Generations

Tracking the key characteristics and values of generational demographics as each cohort evolves.

Download: Generations Now and Next

From Baby Boomers and Gen X to Millennials, Gen Z and Gen Alpha, uncover what unites and divides consumers across generations

Macro Trends

Boomers: Ageing to Becoming

By 2030 they will all have reached the average Western retirement age of 65, supercharging a wider re-assessment of later life purpose along the way

Macro Trends

Gen X: Ambiguity to Advocacy

Having long lived in the shadow of Baby Boomers and Millennials, Gen X are racing against time to make their influence felt

Macro Trends

Gen Z: Vision to Contradiction

Without the tools or role models to help them enact the change they want to see, Gen Z find themselves paralysed by paradox

Macro Trends

Alphas: Sandbox to Roblox

Many of the technologies, careers and crises that will define and shape the lives of Gen Alpha are yet to exist

Viewpoints

Andrew Scott: Get ready for a nation of 100-year-olds

The hundred-year lifespan is becoming common, says Andrew Scott, professor of economics at London Business School.

Micro Trends

New York Safari 2014

New York remains the nerve centre of American creativity across the media, fashion and finance industries, even as a new crop of technology and e...

New York : Millennials : Experience Economy

Design Directions

New York Fashion Week spring/summer 2015

It was all or nothing for designers at New York Fashion Week this season, with some using highly decorative hand-crafted techniques, whi...

Fauna Fetish : Meaningless Marks : Edun

Big Ideas

eBay creates shoppable hub for global fashion weeks

New York – E-commerce pioneer eBay was on hand at Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week with a physical hub for its new campaign to make street styl...

NYFW : EBay : Pinterest

Viewpoints

Liz Salcedo: Fashion technology that solves real problems

Fashion technology needs to be beautiful and touch on universal pain points, says the founder of accessories brand Everpurse.

Fashion Tech : Accessories : Everpurse

Big Ideas

Digital art service streams exhibitions directly onto living room walls

Sweden – A new digital display system enables users to stream the world’s greatest art direct to their homes.

Art : Acne : Subscription

Big Ideas

More US meals eaten alone than with company

More than half (57%) of meals in the US are consumed alone, according to new research.

Singleton Tsunami : Singles Rising : Solo Singles

Viewpoints

Pieter Mees: The future of interactive video

Interactive video provides the engagement we expect from the usually 'lean-back' platform, says the founder and CEO of technology company Zentrick.

Mobile : Video : Unilever

Micro Trends

Digital Collecting

Art that is created and consumed on screens is catching on thanks to its low cost, portability and anti-elitist image.

Digital Art : Neon Mob : Sedition

Big Ideas

McDonald’s accepts festival rubbish as payment

McDonald’s in Sweden has turned music festival rubbish into treasure for both the brand and its customers.

McDonald's : Recycling : Currency

Viewpoints

Seán Dagan Wood: How to harness the power of Positive News

Positive News, the world’s first ‘solution-focused’ newspaper, poses a challenge to the traditional model of journalism.

Positive News : Journalism : Upworthy

Viewpoints

Diana Verde Nieto: Why luxury brands need to be socially and environmentally aware

Luxury does not have to mean compromise between style and a positive impact, says the founder of luxury standards-setter Positive Luxury.

Accessories : Narcisso Rodriguez : Candice Swanepoel

Big Ideas

Wearable technology line brings fashion to the fore

At New York Fashion Week, accessible luxury designer Rebecca Minkoff will introduce a fashion-forward line of wearable technology accessories.

NYFW : Accessories : Wearable Technology

Big Ideas

Shopping mall pairs with website on one-day pop-up shop

The largest shopping mall developer in the US is working with fashion and style website Refinery29 on a series of pop-up stores.

Pop-up : Shopping Malls : Big Box Retail

Micro Trends

St Petersburg Safari

While Communism has left its mark on St Petersburg, buildings have been restored in recent years and are being re-appropriated as co-working space...

St Petersburg : Ginza Project : Ligovsky 50

Big Ideas

Fast food chain Loco’l aims to improve low-income diets

Los Angeles chef Roy Choi and partner Daniel Patterson will launch Loco’l, a fast food chain serving ‘real food’ at a low price point.

Roy Choi : Fast Food : Los Angeles

Viewpoints

Danielle Pender: Smart magazine design for women

Ban Photoshop and focus on the words, says the founder and editor-in-chief of new women's magazine Riposte.

Womazines : Riposte : The Athena Woman

Big Ideas

Robots brought into service at Aloft Hotels in California

Aloft Hotels has announced the debut of robotic butlers at its Silicon Valley location.

Robotics : Artificial Intelligence : Starwood Hotels

Big Ideas

Google Street View sweetens exhibition closure with online extension

The Google Art Project provides browsers with a permanent street view version of a temporary installation by artist Kara Walker.

Google : Google Street View : A Subtlety

Micro Trends

Flawed Fashions

Bored and disenfranchised by the airbrushed vapidity of mainstream fashion, some designers are celebrating imperfection, chiming with The Sharded...

The Sharded Self : Me-conomy : The Me-Conomy