomorrow. On this week’s episode Claire Lancaster, WGSN head of Food & Drink and Katherine Schub, Forecaster and Strategist on our Food and Drink team join Bethan to discuss snacking culture.

Consumers are snacking more than ever, whether for comfort, for their health or for convenience. In this episode, host director of Editorial at WGSN and her expert guests explore consumers’ evolving snacking tastes plus the pioneering brands on the market right now.

Bethan, Claire and Katherine find out why snacking has cult appeal, how brands are collaborating with creators to release limited edition snacks and how this is impacting the food and drink landscape.

Listen to hear Katherine and Claire’s favourite snack, we don’t get to hear Bethan’s because well… listen to find out why.

Vollebak is a British fashion brand focusing on designing clothes that will see us through extreme environments, war and space exploration.

Co-founder of the clothing company Steve Tidball joins host editorial director Bethan Ryder and WGSN head of activewear Yvonne Kostiak to discuss the future of clothing for the next century, innovations in the activewear market and why Vollebak doesn’t produce seasonal collections like most clothing brands.

Steve talks about Vollebak's inception, the brand's  journey into the future and of course the Jason Bourne-esque pants designed to last 100 years.

This is the concluding episode of our Milan Design Week Special series in which we’ve explored some of the key trends and brought you insights and interviews from the 2023 edition, which takes place across the city and also at Fiera Milano exhibition centre located just outside the city.

Bethan Ryder, WGSN Executive Editorial Director is joined by Director of Interiors Lisa White and Head of Interiors Gemma Riberti as we explore materials, a trend that had a strong focus at this year’s Milan Design Week.

Tune in to hear about creative material contrasts, recycled glass, a biodegradable hemp chair and an innovation that might help us to detect dangerous UV rays in the future.

This is the third in our series of episodes in which we bring you some of the key trends, insights and interviews from Milan Design Week 2023.

The annual Milan Design Week is considered the world’s biggest event dedicated to design which takes place at Fiera Milano exhibition centre located just outside the city, plus across the city as Fuorisalone in showrooms, palazzos and other venues.

Bethan Ryder, WGSN Executive Editorial Director is joined by Director of Interiors Lisa White and Head of Interiors Gemma Riberti as we explore our sustainability trend.

In this episode we focus on an interview with Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin, co-founders of Formafantasma, the research-driven design studio who are leading the conversion on sustainability and design not just from a materials perspective but also a human one. And also catch up with Dutch designer Maarten Baas, who created a private jet of recycled denim for his collaboration with G-Star RAW.

This is the second in our series of episodes in which we bring you some of the key trends, insights and interviews from Milan Design Week 2023.

The annual Milan Design Week is considered the world’s biggest event dedicated to design which takes place at Fiera Milano exhibition centre located just outside the city, plus across the city as Fuorisalone in showrooms, palazzos and other venues.

Bethan Ryder, WGSN Executive Editorial Director is joined by Director of Interiors Lisa White and Head of Interiors Gemma Riberti as we explore our outdoor lifestyles trend.

We focus on an interview with Marie Kristine Schmidt, chief brand officer at the Danish company Gubi, speaking as we toured their installation at the iconic Bagna Misteriosa in Milan.

Over the next four episodes our Interiors experts will be bringing you key trends, insights and interviews from this year’s Milan Design Week. Subscribers can find a suite of six trend analysis reports covering all the trends you need to know from this year’s event, in this short series of podcasts we’ll cover four of those trends. 

The annual Milan Design Week is considered the world’s biggest event dedicated to design which takes place at Fiera Milano exhibition centre located just outside the city, plus across the city as Fuorisalone in showrooms, palazzos and other venues.

Expect to hear from innovators, disruptors and designers from Formafantasma and Danish company Gubi’s chief brand officer Marie Kristine Schmidt to German designer Markus Benesch and the makers of a compostable hemp chair. 

In this episode, Bethan Ryder, WGSN Executive Editorial Director is joined by Director of Interiors Lisa White and Head of Interiors Gemma Riberti to discuss our first trend, the overall sense of optimism at the festival, it's the first time in four years it returned to its April slot and the joy was palpable.

