LSN : News : Stat: Return to office push in UK threatens women’s job hours surge

Dolce & Gabbana collaborates with Sky on artistic smart tv

Dolce & Gabbana and Sky Glass Smart TV

Global – Italian luxury fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana has joined forces with British media conglomerate Sky Group to introduce a unique twist to an existing smart tv model. Unveiled during Dolce & Gabbana’s Alta Moda fashion week, the limited-edition 65-inch Sky Glass Carretto Siciliano showcases the brand’s iconic print, hand-painted by a Palermo-based artisan. The design draws inspiration from western Sicily’s traditional geometric patterns and extends across the television’s bezels and back end.

The collaboration enhances the Sky Glass model, which already offers integrated content, major free-to-air channels and streaming apps. Replacing the Sky insignia is a carefully crafted Dolce & Gabbana icon.

The release marks the fashion house’s continued move into the world of home products, following its recent partnership with Italian appliance company Smeg for a Blu Mediterraneo-themed appliance collection. This project offers insight into how fashion brands are stepping into our homes and the next iteration of creatively branded homeware we can expect to see more of.

Strategic opportunity

This collaboration not only offers a static product a Guilded Luxury makeover, but also shows that consumers – now used to spending more time at home – are continually looking to level up their interior space through innovative design and technology

FIFA 23 game update features first in-game hijab wearer

Nouhaïla Benzina in FIFA 23

Global – A recent FIFA 23 video game update includes the character model of Moroccan footballer Nouhaila Benzina wearing a hijab. This marks the first instance of EA’s football simulator incorporating a head covering on a player. Benzina, a 25-year-old Moroccan athlete, made history as the first senior-level World Cup player to wear a hijab during a game.

Although FIFA lifted its head covering ban in 2014, it has taken almost a decade for this representation to manifest into gaming. Benzina adorning a hijab during a game not only defies cultural stereotypes about Muslim women, but also makes a statement in light of countries defying FIFA rules. France, for instance, maintains a ban on French football players from wearing headscarves.

The digital representation of this is important as people’s real-life personas and online avatars are merging rapidly, as discussed in our Affirmative Avatars Market.

Strategic opportunity

Young people turning to the digital marketplace are seeking authentic forms of identity and expression. Brands therefore need to ensure that they are offering inclusive and diverse opportunities for consumers to engage with, making the virtual world a stigma-free escape

Stat: Return to office push in UK threatens women’s job hours surge

Photography by RF._.studio, South Africa

UK – The drive to bring more British workers back to the office poses a risk to the increase in working hours among women, which was made possible by pandemic-induced flexible and remote working options. Analysis by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals that women in the UK are working more than ever due to hybrid working policies that allow greater opportunities to balance childcare and work. ONS data shows that hours worked per woman are up almost 5% on levels before Covid-19 struck. Analysts worry this trend will be reversed if businesses reduce flexibility.

On the other hand, men are spending fewer hours at work, a trend that began in the decade before the first lockdown, but which has accelerated since. In order for the government to bring down inflation rates, they need to fill vacancies, which in the UK labour market remain at near record highs.

Overall, women have shifted from part-time to full-time working, ONS data reveals, reiterating the importance of offering employees Work State solutions. The threat of this being taken away – JPMorgan Chase, Amazon, Blackrock and Goldman Sachs have asked staff to spend more time in the office – can have large-scale economic repercussions.

Strategic opportunity

Businesses need to weigh up the cost of changing work styles again. As well as alienating working mothers, other employees that are now accustomed to hybrid working might not want to sacrifice the wellbeing it offers them by returning to their old schedules