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Saint Laurent opens new bookstore and cultural hub in Paris

Saint Laurent Babylone, Paris, France

France – Fashion house Saint Laurent has opened the doors to a new bookstore and cultural venue in Paris’s 7^th arrondissement.

Designed by Saint Laurent’s creative director Anthony Vaccarello and named Babylone , the creative retail space is a nod to Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé’s historic ties to the left bank neighbourhood of Sèvres-Babylone.

This is more than a traditional bookstore: here, customers will find a selection of rare publications, out-of-print recordings and original art alongside a busy cultural events calendar featuring DJ sets, readings and signings. A new incarnation of the Saint Laurent Rive Droite boutique, the fashion house intends the venue to become ‘a gathering place in the heart of Paris for artistic innovators where connections and ideas can be born’.

In our Luxury States: New Codes of Luxury 2024–2025 report, we delved into how luxury brands increasingly think of themselves as multi-faceted personas and engines of culture and taste, expressing identity through culturally relevant signifiers, such as the Babylone store.

Strategic opportunity

Consider how your luxury brand can connect to culture in meaningful ways that move beyond the traditional approach to branded content. Could it be by providing high-end luxury third spaces?

TikTok debuts redesigned app for Apple's Vision Pro headset

Global – TikTok has officially launched a specially designed app for Apple's Vision Pro headset, providing users with an immersive short-form video experience. The app has been meticulously redesigned 'from the ground up', according to Ahmad Zahran, TikTok's product lead. While major streaming services such as Netflix and YouTube have been hesitant to fully embrace Apple's new hardware, TikTok seized the opportunity to bring a completely new user experience to its platform.

The interface maintains a familiar TikTok look, featuring a vertically oriented video player with interactive buttons for liking, commenting, favouriting and sharing. To optimise the increased screen size of the Vision Pro, additional interface elements such as comments and creator profiles are intelligently positioned on a side panel, ensuring an unobstructed viewing experience.

TikTok users can enjoy videos while still being aware of their real-world surroundings or choose a fully virtual location like the Moon. The app is designed to seamlessly integrate with other applications on the headset, expanding the possibilities for content consumption.

For more insights on AR/VR headsets, visit our Technology sector.

TikTok on Apple Vision Pro, US

Strategic opporutnity

Explore enhanced e-commerce integration within TikTok's Vision Pro app, allowing users to seamlessly purchase products showcased in short-form videos to build a fully immersive shopping experience

Foresight Friday: Alice Crossley, foresight analyst

Photography by The Future Laboratory

Every Friday, we offer an end-of-week wrap-up of the topics, issues, ideas and virals we’re all talking about. This week, foresight analyst Alice Crossley discusses how brands are putting their own spin on Hailey Bieber's Rhode Lip Case phone case, why spas are being 'rebranded' for men and the death of subcultures.

: Hailey Bieber’s beauty brand Rhode broke the internet last week with the reveal of a £27.60 ($35, €32.24) phone case with a custom in-built lip gloss holder for the famed Rhode Peptide Lip Treatment. A clever marketing ploy, the case was created by Sam Sontagg, Shopify’s design director and the brains behind some of Glossiers’ best brand designs. Low-alcohol vodka brand Body was the first to cash in on the viral idea, launching a phone case with an in-built flask filled with Body vodka on Instagram this week. Spirits Innovations are getting increasingly creative to appeal to sober-curious Gen Z…

: We’ve been tracking a rise in demand for Urban Bathing for a while now on LS:N Global, but according to Business of Fashion spas are now being rebranded as ‘recovery-focused establishments’ to appeal to male customers. New York’s Remedy Place, for instance, counts 50% of its customers as Millennial men (including rapper Drake and pop star Shawn Mendes) and avoids the label of spa instead calling itself ‘the world’s first social wellness club’, pushing treatments such as ice baths and cryotherapy over facials or massages.

: Ahead of our upcoming Generations Now and Next: 2024-2025 report I’ve been thinking a lot about how the internet and social media have irrevocably changed adolescence for Gen Z and Gen Alpha. This New York Times article perfectly encapsulates everything Gen Z is missing out on in the shift from community-forming subcultures to superficial aesthetics.

Quote of the week

'Every single morning I have to decide if I am a 15-year-old girl or an old lady near to death'

- Miuccia Prada in Vogue

Stat: TikTok’s new report unlocks shoppertainment’s opportunities in APAC

Photography by SHVETS Production, Global

Asia – TikTok and Accenture’s new The Future of Consumer & Commerce report highlights a burgeoning trend reshaping retail dynamics in Asia-Pacific. The ‘shoppertainment’ approach prioritises consumers’ emotional needs and showcases how businesses can leverage TikTok’s vast user base to inform purchase decisions.

Research spanning five APAC markets (Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam and Indonesia) highlights three pivotal shifts underpinning shoppertainment’s success: a move from discount-driven to value-centric purchases, an expectation for immersive shopping experiences, and the rise of community-driven networks. Notably, 79% of consumers now seek content that reveals a product’s value over discounts, while 81% expect comprehensive brand and product information for seamless shopping.

Moreover, the report acknowledges regional nuances in consumer behaviour. While discovery, search and purchase patterns remain consistent, preferences for content that motivates purchases vary. For example, Indonesia and Japan prioritise discounts and product information, whereas South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam emphasise creator and community recommendations. Overall, the top content formats remain product information and benefits, authentic reviews and recommendations from creators.

These findings underscore the evolving landscape where engaging content intersects with commerce. We look at similar opportunities in The Future of Live Shopping – revealing a transformative era for brands navigating the digital marketplace.

Strategic opportunity

Businesses must optimise their content to ensure a seamless purchasing journey. Is your content actionable? How can you reduce the journey time between discovery and purchase? Can consumers seamlessly browse your product on your app and on a third-party marketplace?