Biotechnology company Modern Synthesis have developed a biomaterial from bacterial fermentation that can be used to create a low-carbon alternative to traditional clothing fabrics.Modern Synthesis founder Jen Keane explains her process to this week’s host Helen Palmer, head of materials at WGSN and Lucila Saldana, Footwear & Accessories Editor at WGSN.The biomaterial was developed in the company’s London lab and in this episode of Create Tomorrow Jen Keane talks about the development, stigmas around synthetic biology and GMO materials and about fabric innovations of the future.

This week WGSN Director of Insight Joe McDonnell in conversation with Cassandra Napoli, Senior Strategist, and Brielle Saggese, Insight Strategist, they discuss this year’s SXSW festival.

For those unfamiliar with SXSW, it’s an annual festival in Austin, Texas that brings together creatives, innovators, and entrepreneurs from around the world to share ideas, showcase their work, and connect with others in their industries.

Joe, Cassandra and Brielle all attended the 36th SXSW and in this episode, they give us a full rundown on the emerging trends and major discussion topics from this year’s event.

Cassandra and Brielle share some of their most interesting highlights from this year’s SXSW including AI mental health resources, snacks being used as political signalers, and video games that help surgeons prepare for surgeries.

The virtual influencer market is booming. In fact, virtual influencers are set to yield three times more engagement than human influencers. They’re ushering in a whole new world of sponsorship potential and dynamic multi-platform entertainment possibilities for brands to be a part of over the next decade, as these characters and the technology supporting them mature. It’s anticipated that they will transform everything from pop-culture and online shopping to education and work. In 2030 the digital human market is set to be worth about $530 billion globally, which is up from just $10 billion in 2020.

In this episode Senior Strategist at WGSN Cassandra Napoli, speaks to Christopher Travers, an entrepreneur focused on the area of pseudonymity and various forms of online identity, to break down this incredibly complex and layered topic and to share his expert commentary on the constantly evolving world of virtual influencers.

In January WGSN walked the halls of Maison & Objet in Paris, one of the most important trade shows in the world for home interiors and products. We analysed the product design trends from bouclé to paper maché, sustainability to scentscaping.

Today we kick off by discussing the central theme of the show this year, which was all about Care, whether that means people or the environment,  indoors or outdoors.

This week our host Bethan Ryder is joined by WGSN’s head of Colour Urangoo Samba and Caroline Guilbert, Creative Content Lead at Coloro to discuss this year's colour of the year, Digital Lavender. Tune in to find out why are we seeing it everywhere, from consumer tech and fashion to the colour palettes in TV dramas? 

Every year WGSN produces colour forecasts for our clients in collaboration with our partner business Coloro. In this episode the team chats about what Digital Lavender signifies and why it's so popular right now, whilst touching on a few other colours that we’ve forecast as key for this year.

As we roll into 2023, we decided to discuss one of our most popular reports with the team that put it together; WGSN's "Cities to Watch 2023".

The cities we highlight are always creative hubs, but they also tend to reflect some of the bigger consumer trends we’re seeing around the world, and so this year’s choices are perhaps less obvious than usual and truly testament to the rise of digital nomads – people who have relocated out of big cities following the pandemic, or who have simply chosen to work remotely in livable, less hectic cities.

Andy Cato is an arable and livestock farmer and co-founder of WildFarmed. In this episode we hear about Andy’s journey from grammy-nominated musician, as one half of Groove Armada, to award-winning farmer and all round trailblazer trying to establish a more restorative and sustainable food system. Not just through actually farming, but also by creating a community of fellow farmers like him and by working with schools to educate the next generation.

Tune in to hear all about WildFarmed and what Andy calls “the long road to Greggs” as he spills the beans to our Director of Food and Drink Jen Creevy.

In this episode Bethan Ryder is joined by Director of Beauty Clare Varga, Head of Food and Drink Claire Lancaster and Director of Consumer Insight Joe McDonnell to address changing consumer behaviour in the light of the cost of living crisis and what brands can do to reassure and retain consumers in the months ahead.

If you’re a WGSN subscriber you’ll find many reports covering the cost of living on our Consumer Insight platform and across all the products from fashion to food & drink.

