🔥 Abercrombie x NFL: Can Fashion Rebrand America’s Game?

The NFL just signed its first fashion partner, naming Abercrombie & Fitch the league’s official style collaborator. On paper, it’s a surprising move - a mall brand once synonymous with preppy teen cool now tasked with helping America’s biggest sport sharpen its fashion credentials. But in 2025, where tunnel-walk fits go viral and fan fashion is as important as game-day stats, the move feels less like nostalgia and more like strategy.

📊 Supporting Stats:

• The NFL has a near-even gender split: women now account for 47% of the fan base (Nielsen, 2024).

• Fashion is one of the fastest-growing touchpoints in sport. The global sports apparel market is projected to hit $358bn by 2030 (Statista, 2025), with lifestyle-driven products outpacing performance gear.

• Social media is amplifying athlete fashion power: videos of NFL player arrivals rack up millions of TikTok views weekly, rivaling game highlights in reach.

🧠 The Brand Call: Does It Work?
Yes - strategically, this is a savvy move for both sides.

For Abercrombie, it’s a reinvention play. Once dismissed as outdated, the brand has quietly been building a comeback through cultural partnerships and repositioning around “adult cool.” Tying itself to the NFL - the country’s most-watched entertainment product - signals scale, relevance, and a shot at re-entering the mainstream style conversation.

For the NFL, this is about audience expansion. A league often accused of being slow to adapt is showing it gets where culture is heading: fandom isn’t just broadcast, it’s worn. Fashion is a way to reach younger and more diverse fans, particularly women, without changing the game itself.

📌 Key Takeouts:

• 🏈 The Play: Abercrombie becomes the first official NFL fashion partner, launching athlete-styled campaigns, player-designed collections, and a “Style Concierge” service for pros.

• 👟 The Win: It taps into the cultural capital of NFL fashion moments - tunnel-walk fits, post-game looks - and brings fans into that world.

• 👩 The Audience: With nearly half the NFL fan base now female, fashion partnerships open new space for authentic engagement beyond jerseys.

• ⚖️ The Risk: Abercrombie’s brand baggage - the 2000s preppy era and its exclusivity stigma - could clash with the NFL’s push for inclusivity if not carefully handled.

• 🔑 The Signal: Sport is no longer just about performance - it’s lifestyle, identity, and cultural influence. The league is moving to position itself alongside fashion-first platforms, not just athletic brands.

🔮 What We Can Expect Next:
This won’t be a one-off. Expect more athlete-led collaborations and lifestyle drops that blur sportswear with streetwear. If Abercrombie lands it right, they could become the NFL’s version of Adidas x NBA - a long-term cultural pipeline. The bigger picture: sports leagues will continue recruiting fashion brands not just as licensees, but as co-authors of culture. The real test will be whether fans buy into Abercrombie as credible arbiters of NFL style, or whether the partnership feels too engineered.

🏉 Castore’s Fumble: England Women’s World Cup Shirt Shortage Hits at the Worst Time

The Women’s Rugby World Cup is breaking records - sell-out stadiums, millions watching, and England’s Red Roses leading the charge as hosts and favourites. But while the team is thriving on the pitch, fans looking to wear their pride have hit a wall. Technical kit partner Castore has admitted a supply chain failure means the official World Cup shirts are unavailable online. For a tournament of this magnitude, with women’s sport finally commanding centre stage, the miss couldn’t be more glaring.

📊 Supporting Stats

• 42,723 fans packed into Sunderland’s Stadium of Light for England’s opener against the U.S. - the largest ever Women’s Rugby World Cup crowd.

• 375,000+ tickets sold already, with the final at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium (82,000 capacity) confirmed as a sell-out.

• The RFU’s kit deal with Castore is reportedly worth £5m+ per year, replacing Umbro in a multi-year partnership.

• Women’s rugby momentum is surging: World Rugby expects record global viewership figures for this year’s tournament.

🧠 The Brand Opportunity

This should have been Castore’s golden moment - a global stage, a home nation favourite, and women’s rugby on the rise. Instead, the shirt shortage creates frustration for fans and risks brand credibility. Merchandise at live matches softens the blow, but the reality is many fans want online access, particularly casual supporters discovering the team during the tournament.

The optics are even harsher because Castore has faced previous high-profile product complaints (Aston Villa’s “wet-look” kit, peeling logos, quality concerns). In the sportswear arms race dominated by Nike, Adidas and Puma, challenger brands only get a handful of opportunities to prove they can play at scale. Failing at the biggest-ever Women’s Rugby World Cup damages both trust and visibility.

From a brand strategy perspective, this moment exposes a tension: challenger positioning brings cultural capital, but reliability and logistics remain non-negotiable in elite sport.

📌 Key Takeouts

• 🏟️ Historic stage: Record-breaking Women’s Rugby World Cup in England.

• 👕 Product fail: Fans unable to buy official Red Roses World Cup shirts online due to Castore supply issues.

• 💰 High stakes: Castore paying £5m+ annually to be RFU kit partner - this was the spotlight moment.

• ⚠️ Brand risk: Builds on a track record of quality complaints, damaging fan trust and perception.

• 📈 Bigger picture: Women’s rugby momentum is accelerating, but brands that fail operationally risk being locked out of future growth.

🔮 What We Can Expect Next

The RFU will be watching closely. If supply frustrations overshadow fan enthusiasm, the partnership could sour early - even with years left on the contract. Expect competitors to circle: Adidas and Nike have both made major pushes in women’s sport and would relish a chance to step into rugby. For Castore, the short-term job is crisis management and transparency. Longer term, the challenge is whether it can scale up and deliver at the level required for global tournaments.

In a moment when women’s sport is booming and fan engagement is peaking, this was a once-in-a-generation chance to cement brand equity. Instead, Castore risks being remembered for dropping the ball.

🖥️ America by Design: Can Joe Gebbia Rebrand Government?

In one of the more unexpected fusions of Silicon Valley and Washington, President Donald Trump has appointed Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia as the first-ever Chief Design Officer of the United States, leading a new National Design Studio (NDS). The move, part of Trump’s “America by Design” executive order signed on 21 August 2025, signals an ambition to overhaul how Americans experience government services - starting with the 26,000 federal websites most people dread using.

The headline promise? Make dealing with government feel more like browsing the Apple App Store than fighting through DMV paperwork.

