LSN : News : Ikea warehouse set to become London’s newest cultural venue

Nike and Martine Rose break football stereotypes with fashion

Nike and Martine Rose, UK

US – Just as Women’s FIFA World Cup is about to kick off, Nike called on fashion designer Martine Rose to create a non-gendered tailoring collection focused on sport rather than gender.

The latest collaboration between the sportswear behemoth and British-Jamaican menswear designer Martine Rose makes a statement for gender equality in football culture. The collection, which will be available in July 2023, includes a player’s suit jacket, trousers, trench coat and shirt, along with accessories – stockings, gloves, sunglasses and a hybrid shoe merging a sneaker with a mule. ‘Although I’m using women to tell the story, there’s no gender attached to the suit,’ explains Rose. ‘I hope one day we’re not talking about gender in sport and are just talking about the sport.’

Just as Nike did by teaming up with Martine Rose, brands are increasingly using football as a canvas for activism to expand the culture of sports for the next generation and break outdated stereotypes.

Strategic opportunity

Gender stereotypes in sports are hard to shake. Take cues from the Nike and Martine Rose collaboration and use off-pitch fashion to dissolve the boundaries between men’s and women’s football

Ikea warehouse set to become London’s newest cultural venue

UK – A 608,000-square-feet warehouse in Tottenham, London, previously home to an Ikea store for 17 years, is set to undergo a remarkable transformation into one of the capital’s most prominent cultural venues. Known as Drumsheds, the venture is the latest project by Broadwick, the company that previously turned a disused printing press in Rotherhithe, London, into clubbing destination Printworks.

Drumsheds aims to become a hub for music, arts, culture and community activities. With a capacity of 15,000, it will rank among the largest indoor venues in London, surpassing renowned locations like Alexandra Palace and Wembley Arena.

The space will retain the post-industrial aesthetic by preserving key industrial elements of the warehouse. Guests can explore the old lift shafts, loading bays and machinery, creating an immersive experience within the vast space.

‘We want Drumsheds, like all the spaces we create, to be new centres of cultural gravity that provide the basis for human connection,’ Simeon Aldred, the director of strategy at Broadwick, said in a statement. ‘A connection that people crave now more than ever.’

Broadwick has been instrumental in revitalising disused business spaces. In Temporary Urbanism Futures, we previously analysed similar venues and projects where empowered communities re-interpret urban environments freely and sustainably to fulfil their ever-changing needs.

Drumsheds, UK

Strategic opportunity

Businesses with a large retail, office or warehouse space should explore ways to embrace Neo-collectivism and temporarily turn those locations into community hubs driven by culture, entertainment and curiosity – boosting brand awareness and creating new revenue streams simultaneously

Stat: More than a quarter of UK adults use generative AI

Photography by Shingi Rice, UK

UK – A recent survey by Deloitte of 4,150 UK adults has revealed that more than a quarter of UK adults, representing some 13m individuals, have use generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as chatbots. The adoption of generative AI, which encompasses systems generating convincing text or images in response to human prompts, has outpaced that of voice-assisted speakers like Amazon’s Alexa, according to Deloitte.

The survey showed that 26% of individuals aged 16–75 have used generative AI, with one in 10 respondents using them daily. Deloitte partner Paul Lee told The Guardian that generative AI systems have achieved an adoption level and frequency of usage in a remarkably short time, outpacing previous technologies.

Among the UK adults surveyed, about 4m individuals have employed generative AI tools for work purposes. Notably, ChatGPT has gained widespread attention for its ability to produce human-like responses across various styles and subjects. While generative AI has seen substantial uptake, concerns have emerged with regard to its potential to fuel large-scale disinformation campaigns. Deloitte’s survey indicated that more than 40% of users believe generative AI consistently provides factually inaccurate answers.

Although there are large opportunities in the AI Optimism market as well as the Generative AI Creativity market, the technology is still in its nascent stage and requires careful monitoring.

Strategic opportunity

Given the quick adoption of generative AI by consumers, consider how your business could integrate Chat-GPT's API to your existing e-shop or CRM tools where your clients will recognise the technology and therefore see your platform as reliable and up to date with AI