If you want to find out how to subscribe, head over to WGSN.com to discover how you can get access to our service. We’re constantly publishing new content focussing on how we can design a brighter, better future for our industries – including food & drink, interiors, beauty, fashion and consumer tech.

This week WGSN Editorial Director Bethan Ryder is joined by Reiko Morrison WGSN's Head of CMF and Benjamin Hubert, founder of the London-based industrial design agency Layer Design.

Layer recently launched a monograph, published by Phaidon, during the London Design Festival which coincided with an exhibition which ran as part of the inaugural Material Matters fair. The book covers the various stages of Benjamin Hubert’s career and the many products he’s designed for the likes of Bang  & Olufsen, Vitra, Moroso, Cappellini, Muuto and more. 

Hubert had a design career in his sights while still at school and initially wanted to design cars, but went into product design instead and has designed a huge range of products from lighting to tech, and it’s tech in particular where Layer Design excels at creating incredibly tactile products though a combination of materials. 

The three discuss how they see the future of Consumer tech evolving with less screens and a rich sense of materiality and haptic happiness.

In anticipation of the release of WGSN’s Home Lifestyles 2025 white paper, Carla Buzasi sat down with creative director and director of interiors Lisa White to talk about the product opportunities for your business in the home of 2025 as it further evolves into a multipurpose place to work, unwind, exercise, educate the kids, entertain friends and so much more. Listening for a taster about this insightful piece of WGSN research.

This week WGSN's Director of Food and Drink Jen Creevy talks to co-founder and CEO of WhatIF Foods Chris Langwallner. WhatIF foods is a trailblazing business attempting to fix a broken food system by making daily staples like noodles and milk from nutritional, previously overlooked ingredients such as the Bambara nut. These crops are grown using regenerative practices and value chains as opposed to supply chains that also empower farmers in regions around the world.

This week Bethan Ryder talks with Beauty experts Hannah Mauser, Sienna Piccioni and Brielle Saggese about the huge trend right now for celebrity owned beauty brands. From Pharrell to Gwyneth Paltrow, Kim Kardashian to Kate Moss, and even Stella McCartney, it seems like you're not an A-Lister right now without your very own skincare range. At the time of publishing we hear Brad Pitt has also launched a genderless skincare line.

But how does this differ from the celebrity endorsements of the past? What role has social media played in the boom? And which brands do we see chiming with WGSN's trend forecasts for the future? 

Denim is a fashion category which is so intrinsically linked to lifestyle both from a practicality point of view, but also in terms of cultural and social identity - people are passionate about their jeans so when we see new trends shaking things up the impact is significant.

Denim had a tough time during the pandemic. As we all went into that first lockdown we quickly slid into slouch - the move to sweatpants was overnight and many feared the denim category wouldn’t recover, but recover it did - almost as soon as lockdowns lifted, and it’s projected to continue growing with Allied Market Research projecting it to hit $88.1bn by 2030 but the denim industry post-pandemic looks very different to the one we knew and loved.

In this episode the team discusses everything from fit cycle data, TikTok and Y2K brand influencers, to sustainability and new fabric innovation.

In this episode Bethan Ryder WGSN's Executive Editorial Director is joined by Director of Food and Drink Jen Creevy, Head of Food and Drink Claire Lancaster and WGSN Insight Strategist Brielle Saggese to discuss drinks trends across the demographics from Boomers to Gen Z. 

The conversation began by reminiscing about their favourite cocktails of the 80s and 90s and how the general mood of nostalgia that was sparked by the pandemic has trickled into the drinks market.

This week WGSN CEO Carla Buzasi is joined by travel trailblazer Robin Hutson: OBE, Chairman of The Pig hotels, sustainability champion and officially the UK's second most powerful hotelier.

If you've been lucky enough to visit any of his destinations that dot the south of England, you'll know that these boutique retreats are famous for their amazing food and gorgeous interiors, but there's a lot more to their success than just what they look like.

This week WGSN Business Development Manager Sam Boakye and Insight Strategist Mel Larsen talk to British writer, curator and broadcaster Ekow Eshun about his new exhibition "In The Black Fantastic" now showing at London’s Hayward Gallery.