📊 Supporting Stats & Context

• The federal government currently operates 26,000+ websites across agencies - many outdated, inconsistent and inaccessible (Reuters, 2025).

• A Forrester survey (2023) ranked the US government last out of 13 industries for customer experience, behind airlines and even health insurers.

• By comparison, Airbnb - where Gebbia cut his teeth - manages 150m+ users globally and built one of the most design-forward consumer platforms of the 2010s.

• The executive order sets a July 4, 2026 deadline for first results, tying into America’s 250th anniversary - a symbolic (and highly visible) milestone.

🧠 The Brand Opportunity

This isn’t just about clean fonts and slick UI. For Trump, it’s a brand play: reframing government as something modern, intuitive and - crucially - customer-centric. For Gebbia, it’s the ultimate design brief: reimagine the world’s biggest and least loved “brand” (the US government) in a way that restores trust and reduces friction.

Design has long been treated as window dressing in government. This role elevates it to strategy, placing experience design on par with economics and policy. It’s an acknowledgement that in the digital era, user experience is political capital.

⚠️ Challenges Ahead

1. Bureaucratic Resistance
   Agencies are siloed, budgets are rigid, and design changes often get watered down by compliance and legacy systems. Convincing civil servants to prioritise UX over process will be a cultural battle.

2. Scale & Consistency
   Unlike Airbnb’s single platform, federal websites are fragmented. Aligning 26,000 sites to a unified design language without stifling agency-specific needs is a herculean task.

3. Politics of Aesthetics
   Design choices - colours, language, symbols - can quickly become partisan lightning rods. What looks “modern” to some may be framed as elitist, woke, or exclusionary by others.

4. Delivery Deadlines
   The July 2026 deadline ties success to a spectacle. Fail to land a big, visible change by the Semiquincentennial, and the initiative risks being remembered as cosmetic PR.

5. Trust vs. Style
   The real measure won’t be whether sites look better, but whether citizens feel they can trust and navigate them more easily. In other words: substance over gloss.

📌 Key Takeouts

• What happened: Trump launched America by Design, appointing Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia as Chief Design Officer.

• What worked well: Bold recognition that design is not cosmetic but central to how people experience government.

• The risk: Bureaucracy, politics, and scale could dilute the vision, reducing it to branding rather than transformation.

• What it signals: Experience design is being positioned as a lever of national strategy, not just commerce.

🔮 What We Can Expect Next

If Gebbia succeeds, expect a new era of civic UX, where applying for benefits, visas, or business permits could feel as intuitive as booking a flight. Other governments may follow, making design a frontier of national competitiveness.

But failure is equally instructive. If “America by Design” collapses under politics and bureaucracy, it will be a cautionary tale of how design-led thinking struggles outside corporate walls.

Either way, the experiment is historic: a Silicon Valley design mind taking on Washington’s hardest brief. If the US government can be rebranded through user experience, the ripple effect across policy, politics and commerce could be profound.

⚽🔥 The Unstoppable Rise of U.S. Women’s Soccer Fans – And What Brands Need to Know

🎬 The Moment

Women’s soccer in the U.S. isn’t just growing - it’s exploding. With the launch of the Gainbridge Super League in 2024 and the NWSL hitting record attendances, the sport now offers year-round opportunities for fans and brands alike. Between now and 2031, the U.S. will host four major global soccer events - two World Cups, the Olympics and the Paralympics - putting women’s soccer firmly on centre stage. Globally, the women’s game is on track to grow its fanbase by 40% by 2031, cementing its position as one of the world’s top five sports.

The cultural timing is perfect. Audiences are demanding more visibility, more coverage, and more investment. And the data shows that brands who meet them there are rewarded with some of the most loyal, engaged and purchase-ready consumers in sport.

📊 The Numbers That Matter

• Conversion Power: More than 1 in 4 women’s soccer fans have made a purchase because of a brand’s sponsorship - 58% more likely than other women’s sports fans.

• Demand for Investment: 60% of fans say brands still aren’t investing enough in women’s sports.

• Trust Dividend: 78% of women’s soccer fans trust women athletes. They are 34% more likely than other women’s sports fans to say they trust athletes “a lot.”

• Brand Halo: 64% of fans see sponsors as progressive and 65% feel proud to support them. Sponsorship isn’t just reach - it’s reputation.

• Viewing Behaviour: Nearly two-thirds (63%) of U.S. soccer fans watch women’s soccer. A quarter watch only the women’s game.

🧠 The Brand Opportunity

The U.S. women’s soccer audience is a marketer’s dream: engaged, values-driven, and primed to act. What makes this audience unique is the combination of cultural momentum and commercial responsiveness. Sponsorship isn’t seen as opportunistic here - it’s seen as genuine support. And fans reward it with both loyalty and spending power.

The most effective activations?

• Athlete product collaborations (the #1 driver of engagement, with nearly half of fans likely to act).

• Cause-driven campaigns and community initiatives.

• Social giveaways and fan-first activations.

In other words: don’t just slap a logo on a jersey. Build authentic collaborations that align with athlete voices and fan values.

📌 Key Takeouts

• ⚡ Women’s soccer is one of the fastest-growing sports markets, with a projected 40% global fanbase growth by 2031.

• 💸 Fans convert: 25%+ have already purchased based on sponsorships, far ahead of other sports audiences.

• 🙌 Trust is currency: Women’s soccer fans are the most trusting of women athletes, and that trust transfers directly to brands.

• 👕 Apparel leads in awareness, but Food & Beverage, Health & Beauty, Travel, Tech, and Finance are categories with big headroom for impact.

• 🎯 The audience is differentiated: 25% of U.S. soccer fans watch only the women’s game. Ignore it, and you miss a quarter of the market.

🔮 What’s Next

The playbook is clear: the next five years will see women’s soccer evolve from an undervalued asset to a mainstream commercial engine. The brands that win will be those who:

• Activate year-round, across both the NWSL and Gainbridge Super League, not just during marquee events.

• Lean into athlete-led product collabs that merge sport, lifestyle, and culture.

• Expand beyond the “usual suspects” (apparel, beverage) into tech, finance, travel, and retail, where fans are signalling demand.

• See women’s soccer not as a CSR box-tick, but as a core brand growth channel.

Women’s soccer fans aren’t asking brands to show up. They’re demanding it. The question for marketers is simple: will you lead in this space, or play catch-up when the rest of the industry finally wakes up?

