LSN : News : The world’s first Amazon-enabled hair salon

London Screen Academy is a school for digitally-native teens

What you do can make a career, London Screen Academy, film by Stink Studios

London – Stink Studios has created a campaign to launch the sixth form school, which aims to help young people get into the film and tv industries.

The ad highlights the varied curriculum the London Screen Academy will offer, including cinematography, hair and make-up, editing and sound design. The film ends by telling potential students that the unique skills they’ve garnered as digital natives could drive their career. Based in Islington, the free school will open in September 2019 with room for up to 1,000 16–19-year-olds. The goal is to give young people from diverse backgrounds access to the screen industries – a sector facing skills shortages.

‘Our ambition is to show our audience that the things they are already doing can forge a path into the film and television industries; to flip the perception that youngsters are on their phones too much, when they might be London's next great screenwriter or director,’ says Jon Lawton, creative director at Stink Studios.

While they might be glued to their phones, today’s teenagers will become tomorrow's creatives. Read our interview with Ramaa Mosley to discover why brands should consider hiring a teenage director for their campaigns.

The world’s first Amazon-enabled hair salon

Starring by Ted Gibson, Los Angeles

Los Angeles – Starring by Ted Gibson merges smart home technology with high-end hair styling and colouring services.

Celebrity stylist Ted Gibson aims to reinvent every touchpoint of the salon by installing five semi-private pods, known as clouds, in the place of traditional styling stations. Each cloud is integrated with Alexa-enabled Amazon tablets, smart speakers and ambient lighting options, allowing customers to shop on Amazon and control their surrounds while their hair is styled.

‘[We] wanted to create a state-of-the-art salon that merged cutting-edge technology with an unrivaled client experience,’ says Francisco Gonzalez Pulido, the salon’s designer. ‘The idea was to reinvent and spearhead the salon of the future before the industry even caught on that it was behind.’

With many hair salons stuck in a rut, innovators are reconfiguring the salon as a space in which clients can sit and stay a while.

Übermilk is making plant-based milks nutritious

Los Angeles – Launched by Califia Farms, this range of milk alternatives is reportedly richer in protein than other plant-based products.

The company, which specialises in plant-based drinks, says sales of its oat milk have risen 168% over the past year, driving it to create Übermilk. Each bottle of oat milk includes eight grams of protein per serving, as well as nutrients such as amino acids, calcium, iron and potassium, and is available in three varieties: unsweetened, vanilla and chocolate.

The brand is tapping into concerns that while consumers are experimenting with veganism, many are missing out on crucial amounts of protein. ‘Made from a blend of seeds and pulses, Übermilk removes any compromise for anyone seeking better nutrition from plants,’ comments Ashley Koff, CEO of The Better Nutrition Program.

Milk alternatives have come a long way since we published our micro trend Milking It in 2015. Now, plant-based brands should be rebranding their protein-rich products to cater to modern men.

Ubermilks by Califia Farms

Lexus’ 60,000-hour documentary celebrates luxury craft

Takumi – A 60,000-hour story on the survival of human craft, Lexus

Japan – The car manufacturer is exploring the importance of becoming a takumi – the highest level of artisan in Japan.

The feature-length documentary, titled A 60,000-hour Story on the Survival of Human Craft, will be available on Amazon Prime and will offer a glance into the world of a number of artisans, each of whom play a key role in delivering Lexus's luxury vehicles. It will pivot on the question of how human craft can be preserved in a world powered by machines and artificial intelligence.

In addition to the documentary, Lexus is creating a cut lasting 60,000 hours – the equivalent of 30 years – to represent the time it takes to be considered a master craftsperson in Japan. The 60,000-hour edit will loop scenes of the takumi to highlight the years of practice involved in the craft and refining their skills.

As we look to the next 30 years, the future workplace will require the skills and dexterity of humans and speed and learning capabilities of AI to work alongside one another in harmony.

Stat: Brexit leaves Brits ambivalent about spending

Brexit is leaving British consumers ambivalent about their financial certainty, according to the Changing Consumer Prosperity report by Nielsen. The study found that 34% of Brits say they are financially better off today than five years ago, contradicting many preconceptions about how Brexit and the country’s political uncertainty is affecting consumer spending.

Yet many are still holding back when it comes to spending, with only 16% of respondents spending freely. A third report they are spending more on ‘essential categories’ – 36% of consumers spend more on groceries now than they did five years ago.

Explore our original series An Uncertain Future to discover how British consumers are preparing for the onset of Brexit.

Thought-starter: Should reusable water bottles be a luxury product?

Virgil Abloh’s reusable water bottle for Evian is indicative of luxury’s new mindset. But senior futures analyst Victoria Buchanan asks: shouldn’t sustainable products be accessible and desirable to all?

Last week, Evian launched its new reusable water bottle concept in Paris at a lavish fashion party in collaboration with hyped fashion designer Virgil Abloh. Paper Magazine called it ‘refreshing', while Fast Company said ‘leave it to Abloh to make reusable water bottles fashionable'.

And yet, something about this collaboration feels off. Abloh was not just appointed to apply his brand of fashion cool to the water industry; he has also been appointed Evian's Creative Advisor for Sustainable Innovation Design, tasked with helping the brand meet its goal of becoming fully circular by 2025.

Abloh claims he is making sustainable design accessible to all, but what about the small issue that we still don’t live in a world in which water is accessible to all? In hiring a hyped fashion designer, Evian has tried to separate the idea of water as a necessity for life and water as a luxury product, missing the opportunity to create a whole-system solution that is truly inclusive for all.

Read the Opinion piece here.