LSN : News : Need to know 18 : 10 : 17

1. FKA twigs launches AVANTgarden zine on Instagram

AVANTgarden by FKA twigs

London – The singer-songwriter has launched the first issue of her AVANTgarden zine on Instagram. Titled Roots. Shock. Beauty, the issue celebrates black hair, with a particular focus on braided styles

‘Cornrows started because slaves would draw maps in the braids describing how to escape the plantations,’ FKA Twigs told Dazed. ‘I think it’s important that we own our heritage and know these things.’ The zine explores the relationship black women and men have with their hair and its history as a symbol of pride and rebellion among black slaves in the US.

The visual-first zine is formatted as a scrollable piece of editorial that creates a cohesive narrative around the subject matter. In a similar vein, multidisciplinary art group Salooni explored the history of black hair through a pop-up installation at the Africa Utopia Festival.

2. Rolls-Royce Phantom features in-car art gallery

The Gallery by Rolls-Royce, UK

UK – The luxury car brand has re-imagined the car dashboard for the eighth edition of the Rolls-Royce Phantom model, transforming it into a digital art gallery. The dashboard features a panel of glass that a variety of 3D artworks can be installed behind, enabling drivers to personalise their vehicles.

‘Art is at the heart of the conception of the new Phantom’s interior,’ says Giles Taylor, director of design at Rolls-Royce. ‘We know that a huge number of our clients are patrons of the arts and some have their own private collections. Art is a binding factor for many of them.’ Oil painter Liang Yuanwei and product designer Thorsten Franck are among the artists that Rolls-Royce has commissioned for the project.

A subset of consumers use luxury to demonstrate their wealth and define their social position. Read our Luxury Futures Index 2017 to learn more about the different types of luxury consumer.

3. Bruxel Waffle rolls out biodegradable food packaging

Indonesia – Bruxel Waffle has adopted the edible and fully biodegradable food wrapper created by packaging start-up Evoware. The wrapping is made from seaweed, which is treated to ensure it is safe for consumption and then converted into packaging without the use of chemicals. Evoware is based in Indonesia, where levels of water pollution are high, and there is a surplus of seaweed.

The packaging is water-soluble, which makes it an ideal material to replace the small plastic sachets filled with seasoning used for instant noodles, something the start-up is exploring. High in fibre and vitamins, seaweed is also halal and therefore suitable for Muslim consumers.

Brands such as Evoware and Tipa are taking a Whole-system Thinking approach to disposable packaging in a bid to reduce waste.

Bruxel Waffle packaging by Evoware, Indonesia

4. Shoe brand Dorateymur gamifies the luxury aesthetic

Dorateymur S/S 18 by Werkflow, London

London – Footwear designer Dorateymur has collaborated with art studio Werkflow to present the new shoe collection from his eponymous brand in a digital space. Werkflow has created a real-time game environment using the platform Unreal Engine, enabling the brand to work with the digital spaces as though they were virtual sets to create the illusion of a virtual shoot.

‘We used the Unreal Engine for this project as we really like the luxury quality of the images it can produce,’ creative director James Stringer tells LS:N Global. ‘[Working with a games engine] allowed us to treat our 3D designs like virtual sets, and to quickly make changes to camera angles and lighting set-ups for the final look of the piece.’

For more on how luxury brands are exploring ways to transform the luxury aesthetic into a digital one, see our Virtual Baroque design direction.

5. Mexican consumers increasingly view the US negatively

Mexican consumer confidence in the US has dropped following the inauguration of Donald Trump as the President of the US. As LS:N Global explored in our Emerging Youth: Mexico market, this will have a negative effect on US brands looking to enter the Mexican market.

6. Thought-starter: How will Amazon’s HQ2 shape future cities?

For some, a future filled with branded cities might feel dystopian, but journalist Josh Walker explores whether they could offer an opportunity for civic action.

Rather than confirm where its new HQ will be, Amazon has announced that it will select its next location from proposals submitted from different North American cities. While some have offered tax credits, fee reductions and relocation grants, the city council of Stonecrest in Georgia has voted in favour of changing its name to Amazon, Georgia, if the brand selects the city as its new HQ. As a branding opportunity, what would this mean for our future cities?

The brand says that in Seattle, the current location of its headquarters, it has added almost £30bn ($40bn, €33.7bn) to the city’s economy and earlier this year decided to incorporate a permanent homeless shelter in one of its office buildings.

With consumers increasingly adopting a distrustful mindset, they are looking to brands to step in where government institutions are failing. If Amazon does decide to set up HQ2 in Stonecrest and accept the branding opportunity, as well as the responsibility for Stonecrest’s residents, a lot more than just its retail reputation will be on the line.

Read the full opinion piece here.