Ekow has been described as a ‘cultural polymath’ by The Guardian, he is chairman of the Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group, overseeing the most prestigious public art programme in the UK, and the former Director of the ICA, London. He is the author of critically lauded books Black Gold of the Sun, Africa State of Mind, and, most recently In the Black Fantastic. 

At WGSN part of our STEPIC methodology that we use in our trend forecasting includes looking at culture and creativity, and so in that vein we invited Ekow on the show to talk about the exhibition and accompanying book. We spoke more widely about themes of The Black Fantastic vs Afrofuturism, the power of speculative film and fiction, the relevance of artists from Chris Ofili to Beyonce in expressing the Black experience and the concept of double consciousness.

This is the concluding episode of our Milan Design Week Special series in which we’ve explored some of the key trends and brought you insights and interviews from the 2022 edition, which incidentally was the 60th anniversary for the fair that began it all Salone del Mobile.

In this episode the WGSN team discuss Craft Renaissance, a trend that seems to run and run, where we see traditional craftsmanship and artisanal skills are renewed for a contemporary audience.

This is the third in our series of shorter episodes in which we bring you some of the key trends, insights and interviews from Milan Design Week 2022.

In today's episode the WGSN team discuss the Inclusivity and Wellbeing trend. Installations and products that were about designing for inclusivity and that raised awareness around diversity and mental health were a key focus at this year's event.

This is the second in our series of episodes in which we bring you some of the key trends, insights and interviews from Milan Design Week 2022. 

In this episode, Bethan Ryder WGSN Executive Editorial Director is joined by Director of Interiors Lisa White and Head of Interiors Gemma Riberti as we explore our Updated Icons trend.

In this episode we focus on an interview with designer Tom Dixon.

Over the next four days our Interiors experts will be bringing you key trends, insights and interviews from Milan Design Week. Our Trends report lists 13 trends you need to know from Milan Design Week, in this short series of podcasts we’ll cover four of those trends. Expect to hear from design world luminaries from Faye Toogood to Jonathan Anderson and Tom Dixon, plus exciting emerging designers such as Krill Design and the team behind the Huggable Chair, fantastic examples of circular and inclusive designs.

Our first trend is Nature First.

Following the pandemic many professionals around the world are still combining remote and office working. What’s more it’s looking good for productivity. PepsiCo research found that when given more flexibility, and when given a hybrid option, they see an in 15% increase in productivity and 31% less absenteeism. So what does this more fluid, flexible working future mean for people, brands and businesses? That’s what we explore in this episode; from the tech we are likely to demand and adopt, to the type of environments and interior spaces required to tempt us back into the workplace for those meaningful collaborative moments.

Will holograms serve to bring us closer to remote-working colleagues? Will biophilic design keep us feeling nurtured and build company loyalty? And what’s the great reset? Tune in to find out what the future holds for the workplace and where the product design opportunities might lie for brands and businesses. 

Michael Pawlyn is a biomimicry expert, TED talk star and founding director of the London-based practice Exploration Architecture, he is also co-author with Singapore-based urbanist, curator and writer Sarah Ichioka of the book Flourish: Design Paradigms for our Planetary Emergency. Published just last year, it’s a persuasive read that tackles existing orthodoxies around sustainability and posits real world design and architecture solutions and strategies to move towards a future where the planet can truly flourish.

Central to Pawlyn and Ichioka’s book is the argument for a paradigm shift, as inspired by the late systems thinker Donella Meadows, and a move away from conventional sustainability to regenerative design and development.

As we read news reports of microplastics being present in human blood and the latest UN climate report issued by the IPCC reminded us that time has nearly run out to meet the 1.5°C warming target of the Paris Agreement, it’s clear we need to take drastic action in reducing plastic waste and our greenhouse gas emissions. So what alternatives are out there when it comes to wrapping up and protecting our products ready for consumers, and how much do consumers really care?

