Curata promotes eco-friendly luxury beauty
Montreal – Curata is a new luxury beauty brand that harnesses sustainability across all aspects of its business, from its packaging to its company practices. Its debut collection features botanical perfumes made with antioxidant-rich plant ingredients, sealed in recycled glass bottles.
‘In order to develop a brand in the beauty space that is truly safe and sustainable, you cannot stop at the product formulas,’ says Serena Rogers, founder of Curata. ‘To be authentic and honest with our mission of sustainable luxury, we extended these values through to our packaging platform and business practices. We wanted to ensure that Curata was eco-friendly from A-Z.’
As provenance and sustainability become more important to consumers, beauty brands must ensure they vertically integrate these values into their processes to retain their future relevance.
Pandora factory unites AI and sustainability
Bangkok – Jewellery manufacturer Pandora has opened a new crafting facility that uses technology to enhance productivity, while also creating a more sustainable working environment.
The factory, which has achieved the LEED Gold certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), is central to the brand’s new strategy to invest in crafting methods that are driven by tech, while maintaining the highest workplace standards for the facility’s 5,000 employees.
To improve product lead times, artificially intelligent vehicles will transport jewellery parts between work stations, where craftspeople with different skills are seated together to ensure a smoother flow of processes. This will result in 1.5 million pieces of jewellery being produced per week. Elsewhere, the facility’s rooftop garden will reduce overall energy consumption, while wastewater will be recycled to save up to 60% on water consumption.
Increasingly, fashion brands are reassessing their responsibility to care for society and the planet, implementing changes to drive a more sustainable future. With this in mind, Pandora has launched a corporate Twitter account, enabling it to be more transparent about its business practices and CSR efforts.
Sainsbury's moves vegan range next to meat
UK – With veganism continuing to rise, the British supermarket will begin to stock plant-based alternatives alongside animal produce in the meat aisle.
Produced by Danish Brand Naturli’ Foods, the range will include burgers that are made from porcini mushrooms, almonds, tomatoes as well as beetroot juice to replicate the seeping blood present in rare meat. As consumers begin to adjust their appetite towards vegan-friendly foods, Sainsburys is exploring how to offer greater, more convenient choices of alternative products.
France recently considered how the next generation of faux meat are being positioned, as they prohibited the use of meat terms when referencing plant-based food. See the full article here.
Streetwear that empowers Muslim women
US – New clothing label Seek Refuge offers a collection of functional streetwear for Muslim women.
The brand was born from founder Shazia Ijaz’s desire for modest yet fashionable garments that step away from stereotypical feminine design cues such as floral dresses or tailored overcoats.
The collection comprises four styles that unite Islamic aesthetics with casual styling, while also raising awareness of Muslim women and refugees. Designs include an oversized graphic t-shirt featuring a woman in a kameez against San Francisco’s skyline and a denim jacket is decorated with Arabic script of a poem written by a Syrian refugee. ‘Our clothes are designed to allow women who practice all levels of modesty to represent their faith in a hype and fashion-forward way,’ says the brand’s mission statement.
For more on the growing market of modest wear, read our report here.
Businesses recognise the importance of online reviews
With online reviews nearly doubling within a year, companies must begin to consider how this form of feedback may affect their business. A new report from data analytics company, Merchant Centric and restaurant management platform, Xenial revealed that restaurant operators are already responding to this increase as 46% were more likely to engage with people who left reviews online. Overall, the restaurant sector had a 29% increase in engagement with reviews over the past year.
‘Reviews have become incredibly influential since people consider them as first-hand reliable accounts, as if it was a friend giving their opinion. It’s now vital for restaurants to interact with online reviews in order to increase revenue’, says David Bay, CEO of Merchant Centric, in a statement.
Thought-starter: How are travel brands catering for children?
With their children’s happiness a priority, parents are no longer the sole decision-makers when it comes to family holiday destinations. In response, travel brands are shifting their attention to children, creating services to empower young travellers.
For many years, hotel kids’ clubs have been a way to offer parents respite from childcare and enjoy some time alone. With most clubs serving either teenagers or very young children, one group is consistently left out of the equation: tweens, or those in the awkward age bracket between eight and 12.However, hotel brands are now finding imaginative ways to entertain these youngsters and inspire return visits. Rosewood Bermuda has created supervised activities for 8–11-year-olds, such as hiking and cookery classes. While Gleneagles hotel, in Scotland has established a separate area for tweens to practise pottery or delve into science experiments.
With luxury travellers not willing to compromise on their experience-first lifestyles just because they have children, they are using their wealth to buy the rarest and most entertaining family adventures.Travel company Adventures by Disney is introducing a luxury tier for those who can afford to bypass the crowds. The three-night package, which starts at £1,602 ($2,129, €1,829) per person, transforms the California park into a VIP experience, complete with personal tour guides and exclusive access.
See the full report here.