🍾 Champagne Blues: What Falling Sales Reveal About Global Mood

For centuries, champagne has been shorthand for joy, status and collective highs. But the bubbles are losing their fizz. Latest shipment figures for 2024 show a sharp dip in sales, making the category a cultural bellwether for the world’s unsettled mood. In a market where popping corks signals optimism, the silence speaks volumes.

📊 Supporting Stats

• 271.4m bottles shipped in 2024 - down 9.2% on 2023.

• French sales down 7.2% to 118.2m bottles, highlighting a domestic slump amid political and economic unrest.

• Exports fell 10.8%, reaching 153.2m bottles, yet still accounting for 56.4% of total shipments — proof overseas markets continue to outpace home consumption.
  (Source: Comité Champagne)

🧠 Decision: Did It Work?
From a brand perspective, the downturn isn’t a failure of product but of context. Champagne thrives on confidence - weddings, IPOs, luxury hospitality, fashion week afterparties. With inflation, global conflicts and an uneasy political climate, consumers are trading down or pausing celebrations altogether. In this light, champagne’s positioning as a premium ritual product makes it especially vulnerable to cultural mood swings.

Still, its leaders are playing a long game. By doubling down on sustainability and broadening appeal to new global audiences, the industry is resisting the urge to pivot cheaply. In luxury, restraint can be as important as reinvention.

📌 Key Takeouts

• 📉 Sales fell nearly 10% in 2024, signalling wider economic and cultural uncertainty.

• 🇫🇷 France, the heartland of champagne, posted a notable 7.2% decline - showing even domestic traditions are under pressure.

• 🌍 Exports remain majority share at 56.4%, underscoring champagne’s dependence on global markets.

• 💡 Leaders frame the downturn as cyclical, with an emphasis on resilience, sustainability and patient brand building.

• 🥂 For marketers, champagne is a reminder that luxury is as much about cultural confidence as disposable income.

🔮 What We Can Expect Next
Expect two diverging paths. On one side, heritage champagne houses will protect scarcity and symbolism, investing in green credentials and elite positioning. On the other, challenger sparkling wines (Prosecco, English sparkling, even non-alcoholic “bubbles”) will capitalise on affordability and accessibility in a cautious climate. The risk for champagne isn’t irrelevance - it’s being sidelined as a rarefied ritual in a world increasingly fuelled by pragmatic indulgence.

⚽🔥 Football as a Battleground: Farage’s Reform Shirt Isn’t Just a Stunt

Reform UK’s release of a branded football shirt, fronted by Nigel Farage, has drawn outrage across social feeds. For some, it’s a cheap gimmick. But dismissing it risks missing the real danger: this is a political provocation dressed in the world’s most popular sport. Football isn’t the backdrop here - it’s the weapon.

📊 Supporting Stats

• Football remains the UK’s most-watched sport, with over 31 million people tuning into the 2022 World Cup final on the BBC and ITV combined (BARB).

• Gen Z is both the most football-engaged generation and the most politically disillusioned: 49% of 18–24 year olds in Britain say they have little or no trust in politics (Ipsos, 2024).

• The far right has long sought cultural entry points. In Germany, for instance, far-right groups have attempted to infiltrate fan scenes at more than 30 clubs since 2019 (Deutsche Welle).

🧠 Decision: Does It Work?
From a branding perspective, this “shirt drop” achieves its goal. It drags football into culture-war territory, ensuring maximum visibility and outrage amplification. Reform UK understands that fandom loyalty in football is tribal, emotional and community-led - and they are seeking to parasitically attach their politics to that energy. In culture terms, it’s cynical but effective: the image of Farage in football colours spreads further than any policy pamphlet ever could.

📌 Key Takeouts

• ⚽ The shirt isn’t merch - it’s a symbol designed to make nationalism feel playable, wearable, normal.

• 🪧 Farage’s past statements about “keeping politics out of football” expose the hypocrisy: politics is only unwelcome when it challenges the status quo.

• 🔄 Outrage is part of the tactic. By mocking the shirt as a joke, opponents still fuel its circulation.

• 👥 The real target is vulnerable young fans, pulled into a narrative where “outsiders” are blamed for national decline.

• 🚨 For brands in football - from Nike to Sky Sports - silence is complicity. Aligning with inclusivity and belonging isn’t a CSR play anymore, it’s brand survival.

🔮 What We Can Expect Next
This won’t be the last attempt to politicise football through merch, stunts or culture-war gestures. As the men’s Euros and women’s game continue to surge in visibility, football will remain a key arena where identity, nationalism and inclusion clash. The risk for the industry is allowing the far right to set the terms of debate unopposed. Expect more shirt stunts, terrace messaging and online meme campaigns aimed at turning the pitch into a proxy battlefield for Britain’s future.

🔥 Netflix Land: From Streaming Wars to Theme Parks?

Netflix has disrupted Hollywood at every turn - from DVD mailer to global streaming giant. But if Disney still has one ace that no tech-first studio has matched, it’s parks. Themed experiences are where IP loyalty turns into multi-generational cash flow. Now, with Netflix experimenting through pop-ups (Stranger Things stores, Bridgerton balls) and immersive events (Squid Game: The Trials in London, Money Heist live shows in Brazil), the question is no longer “would they?” but “when?”

📊 Supporting Stats:

• Disney’s parks brought in $32.5 billion in revenue in 2024 (Walt Disney Company annual report), showing the cultural and financial weight of physical experiences.

• Experiential entertainment is booming: 67% of Gen Z and Millennials say they’d rather spend on experiences than products (Eventbrite).

• Netflix’s own Squid Game immersive experience sold over 200,000 tickets in its first global run (Variety, 2024).

🧠 Decision: Could It Work (Hypothetically)?
From a brand-strategy perspective, yes - Netflix Land makes sense. It would deepen IP monetisation beyond screens and merch, locking in loyalty while creating new revenue streams. But the risk? Unlike Disney or Universal, Netflix lacks decades of physical-world operational expertise. Theme parks are not easily scalable tech. What Netflix has is data-led insight into fan demand - which could make experiences more culturally reactive and less tied to nostalgia. The park would have to feel dynamic, like a live-streamed algorithm in physical form.

📌 Key Takeouts:

• 🎢 What happened: Cultural conversation is buzzing around the idea of a Netflix theme park.

• 💸 What works: Netflix already has experiential proof points (Squid Game, Bridgerton). Parks are proven billion-dollar IP engines.