Toward the end of 2021, audio tech giant Sonos released its "Listen Better” report alongside a climate action plan in which is laid out its commitment to a more sustainable future for the business. A key figure driving this plan from within is Kitty Suidman whose role as Design Director of Product Sustainability at Sonos places her at the forefront of the brand’s drive to reduce its environmental impact, with a goal to reach carbon neutrality by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2040.

Joining Bethan Ryder and Kitty in conversation this week is Content Director of Consumer Tech here at WGSN Lisa Yong. Together they discuss how the structure of their businesses internal hierarchies can give sustainability a key role in everything they do and what tech brands can do to balance the tightrope of providing cutting edge products alongside fulfilling the increasing desire for longevity in products that consumers own.

WGSN has been tracking digital assets for many years now but we’re seeing a significant rise in the engagement across markets, regions, categories and consumer cohorts. Approximately 70% of Gen Z and Gen X global consumers rate their digital identity as important, meanwhile 65% rate digital ownership as important and more than 50% are interested in purchasing a digital asset in the next 12 months. In this conversation, WGSN Prints & Graphics Strategist Kraggy is joined by Nell Lloyd-Malcolm CEO and co-founder of XYdrobe, Oliver Royce, who is head of apparel and digital goods at Fnatic, and Ommy Akhe, creative technologist and leading figure in the augmented reality space, to discuss what the implications of these new rules are, and how fashion companies can authentically engage in this space.

Curious about crypto? Join Andrea Bell, director of WGSN Insight, as she hosts this episode unpacking all things crypto, from Web3 and the Metaverse to NFTs. Tune in as she discusses these topics with WGSN experts Cassandra Napoli, Senior Strategist on Insight, and Sarah Housley Head of Consumer Tech, and what they mean for brands and consumers, plus some of our favourite examples of brands taking advantage of cryptocurrencies in the real world.

If you’re a WGSN subscriber you can find many reports covering these subjects, web3, metaverse and the crypto class, plus all the latest trends and developments in Consumer Tech on WGSN.com.

We’ve seen alternatives to meat and dairy products on the market for some time now, and the embracing of plant-based meat alternatives have sky-rocketed in the past few years, it is inevitable that this combination of culinary skills and scientific knowledge will play out across the food and drink space. WNWN Food Labs is just one of many new and exciting brands trying to forge ahead in this growing market with their first product, a zero-cacao chocolate bar, created from alternative plant-based ingredients. They are part of a small but growing movement called “alt-choc”.

Joining WGSN CEO Carla Buzasi is Dr Johnny Drain, aka ‘the Walter White of Fermentation’ and founder of WNWN food labs, and WGSN’s Head of Food and Drink Jen Creevy, to discuss consumers’ growing awareness of the ethics of our food supply chains, the power of fermentation in the latest plant based foods and what products WNWN could be planning next.

Wellness themes play a major part in our flagship report Big Ideas 2024 which has just landed on all our product design platforms. One of our most popular reports with clients, this report looks ahead to see how trends will shape what consumers need and want in two years’ time and we apply it to all of the industries we serve.

Listen to find out what a bathfluencer is, why we’re becoming interested in mood foods and why snacking can actually be good for you. Plus, which Friends star has launched a cleaning line… no it’s not Matt Le Blanc.

Ramdane Touhami is a creative visionary, serial entrepreneur and the man behind global beauty brand Buly 1803, which he founded in 2014 with his wife and business partner Victoire de Taillac and sold in October last year to LVMH. Not a bad trajectory for the son of an apple picker who was himself homeless 25 years ago. He recently published, The Beauty of Time Travel (Gestalten), which explores how you construct a global brand ”from the bottom up”. 

Bethan Ryder, WGSN's Executive Editorial Director and Lisa White, Director of Interiors join Ramdane to ask how to resurrect an historic brand, what role creativity plays in business and whether he is looking forward to designing in the metaverse.

This week we throw the spotlight on outdoor lifestyles. A topic we've been closely tracking at WGSN as the pandemic has shifted consumer behaviour, with many people embracing nature and activities in the fresh air. Alongside hiking and wellness trends such as forest bathing we're witnessing an increase in what you might call 'social sports', from surfing to skateboarding and currently in the northern hemisphere a winter sports boom and with it the rise of an associated aesthetic: Gorpcore. So grab your activewear and lets take this week's episode outside.

