London-based Irish designer Sinead O’Dwyer has made it her mission to promote body diversity – from casting to the clothing she puts into production. Still on a high after showing her spring/summer 2023 collection at London Fashion Week, on a cast of models from size 8 to 26, O’Dwyer says it’s “only going to get better” from here. Here, she shares the steps she’s taken to prioritise inclusivity – and to encourage others in the industry to do the same.
https://www-vogue-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/article/sinead-odwyer-body-diversity/amp
Category Archives: generations
Analyzing Hybrid Work
I have been getting students in my Fall Analyzing Trends class at Parsons School of Design – The New School up to speed in mapping speculative past/futures over the last few weeks. We started off by looking at the topic of hybrid work that has been in the news so much of late. As companies begin to put a stake in the ground on where they might sit in designing the meaning of work.
The archetypal extremes of “everyone back” (Tesla) to “work anywhere” (Airbnb) frameworks have been getting the most attention as to where work and the office might be going next. From the evolving design of offices from open plans to the emerging new types of privacy needs, to the ways technology and human skills begin to overlap and hint at possible emerging unknowns that will impact education, skills, and sustainable investment. #work#foresight#speculativedesign#mural#midjourney
The Dark Side Of Nostalgia Culture
We are living in a time of global uncertainty. The world has changed irrevocably since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and current news cycles detail the effects of climate change, the cost-of-living crisis, energy shortages, the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the Russo-Ukrainian war. Fashion trends respond to our environment and consequently runways in recent years have been awash with bright waves of nostalgia, reflected in the recent resurgence of the Y2K aesthetic. In an age of social unrest, the allure of a more carefree time is understandable. Low-rise jeans, Von Dutch caps, bandanna crop tops and micro skirts have made a comeback. Gen-Z have heralded the return of ‘indie sleaze’, a chaotic, dishevelled era which developed in reaction to the slick celebrity culture of the early 2000s, when American Apparel disco pants, rosary beads, backcombed hair and smudged eyeliner were the norm.
https://www.elle.com/uk/life-and-culture/culture/a41209755/nostalgia-culture-dark-side/
Diesel Sets a World Record
What kept it from seeming like just a stunt was the fact that beneath the blowups, Mr. Martens is not just full of hot air. He’s doing things with denim — the fabric of democracy — that are genuinely transformative and coded for currency.
https://www-nytimes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.nytimes.com/2022/09/22/style/diesel-fendi-milan-fashion-week.amp.html
Global youth expect better access to skills.
What do young people think about skills? As the largest generation of young people in history begins to enter the labour market, this question has never been more important. And yet, while there is growing momentum in the public and private sector around the need to strengthen skills provision, young people are often not at the table. The global momentum for public-private partnership around upskilling is hugely positive, but this is something that needs to be done with young people, not just for them.
As we mark World Youth Skills Day, we asked a global sample of 5,506 people aged 18-24 who are active in the labour market. The results, which are part of the Global Workforce Hopes and Fears survey, suggest a generation divided in their capabilities but united in their high expectations of employers.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/07/youth-workers-skills-access-business?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social_video&utm_term=1_1&utm_content=27379_skills_kids_future&utm_campaign=social_video_2022
The People’s Republic of Shein
All you need to know about global economics right now, according to the IMF
Authors from Cambridge economist Diane Coyle to Bank of Japan veteran Masaaki Shirakawa have provided more than enough reason to put down our phones and concentrate, as much as one can, on absorbing the larger lessons from leading thinkers. A selection of volumes worth picking up, drawn from books recently reviewed in the IMF’s Finance & Development magazine.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/09/economics-books-must-reads-imf?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social_scheduler&utm_term=Economic+Progress&utm_content=10/09/2022+11:00
Punk: A Feeling of No Future
Summer Semiotics (Street Photography/Midjourney)
Unconventional faces: ‘Stereotypical depictions of beauty are shifting,’
Shaved heads, no eyebrows and messy makeup are some of the latest visuals popping up in beauty as Generation Z emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic looking to flip the lid on dated, traditional narratives.
https://www.cosmeticsdesign-europe.com/Article/2022/08/25/Beauty-trends-Gen-Z-post-COVID-show-unconventional-gender-fluid-escapism-important-says-Verve#
Analyzing Trends with Tim Stock 