• ⚠️ What doesn’t: Building a physical empire is capital intensive; Netflix would face steep operational learning curves.

• 🌍 Signals: Audiences want immersion, not just screen time. Parks are becoming an extension of streaming battles.

• 📈 For brands: The future of fandom is multi-platform and multi-sensory — and entertainment IP is setting the blueprint.

🔮 What We Can Expect Next:
Expect Netflix to keep expanding through lower-lift, city-based experiences first - touring pop-ups, VR/AR crossovers, franchise-led immersive theatre. A full park feels like a decade-away play, but as Disney fumbles succession, Netflix has cultural momentum on its side. If they crack operational partnerships (think: Six Flags or Merlin Entertainments), “Netflix Land” could become a very real power move - less about castles, more about content that constantly updates, just like your homepage.

🔥 Spotify Adds DMs: Can the Streamer Win at Social Too?

Spotify just dropped a new feature called Messages - essentially in-app DMs for music, podcasts, and audiobooks. On paper, it’s simple: share a track with a friend, react with an emoji, keep the conversation going without leaving Spotify. But strategically, this is a big move. It edges Spotify further into “platform” territory, not just a listening app but a social space - a move that’s been both lucrative and risky for other platforms.

📊 Supporting Stats

• Spotify users already share content millions of times per month through external apps like WhatsApp, Instagram, and TikTok (Spotify newsroom, 2025).

• According to Nielsen, 92% of consumers trust recommendations from friends and family more than any other form of advertising (Nielsen, 2023). Spotify is essentially formalising this behaviour inside its own walls.

• Social listening is a growth lever: TikTok’s music-first model turned it into the most downloaded app of 2024, and 75% of U.S. TikTok users say they discover new artists on the platform (MIDiA Research, 2024).

🧠 Decision: Does It Work?
This is a strategically smart move. Spotify isn’t trying to build a full social network - it’s creating a lightweight, high-intent communication channel tied directly to the act of discovery. The biggest win here is data ownership. Instead of losing the trail when a track gets shared to WhatsApp, Spotify can now see who shares what, who reacts, and how recommendations spread. That’s valuable intel for both creators and advertisers.

The risk? Feature fatigue. Users are used to sharing on platforms where their friends already are. Spotify Messages needs to feel frictionless, not redundant. If it ends up as a ghost town (like Netflix’s short-lived social layer), it could dilute the product.

📌 Key Takeouts

• 🎵 What happened: Spotify launched Messages, an in-app DM feature for sharing music, podcasts, and audiobooks.

• 💬 What worked: It builds on existing user behaviour (sharing recommendations) and strengthens discovery while keeping users inside Spotify.

• ⚠️ What’s risky: Competing with entrenched social habits - most users already share through WhatsApp, TikTok, or Instagram.

• 📈 Strategic signal: Spotify wants to own more of the recommendation journey, capturing social data to fuel discovery and advertising.

• 🧑‍💼 For brand marketers: This creates a more measurable and direct channel for word-of-mouth influence — think micro-discovery loops inside Spotify, not just on TikTok.

🔮 What We Can Expect Next
Expect Spotify to test group messaging and more social discovery tools (imagine mini group chats tied to Blends or live Jams). If adoption sticks, artists and advertisers could eventually sponsor or seed recommendations, making Messages a new touchpoint in the discovery funnel. But if users see it as redundant, we might see Spotify retreat quietly, keeping external social integrations as the real driver.

The next 6–12 months will reveal whether Spotify is edging towards TikTok-lite - or if its strength remains in being the soundtrack, not the conversation.

🔥 Prada x Red Bull Take Skysurfing to the Bay Bridge

Prada Linea Rossa and Red Bull just staged one of the most visually striking brand collaborations of the year. Skysurfing pioneer Sean MacCormac became the first person to ride down the cables of San Francisco’s Bay Bridge, in a feat blending extreme sport, high fashion, and architectural spectacle. More than just a stunt, this partnership showcased how brands can create cultural theatre by fusing engineering precision, athlete ambition, and luxury fashion credibility.

📊 Supporting Stats

• Red Bull’s branded content dominates digital engagement: its YouTube channel has over 15M subscribers, with extreme sports videos often topping 10M+ views each (Statista, 2025).

• The global luxury sportswear market is projected to hit $137B by 2030 (Allied Market Research, 2025). Collaborations that marry performance innovation with cultural storytelling are key growth drivers.

• Prada’s brand value climbed 14% year-on-year in 2024, fuelled by Linea Rossa’s push into sport-luxury crossovers (Brand Finance).

🧠 Decision: Did It Work?
Yes - strategically, culturally, and visually. For Prada, this was a masterstroke in reinforcing Linea Rossa as not just an offshoot but a high-performance, technically credible arm of the house. Aligning with Red Bull adds adrenaline and digital virality - extending Prada beyond fashion weeks into global feeds. For Red Bull, the link with Prada injects a layer of luxury and aesthetic sophistication into its extreme sports empire, broadening audience reach beyond core action-sport fans.

The risk? Extremity can sometimes overshadow the brand story - viewers might just see “crazy stunt” before noticing Prada’s tailoring or technical innovation. But here, Prada’s involvement wasn’t ornamental: it was embedded in the equipment design, athlete kit, and storytelling. That authenticity is what makes this a win.

📌 Key Takeouts

• 🚀 What happened: Sean MacCormac skysurfed the Bay Bridge cables with Prada Linea Rossa and Red Bull.

• 🎯 What worked: Seamless integration of Prada’s tech-fashion design into the actual performance. Red Bull’s content engine guarantees virality.

• ⚡ What didn’t: High-risk spectacle risks being a one-off “wow” moment rather than a sustained brand narrative.

• 🌍 Signals: Luxury is leaning harder into extreme sports and engineering feats - from Louis Vuitton’s America’s Cup to Moncler’s mountain expeditions.

• 💡 Brand takeaway: Spectacle works best when the brand is functionally essential, not just a logo.

🔮 What We Can Expect Next
Expect more fashion houses to pursue “aesthetic-engineering” collabs - not just sponsoring athletes but co-designing the tech that makes extreme feats possible. The bigger opportunity lies in serial storytelling: can Prada and Red Bull make “Bridge Rider” the first in a series of cultural landmarks reimagined through sport and design? If so, they’ll have a blueprint for the next era of branded spectacle - part luxury, part adrenaline, part cinematic cultural theatre.