Links:

• YT - Arc'teryx
• Arc'teryx TikTok #1
• Arc'teryx TikTok #2
• Arc'teryx TikTok #3

This week, WGSN CEO Carla Buzasi is joined by three members of the WGSN's consultancy team, Mindset, to discuss the top priorities design brands should have for 2022. Spanning North America, Asia and Europe the three Mindset experts are used to challenging briefs from diverse brands wrestling with creating better products and experiences for their consumers. All understand design brand challenges and consumer behaviour, and are here to give a quick lesson in brand resilience and planning for the future.

2022 is just around the corner. In what has been another year of ups and downs, we're now looking forward to the clean slate of a brand new year. At WGSN that means nailing down the key trends for the coming year and ensuring you're set for a super-successful 2022. So what can you expect to see trending next year? This week we talk through the team's most significant trend predictions for the coming year.

We're in the midst of party season in many regions of the world whether celebrating Christmas or looking ahead to Lunar New Year. While many of us had hoped we'd be in a far better place than last year, with the arrival of the Omicron variant, festivities are again in question. 

This week we discuss how things are shaping up for home entertaining, over the next few months.

With a global sense of disappointment it's even more crucial to discuss and determine how brands and creatives can design systems and products that respond to the climate emergency.

This episode we are joined by Carole Collet, Professor in Design for Sustainable Futures at Central St. Martins University in London where she is director of Maison/0, the Central St. Martins LVMH platform for regenerative luxury and also co-director of the Living Systems Lab, a research lab which explores the inherent properties of biological living systems to develop new knowledge in the field of ecology via creative practices in art, design and architecture. 

As we enter what is traditionally the busiest time for retail in many regions, we felt it was time to shine a light on bricks and mortar stores and discuss what brands and retailers can do to lure consumers back.

What's the future of the store and what hybrids or strategies can businesses employ to play a part in creating thriving cities again. Or is there something else entirely new around the corner which we will see in the near future? 

The topic of sustainability is never far from the top of our agenda at WGSN and with the publication of our new white paper "Create Better", this episode we will be talking about new practices and lessons that everyone who works in design can learn from. Against the backdrop of COP26 it also feels like the right time to challenge ourselves to do much more in this space.

We are seeing huge consequences of global warming right now, you just need to look out of your window or read today's headlines, and here at WGSN we believe that it's time for the design industries to start putting words into action, which is what this episode is all about.

At WGSN we have published a number of reports recently about the shifts and strategies in selling sex on Insight, sexual wellness on Beauty and inclusive sex tech on our recently launched Consumer Tech platform. 

It's always been a hot topic but what's exciting is that the sexual conversation is expanding and there's a shift towards more open, honest and diverse conversations, depictions and explorations of sex and sexuality from a multiplicity of viewpoints. 

This week WGSN CEO Carla Buzasi speaks to Copenhagen Fashion Week CEO Cecilie Thorsmark who, as leader of this sustainably focussed fashion week, is on a mission to change the way the entire fashion industry thinks about its impact on the environment and the wider world around them. 

Cecilie has be consulting with the wider industry around her mission to drive genuine change in both the fashion week she runs but also with the hope that systems that are put in place in Copenhagen can be translated for other fashion weeks elsewhere in the world. 

In July 2021 Mark Zuckerberg declared that the future of Facebook is the metaverse, but as a concept it’s not new, having first been coined in the 1992 sci-fi novel, Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. It now yields nearly 6m results in Google Search, though it's far from universally defined.

At WGSN we introduced the concept of the metaverse in Future Innovations 2022, calling it a shared virtual space that can be roamed widely. We then published a Research Radar, exploring its potential as a successor to the internet, poised to become the future of all digital media and commerce.

In this episode we’ll be discussing the signs that brands and consumers are moving towards this future immersive phygital world. We explain how brands can enter it and look at the parties transforming it and the potential it holds for the future.

This week, WGSN Executive Editorial Director Bethan Ryder speaks to author, designer and educator Carla Diana & WGSN's head of Consumer Tech Sarah Housley about the future of social robots.