🔥 M&S Goes Preloved: Secondhand Meets the High Street Giant

Marks & Spencer is making a play for cultural and commercial relevance by stepping deeper into resale. Its new eBay store, launched under the “Another Life” scheme, takes the brand’s long-standing shwopping initiative into a platform that actually matches where resale culture lives. With Oxfam still in the loop and customers incentivised with £5 vouchers, the move signals how high street stalwarts are adapting to an economy where newness isn’t the only flex.

📊 Supporting Stats

• M&S has already collected 36.5m secondhand garments since the launch of its recycling scheme.

• Depop sales surged 35% YoY to $250m in Q2 2025, putting it on track for $1bn annually (Etsy).

• Vinted reported a 41% rise in sales to €813m in 2024, with profits almost tripling (Vinted).

• The UK throws away roughly 700,000 tonnes of clothes annually (UK govt).

🧠 Decision: Does It Work?
Strategically, yes - but with caveats. M&S aligning with eBay feels like the right cultural handshake: it takes the brand beyond charity bins and into a resale economy that Gen Z and Millennials actually engage with. The partnership also lets M&S test the waters before committing to resale in its own channels. However, the voucher mechanic risks being too transactional. Will consumers see it as authentic circularity or just a dressed-up voucher scheme? That’s where credibility is won or lost.

📌 Key Takeouts

• 👕 M&S opens a secondhand eBay store, powered by Reskinned and in partnership with Oxfam.

• 📦 Customers donating with at least one M&S item get a £5 voucher (online-only).

• ♻️ The initiative builds on M&S’s 36.5m garments collected since its original shwopping launch.

• 💻 M&S joins the resale economy alongside Depop, Vinted, H&M, and Zara.

• ⚠️ Strength: ties a heritage retailer to resale culture.

• ⚠️ Weak spot: risks looking like discount mechanics rather than a true sustainability play.

🔮 What We Can Expect Next
If the eBay partnership lands, expect M&S to migrate resale into its own platforms - perhaps even piloting in-store preloved concessions, echoing what H&M and Selfridges have already trialled. The resale market is expanding fast, but fatigue is real: consumers are becoming savvy about “greenwashing resale” where brands use circularity as a marketing veneer. For M&S, authenticity will come down to consistency — ensuring resale is not a side hustle but a real, embedded part of its fashion strategy.

On The Record Linkedin Newsletter: 26th August

Women’s Power Move in Sneaker Culture

For decades, sneaker culture has been dominated by male collectors, athletes, and hype cycles. Women were positioned as secondary consumers - often limited to “shrink it and pink it” product strategies. By 2025, this dynamic has shifted. StockX, in partnership with SELF magazine, released a joint report as part of the 2025 Sneaker Awards that confirmed what was already visible on streets, social feeds, and courts: women are not participating in sneaker culture; they’re propelling it forward.

Challenge

Brands have historically underinvested in women’s sneaker culture, relying on male athletes and male-driven collaborations to drive hype. As the resale economy expanded and cultural influence shifted, the question became: what happens when women stop being the afterthought and start driving the demand?

Approach

The StockX x SELF report combined marketplace data with cultural context to measure the impact of women on sneaker culture.

• Analysed resale growth by gendered purchase behaviour.

• Identified emerging unisex-forward trends, particularly Salomon and Asics.

• Cross-referenced cultural drivers such as the rise of WNBA athletes and women-led collaborations.

Findings

• Growth Rate: Women’s sneaker sales have grown at twice the rate of men’s on resale platforms (StockX, 2025).

• Category Shifts: Performance-first brands like Salomon and Asics gained cultural heat largely through women adopting them early.

• Athlete Influence: The WNBA’s surge in popularity (viewership up 36% YoY, Sports Business Journal, 2025) is directly fuelling sneaker demand and brand investment.

• Spending Power: Women now account for over 40% of total sneaker spend (NPD, 2024), up from 25% five years ago.

Impact

Commercially, this shift repositions women as a growth engine in the sneaker economy, not a niche market.
Culturally, women athletes and sneakerheads are now trendsetters, with resale cycles increasingly shaped by female demand.
Creatively, unisex-forward design is becoming the default, driven by female consumers’ rejection of gendered aesthetics.

Strategic Takeaways

• Women are leading, not following. Treat them as tastemakers and drivers of sneaker culture.

• Athletes matter. WNBA partnerships and authentic athlete storytelling are key levers for brand relevance.

• Unisex is the new normal. Performance/lifestyle crossovers will continue to thrive as women blur utility and style.

• Legacy gaps remain. Brands that treat women’s drops as secondary risk cultural irrelevance and commercial stagnation.

Looking Ahead

Expect more signature sneakers for women athletes, not just size runs or colourway spin-offs. WNBA visibility and female-led collaborations will accelerate, while resale data will increasingly reflect women’s buying power. The danger lies in brands overcorrecting with tokenistic pink-washing—authentic, long-term commitment to women’s culture will define the winners.

🔥 Cate Blanchett x Uniqlo: Star Power, Festival Energy, and the Future of Brand Ambassadors

Cate Blanchett Dances Wildly in Sparks’ Video

Uniqlo has tapped Cate Blanchett as its new global brand ambassador - a move that blends award-winning gravitas with cultural cool. Blanchett is far more than a Hollywood icon. In recent years she’s stepped into unexpected cultural spaces, from avant-garde art to festival stages, proving her influence stretches beyond cinema and red carpets. For Uniqlo, this partnership isn’t about attaching a famous face to product. It’s about aligning with a figure who embodies values, versatility, and cultural credibility.

📊 Supporting Stats

• Fast Retailing (Uniqlo’s parent company) posted ¥2.77 trillion ($17.8 billion) in FY2024 revenue, making it the world’s third-largest apparel retailer (Fast Retailing).

• 72% of Gen Z say they are more likely to support a brand endorsed by a celebrity whose values align with their own (WARC, 2024).

• Blanchett’s crossover into music and live culture has gone viral: her Sparks dance at Glastonbury 2023 generated millions of views within days, proving her ability to engage audiences outside film.

🎭 Blanchett in Culture: Beyond the Screen

• Massive Attack’s The Spoils (2016): Blanchett’s face was deconstructed in John Hillcoat’s haunting video, cementing her as a muse for avant-garde music visuals.

• Sparks - The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte (2023): Blanchett stole the spotlight in a yellow suit and red headphones, performing a stiff yet hypnotic dance that became an internet talking point.

• Glastonbury Festival (2023): She surprised fans by joining Sparks on stage to recreate her dance live, turning a cult video moment into cultural spectacle.

• Manifesto (2015): In Julian Rosefeldt’s installation, Blanchett embodied 13 personas delivering historic artistic manifestos, underscoring her credibility in performance art.

These appearances reveal her as a boundary-crossing performer who can translate between high art, pop spectacle, and humanitarian advocacy.

🧠 Decision: Does It Work?

Yes - this was a strategically sharp move. Blanchett adds a layer of sophistication that few celebrities can deliver, while her willingness to lean into playful, unexpected culture (music videos, festival cameos) keeps her relevant beyond prestige cinema.

For Uniqlo, the pairing works on two levels:

• Credibility in Values: Blanchett’s activism around climate, displacement, and equity echoes Uniqlo’s “LifeWear” philosophy.

• Cultural Reach: Her recent festival cameo shows she can create moments that trend - an asset for a brand navigating the attention economy without chasing hype.

The only caution is relatability. Uniqlo’s power lies in democratic simplicity. Blanchett’s aura is elite. If the brand leans too hard on her prestige without rooting campaigns in accessibility, it risks tilting aspirational instead of universal.

📌 Key Takeouts

• What happened: Cate Blanchett appointed Uniqlo’s global brand ambassador, joining Roger Federer.

• What worked: She brings both timeless style and a track record of surprising cultural moments (music videos, Glastonbury), making her a dynamic storyteller for the brand.

• The risk: Her prestige image could pull Uniqlo into overly aspirational territory if not balanced with everyday LifeWear narratives.

• Why it matters: Shows a shift from celebrity endorsements to ambassadorial partnerships rooted in values + cultural versatility.

• For marketers: Blanchett proves the value of ambassadors who can cross cultural codes - film, art, music, activism - and still feel authentic.

🔮 What We Can Expect Next

Expect Uniqlo to leverage Blanchett not just in campaigns, but in purpose-led storytelling - sustainability forums, humanitarian advocacy, creative collaborations. Her festival moment with Sparks hints at how Uniqlo might embrace unexpected stages to reach audiences: not fashion week, but Glastonbury; not the runway, but the cultural moment that goes viral.

This ambassador play signals a new era: in 2025 and beyond, brands will need figures who can move across art, music, activism, and commerce with credibility. Cate Blanchett isn’t just endorsing LifeWear - she’s embodying it in the cultural arena.

🏈 Super Bowl Goes Global? Why Mandelson’s London Pitch Sparks Fury

Peter Mandelson, the UK’s ambassador to the US, has ignited a cultural firestorm by lobbying to bring the Super Bowl to London. The idea, floated at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, has been met with outrage across the American sports ecosystem. For the NFL, which has spent years cultivating its UK fan base with regular-season fixtures, this raises a provocative question: can America’s most sacred sports spectacle ever leave home soil?

📊 Supporting Stats

• The NFL estimates its UK fan base at 15.5 million, with 4 million “avid” fans, according to 2023 league data.

• Wembley and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium games regularly sell out, with the 2024 Jaguars vs. Bills match drawing over 85,000 spectators (NFL UK).

• Super Bowl LVIII (2024) attracted 123.4 million US viewers, the most-watched broadcast in American history (Nielsen). That’s nearly 3x the UK’s entire population.

The tension is clear: global growth vs. national identity.

🧠 Decision: Did It Work?

Mandelson’s pitch has cultural cut-through, but strategically it risks backfiring. For the NFL, the Super Bowl is more than a game - it’s a ritual embedded in American identity, from commercials to halftime shows to Super Bowl Sunday parties. Moving it abroad would threaten the very mythology that makes it valuable.

That said, the conversation itself signals the NFL’s success in globalising its product. Even the outrage shows how powerful the brand has become: London isn’t just a fringe outpost; it’s a market serious enough to provoke defensive nationalism.

📌 Key Takeouts

• What happened: UK ambassador Peter Mandelson publicly lobbied for a future Super Bowl in London.

• What worked: The move generated headlines and demonstrated just how seriously the NFL’s UK expansion is taken.

• What didn’t: Fierce backlash from US fans, media, and commentators highlights cultural red lines the NFL risks crossing.

• The signal: The NFL is caught between two imperatives - driving international growth while protecting domestic cultural ownership.

• Brand lesson: You can scale globally, but you can’t strip the cultural roots from a ritual. Growth has limits when the product is identity.

🔮 What We Can Expect Next

The NFL won’t announce a London Super Bowl any time soon - but it will keep using international games to prime new markets. Expect more talk of a permanent London franchise, expanded media rights deals in Europe, and Super Bowl-adjacent activations abroad (watch parties, brand-led experiences, even halftime show tours).

For marketers, the signal is clear: the NFL brand is becoming a global entertainment property - but when it comes to the Super Bowl, America won’t let go. The real play isn’t exporting the event, but monetising the mythology worldwide.

🔥 PS5 Price Hike: When Trade Wars Hit the Living Room

Sony just confirmed that starting Thursday, August 21, all PlayStation 5 models in the U.S. will see a $50 price hike. The move, triggered by tariffs from President Trump’s ongoing trade war with China, pushes the PS5 Digital Edition to $499.99, the standard PS5 to $549.99, and the PS5 Pro to $749.99.

This isn’t just a gaming story - it’s a textbook case of how global trade policy hits consumers at the most emotional point of purchase: entertainment.

📊 Supporting Stats:

• Sony had already raised PS5 prices in the UK, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand earlier this year, by 10–15%.

• Microsoft followed in May, raising Xbox prices by $80–$100 in the U.S.

• U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods remain steep, recently adjusted to 30% from 145%, with temporary truce extensions buying time but not certainty.

• Gaming is a $242 billion industry (Statista, 2024), and console hardware accounts for around $60 billion annually, meaning price sensitivity is high in this segment.

🧠 Decision: Does It Work?
From a brand perspective, Sony had little choice. Absorbing the tariff costs would have hit margins too hard. By raising prices, they protect profitability - but risk consumer frustration, especially at a time when the PS5 is finally becoming widely available after years of scarcity.

Strategically, Sony’s move keeps it aligned with Microsoft (who already raised prices), meaning no brand is undercutting the other on base cost. But the optics are rough: raising prices in an inflationary climate feels tone-deaf, even if economically unavoidable.