According to consultancy firm Frost and Sullivan the global robotics market will reach $38.3bn by 2024. What's more the global adoption rate of robotics and automation in digital supply chains is set to increase from 39% in 2020 to 73% in 2025. During the pandemic, robots moved from manufacturing lines to service roles; in China the need for touch free services has given the unmanned economy a significant boost and sales of robots are growing at more than twice the rate of global trajectories.

This week we are welcoming a new member of the WGSN team as we embark on the next chapter of the company. Having made our name forecasting trends for fashion, beauty, interiors, food & drink and consumer lifestyles, we now turn our attention to the exciting world of consumer tech.

Joining Carla Buzasi, CEO of WGSN, is our Director of Consumer Tech Lisa Yong who speaks about why this rapidly changing industry is so important no matter what design world you work in, plus new trends on the horizon and how she and the team predict what will happen next.

The wider concept of gender identity has altered in the public conscious over the past decade, with a more positive understanding emerging that gender is fluid and not a binary thing. This has been powered by the internet and social media, which has given voice to LGBTQ+ communities and activists. Education is more accessible and as a consequence notions of masculinity are also being viewed as a spectrum rather than a hackneyed set of strongman stereotypes. 

Over the past year as the pandemic took hold globally, consumer awareness of their own health and wellbeing, and also the food that we are putting into our bodies played a massive role in dealing with the global health crisis and propelled the plant based food industry even higher in market share. The growth rate in the US more than doubled in 2020 as sales surged 27% to $7 billion dollars according to the Plant Based Foods Association and the Good Food Institute.

Joining WGSN President and CEO Carla Buzasi to talk about the growing craving for all things plant based is Lita Dwight, the founder of Bryt Life Foods alongside WGSN’s very own Kara Nielson, who heads up our food and drink platform.

This episode explores how the COVID-19 pandemic has created a pet boom, with humankind across the globe seeking solace affection and touch from furry friends. In the US, 69% of consumers own an animal and 37% have adopted one in the last six months according the Bank of America. The Washington Post reported that by mid-July shelters, non-profit rescues, private breeders and pet stores all reported more consumer demand than there were dogs and puppies to fill it.

WGSN Creative Director Lisa White is joined by Anab Jain and Jon Ardern, co-founders of Superflux, a studio that creates speculative worlds and tells future stories that help explain where civilization might be going and what we can do to influence these potential outcomes. Their byline is brilliant at explaining their mission in just seven words: Translating future uncertainty into present-day choices.

This week WGSN CEO Carla Buzasi speaks to the CEO and Founder of fashion-textile disruptor Bolt Threads, Dan Widmaier. Joining them is WGSN's Head of Materials and Textiles, Helen Palmer. The conversation focusses around Bolt Threads' revolutionary new non-leather, Mylo and explores innovation, industry change and sustainability in textiles and beyond.

This week the WGSN team discusses youth and nostalgia, two things that have often (though it seems counterintuitive) gone hand in hand. Although teens and twenty-somethings often love a bit of retro, the term is definitely on the rise as a discussion topic on social media. It's a fundamental human emotion and has been very much on people's minds during the pandemic and over the past year of lockdowns, particularly among Gen-Z and Millennials. 

WGSN CEO Carla Buzasi speaks to Nanushka Founder, Sandra Sandor and Peter Baldaszti the company’s co-owner and CEO. Over the years the label has made a name for itself through its ardent approach to sustainability while staying committed to its luxury roots.

Over the course of this conversation they discuss  the changing consumer relationship with sustainable fashion, how Nanushka challenges suppliers to truly deliver sustainable solutions, and how to manage the growth of a business while maintaining that “family” ethos they had established from the start.

For consumers, the climate crisis is no longer a theoretical problem that will need to be solved in the future, but rather, it is something that is urgent and happening now. Having seen the swift action from governments around the world in response to the pandemic, consumers are now expecting a similar level of drive in response to the climate crisis.

All of this is driving broad shifts in consumer behaviour as the pandemic accelerated shifts around values, with people adopting a much more frugal mindset. This week we look at the role our industry can play as part of the solution.