📌 Key Takeouts:

• What happened: Sony raised U.S. PS5 prices by $50 due to trade tariffs.

• Why: Rising costs from Trump’s trade war left little alternative.

• What worked: Pricing parity with Xbox prevents competitive disadvantage.

• What didn’t land: The timing - consumers just got access to PS5s after years of shortages, only to face a sudden price bump.

• Signal: Global brands are running out of ways to shield customers from geopolitical and trade volatility.

🔮 What We Can Expect Next:

• Short term: Expect gamer backlash online, but sales will likely stay steady - consoles remain gateway products with sticky ecosystems.

• Medium term: Accessory and game bundles may be used to soften the sting, keeping perceived value intact.

• Long term: If tariffs persist, brands could explore nearshoring production (Mexico, Eastern Europe) to stabilise pricing - though this isn’t an overnight fix.

For marketers, the lesson is clear: global trade policy is now part of brand strategy. What starts in Washington and Beijing ends up in shopping baskets, even in the entertainment aisle.

🔥 SZA x Vans: A Culture Reset in Motion

On 14 August, SZA made history as the first-ever Artistic Director of Vans. The Grammy-winning singer/songwriter won’t just be fronting a campaign - she’ll be leading creative operations, shaping upcoming collections, and reimagining how the nearly 60-year-old sneaker brand connects with culture. Her debut trailer features her favourite Knu Skools in Black/White, woven with concert footage and her own voiceover: “In Vans, I feel free!”

This isn’t just a celebrity collab. It’s a significant brand shift, appointing an artist with credibility across music, fashion, and skate-inspired lifestyle to re-anchor Vans in a cultural moment where relevance is currency.

📊 Supporting Stats

• Vans generated $3.7 billion in global revenue in 2023, but sales momentum has slowed amid increased competition (VF Corp Annual Report).

• According to Deloitte (2024), Gen Z rank creative self-expression as their top brand expectation, making SZA’s appointment strategically aligned.

• Pharrell’s appointment at Louis Vuitton sparked a 30% quarterly sales surge in 2023 (LVMH), proving cultural leadership can move markets.

🧠 Decision: Does It Work?
Yes - this move works both culturally and commercially. SZA isn’t a random star endorsement; she’s been a Vans wearer for years and her ethos - resilience, risk-taking, community - aligns with the brand’s “Off the Wall” DNA. For Vans, which risks being outpaced by Nike SB and New Balance in skate credibility, SZA offers a way to broaden the story: from pure skate function to a lifestyle expression rooted in creativity and inclusivity.

Culturally, SZA embodies authenticity. She brings Vans into conversations around music, fashion, and Gen Z identity while keeping skate values intact. Commercially, it positions Vans to grow its lifestyle audience - people who may never drop into a half-pipe but still buy into skate culture’s ethos.

📌 Key Takeouts

• What happened: SZA named Vans’ first Artistic Director, with creative authority across campaigns and product.

• What worked: Authentic connection between SZA and Vans; reframing skate’s rebellious ethos through inclusivity and artistry; cultural credibility beyond traditional skate audiences.

• Signals: Legacy brands are shifting from celebrity ambassadors to creative architects; skate culture is being redefined as a metaphor for resilience and expression, not just sport.

• For brand marketers: Authentic cultural partnerships drive credibility when the figure embodies the brand’s DNA rather than just borrowing its iconography.

🔮 What We Can Expect Next
Vans will likely amplify SZA’s creative direction through capsule collections, multimedia campaigns, and crossover events between fashion and music. If it lands, this could be Vans’ biggest brand reset since the 90s skate boom - expanding from niche subculture to mainstream cultural symbol.

The broader trend? Expect more brands to hand the reins to cultural leaders, not just for campaigns, but for creative leadership that redefines the brand’s future.

🎒✨ Dior Kids Makes Back-to-School Couture

Dior Kids’ Spring 2025 campaign, photographed by Juliette Abitbol and brought to life on film by Java Jacobs, introduces the Diorling collection under the creative direction of Cordelia de Castellane.

Shot in soft Parisian light, the campaign reframes the back-to-school ritual as something cinematic: children buttoning coats, tightening satchels, and stepping into corridors that feel more like ateliers than classrooms. Juliette Abitbol’s stills lean into timeless portraiture, while Jacobs’ video infuses the sequence with playful motion - turning a schoolyard routine into a fashion narrative.

📊 The Bigger Picture

• Children’s luxury is no niche - it’s a growth engine. Global luxury kidswear is projected to hit $82B by 2032, fuelled by millennial and Gen Z parents who see style as self-expression for the whole family (Future Market Insights).

• The campaign’s aesthetic - classic tailoring scaled down - signals Dior’s intent to make “mini-me” culture not novelty, but tradition.

• Social traction around the film highlights a wider shift: kidswear ads are now being shared not just by parents but by fashion commentators, treating them as part of the broader Dior brand world.

🧠 Did It Work?
Yes - both culturally and commercially. The casting, direction and styling are aligned with Dior’s adult universe but softened with childlike warmth, avoiding accusations of excess or precocity. The ad works because it doesn’t parody adult fashion - it dignifies childhood while still embedding brand codes. Strategically, it positions Dior as a lifestyle across life stages, building loyalty through continuity.

📌 Key Takeouts

• What happened: Dior launched its Diorling kids’ collection via a campaign shot by Juliette Abitbol and Java Jacobs.

• What worked: Elevated visual storytelling, positioning back-to-school as a shared cultural milestone; brand consistency across generations.

• Signals: Children’s fashion is no longer an afterthought - it’s a luxury category with its own aesthetic gravity and cultural reach.

🔮 What’s Next
Expect more maisons to use universal life markers - school, birthdays, rites of passage - as opportunities to extend their storytelling. For Dior, this strategy plants seeds of generational loyalty: today’s “first day fit” could translate into tomorrow’s first couture dress. The risk is oversaturation - if every brand leans too hard into kids-as-style-icons, audiences may push back against the blurring of innocence and aspiration. For now, though, Dior’s balance of play and polish feels pitch perfect.

🧱🏀 Nike x LEGO: Turning Fanatics Fest Into a Playground for the Next Gen

At Fanatics Fest NYC, Nike and LEGO didn’t just co-brand - they co-created. Partnering with Hotel Creative, the two powerhouses built a “Playroom” that transformed a convention space into a living, glowing brand world. This wasn’t the usual sneaker drop or collab merch table; it was an ecosystem where play, sport, and imagination fused, and kids were firmly placed at the centre.

📊 Supporting Stats

• Experiential activations are gaining traction: 76% of Gen Z consumers say experiences are more important than possessions (Eventbrite, 2024).

• Nike’s youth apparel and footwear segment saw a 21% YoY growth in 2024 (Statista), signalling why investing in interactive, youth-first storytelling makes strategic sense.

• LEGO has consistently ranked in the top 3 most reputable brands globally for families (RepTrak, 2024), proving its cross-generational trust equity.

🧠 Decision: Did It Work?
Yes. The Nike x LEGO Playroom nailed cultural and commercial resonance. For Nike, the court installation reinforced its credibility as a youth-sport brand that inspires activity, not just sneaker lust. For LEGO, the playful zones proved the brand can expand beyond bricks to fuel creativity across new contexts. The giant Nike shoebox housing it all worked as a metaphor: unboxing potential, unboxing imagination.

📌 Key Takeouts

• What happened: Nike and LEGO built an immersive “Playroom” at Fanatics Fest NYC, complete with hoops, gradients, LEGO-brick builds, and jersey customisation.

• What worked: A physical space that brought both brands’ values to life through interaction, rather than product display.

• What didn’t: Limited scale - the activation lived only within Fest walls, so reach beyond attendees relied heavily on social amplification.

• Signals: Audiences are demanding experiences that feel like living inside the brand’s ethos. This is less about retail, more about brand theatre.

🔮 What We Can Expect Next
Expect more crossover activations where brands double down on physical spaces that feel like playgrounds, not pop-ups. If Nike and LEGO’s Playroom is anything to go by, the future of brand experience is immersive, interactive, and engineered for shareability. The risk? Oversaturation. As more brands chase the “Instagrammable playground” model, only those that align play with authentic brand values will cut through.

🔥 Target Under Fire: Leadership Shuffle Amid Cultural Crisis

Target, once celebrated as the stylish yet accessible “Tar-zhay” of American retail, now finds itself in the crossfire of the culture wars. CEO Brian Cornell is stepping down after a decade, handing over to COO Michael Fiddelke in 2026. The shift follows sliding sales, a 21% net income drop in Q2, and intensifying boycotts after Target rolled back Pride and DEI initiatives.

But Cornell isn’t leaving. He’s moving upstairs to Executive Chair - a role that is often more senior, better compensated, and more influential than CEO. Which raises a critical question: is this a meaningful reset, or a token gesture designed to appease critics while keeping the same leadership DNA intact?

📊 Supporting Stats

• 21% drop in net income in Q2 2025, with comparable sales down 1.9% - the 8th dip in the past 10 quarters (Target earnings report).

• Over 250,000 pledges to boycott Target this year after Rev. Jamal Bryant’s “Target Fast” campaign.

• Target’s decision to roll back $2 billion in DEI commitments sparked swift backlash - led by Black communities.

  • $12.4 billion wiped from Target’s market value.

  • Foot traffic dropped nearly 8%.

  • Black-owned vendors felt the shock: some lost up to 30% in earnings, while others gained visibility as communities redirected spend.

• Polling shows many Black Americans have abandoned stores scaling back DEI policies (Guardian).

🧠 Decision: Did It Work?
No. Commercially and culturally, the retreat failed. Target attempted to defuse conservative criticism by scaling back DEI and Pride visibility. Instead, it alienated its core base - diverse, urban, progressive-leaning shoppers - while failing to gain loyalty from those it sought to appease.

And the leadership shuffle doesn’t inspire confidence. Elevating Cornell to Executive Chair looks less like accountability and more like optics. A brand in cultural crisis needs genuine change, not symbolic reshuffles.

📌 Key Takeouts

• What happened: Cornell steps down as CEO but remains Executive Chair - keeping influence as sales and cultural credibility slip.

• What worked: Very little - short-term appeasement didn’t stabilise the brand.

• What didn’t land: Retreating on Pride and DEI damaged trust with core demographics while failing to win new loyalty.

• Signal for brands: Leadership shifts that look cosmetic will be read as such. In a cultural crisis, audiences want proof of principle, not just new titles at the top.

• Economic lesson: Black consumer power is market power. Boycotts don’t just trend - they reshape balance sheets.

🔮 What We Can Expect Next
Michael Fiddelke takes over as CEO in 2026, but Cornell remains in the boardroom. That means Target’s challenge isn’t just operational; it’s cultural. Unless the company makes visible, credible commitments to inclusion and accountability, the new leadership structure may be read as continuity disguised as change. In today’s market, neutrality is no longer an option - and neither is symbolism without substance.

🔥 Glamma Goes Global: How Margaret Chola Became Fashion’s New Muse

When 84-year-old Margaret Chola - better known online as @legendary_glamma — swapped wardrobes with her fashion-stylist granddaughter in rural Zambia, the internet didn’t just smile; it stopped scrolling. What started as a playful generational exchange became a viral moment, positioning Chola as an unexpected style icon and proof that fashion influence no longer sits neatly in age brackets, cities, or glossy magazines.

📊 Supporting Stats

• The global influencer economy is now worth over $21 billion (Statista, 2023), with micro and niche influencers — especially those who bring authenticity — driving stronger engagement than celebrity endorsements.

• Content tagged with “grandma” or “older style icon” on TikTok has seen engagement rates up to 40% higher than Gen Z-focused equivalents (WARC, 2024).

• The 60+ demographic is now the fastest-growing user group on Instagram, with adoption rising by 24% last year (Hootsuite, 2024).

  
  Margaret Chola’s rise works because it blends authenticity with subversion. Fashion has long been obsessed with youth, yet here we see coolness redefined by someone in her mid-80s. Unlike branded campaigns that often feel contrived, Glamma’s appeal is rooted in realness, family connection, and sheer style. Brands chasing “ageless relevance” would struggle to engineer this level of organic cultural heat.

📌 Key Takeouts

• What happened: Margaret Chola (@legendary_glamma) went viral after swapping outfits with her granddaughter, sparking global fascination.

• What worked: Authenticity, cross-generational storytelling, and unexpected style credibility.

• Signals: A shift towards intergenerational influence and “age-fluid” cool - fashion’s future looks less about youth, more about story.

• For brand marketers: Virality now comes from surprising juxtapositions, not polished campaigns. Real-world, real-people content has the power to cut through the algorithm.

https://www.instagram.com/legendary_glamma/