Zara to Lure Millennials with Augmented Reality Displays
A CORUÑA, Spain — Zara, the fashion chain owned by the world's biggest clothing retailer Inditex, will introduce augmented reality displays from April, it said on Tuesday, in an effort to lure millennials into its stores. Clothing retailers are having to invest in memorable product demonstrations and store-specific content to attract customers in their twenties and early thirties, whose increasing use of online players such as Amazon has ravaged bricks-and-mortar retail chains in recent years. Zara's latest technological push shows models wearing selected looks from its ranges when a mobile phone is held up to a sensor within the store or designated shop windows, with customers able to click through to buy the clothes. Inditex, known for whisking the latest fashions from catwalk to store rails in a matter of days, has weathered the onslaught from online rivals relatively well, analysts say. "However, Inditex is a rare example of a company that should fare relatively well."
Coachella offers art outside the gallery, says Phillip K Smith III
Music festivals like Coachella are changing the way people experience artworks and installations, according to American artist Phillip K Smith III. Ahead of the festival's first 2018 weekend, Smith told Dezeen he believes events of this kind allow revellers to see art beyond typical exhibition spaces, and enable artists to reach a wider audience. "People want to have an experience with art outside of the traditional white gallery spaces," said the artist, who has previously exhibited at Coachella. "It's not just festivals, it's a desire to create work that's outside the traditional spaces, and come with more challenges and restrictions." In parallel with the rise of photo-sharing platform Instagram, temporary large-scale installations and sculptures have become markers for millennials documenting and sharing their activities and travels. This trend means that artworks are proliferated to a much wider, global audience quicker than before.
5 New Trends Shaping the Experience Economy - Eventbrite US Blog
If given a hundred dollars, would you rather spend it on an item or an experience? If you chose the latter, you’re in good company. Say hello to the “experience economy.” First coined in 1998, the experience economy is the shift from an economy based on consuming services or owning things, to an economy powered by investment in experiences. Since 1998, the shift to an experience economy has only accelerated. This shift is largely thanks to millennials. On the surface, this is great news for event creators, whose business is built on providing unique experiences. To capitalize on the experience economy when crafting your event, it’s vital to understand the trends driving the shift. Trend # 1: People crave interactions off social media We’ve all become best friends with our gadgets. The experience economy stems from a desire to connect more authentically. Trend #2: People are looking for a new perspective Trend #3: Our cultural climate is shifting Trend #4: Millennials are starting families
Just do it: the experience economy and how we turned our backs on ‘stuff’ | Business
It was an audacious plan for an unloved bit of Manchester. A £25m arts centre to be built on a derelict plot that had not felt a cultural pulse since the closure, 15 years earlier, of the legendary Haçienda nightclub. It would be called Home, formed by the merger of two proud but financially imperilled institutions – the Cornerhouse cinema and gallery, and the Library Theatre Company – and would, its backers hoped, revive a forgotten corner on the city’s southern edge. “There was confidence from the city leadership that it would work, but a lot of my peers and colleagues in the arts were saying to me, ‘Who’s going to go there?’” Programming would swim far from the mainstream, too. Wrigley admits to having been nervous when she and her team set an ambitious target of 550,000 visits for the first year. Wrigley is right. The latest figures come from Barclaycard, which processes about half of all Britain’s credit and debit card transactions. And as we consume less, we are doing more.
Ido Abulafia designs Pick medical kits for children's blood tests
Israeli designer Ido Abulafia has created a set of bird-themed toy medical kits intended to give children a more positive hospital experience (+ slideshow). Each prototype Pick kit comes in an egg-shaped plastic cover, and contains a syringe – without the needle – a metal spring, a pair of soft plastic wings, and a small whistle that can be connected to the syringe. Together, the parts form a toy bird with wings that can be moved by working the mechanism of the syringe. Children would be encouraged to assemble the various pieces during their visit to a hospital, doctor's surgery or clinic. Abulafia hopes the kit could both distract children from an impending blood test, and also give them a better understanding of the surrounding medical environment. "During the experience the child is exposed to different medical instruments and sees them in a more positive way," the designer said in a statement. "I believe that hospitals need to explore the field of healthcare design.
Concept apartment by Future Facility gives older residents domestic independence
This installation at London's Design Museum strips household appliances back to their basics to make operation easier for an ageing population. The Amazin Apartment installation was designed by Future Facility – a branch of London studio Industrial Facility founded by designers Sam Hecht and Kim Colin. It was commissioned for the New Old exhibition at the Design Museum, which asks designers to propose ideas that improve the lifestyle of the rapidly growing ageing population. For their offering, Hecht and Colin explored the idea that digital technology intended to make our lives simpler doesn't necessarily aid older generations. "As we age, we become less likely to navigate the conditions that shops and manufacturers require of youthful consumers," they said. "Alienated by the speed of change in trade, manufacturing and technology, older consumers would benefit from a revolutionary domestic independence." The fridge has two doors.
BoF Exclusive | Inside Farfetch's Store of the Future | Fashion-Tech, BoF Exclusive, Digital Scorecard
LONDON, United Kingdom — In a brick-walled basement in Hackney, amidst rails hung with Balenciaga and clusters of technology developers, “The Store of the Future” was almost ready. Here, billion-dollar fashion “unicorn” Farfetch has been staging a test run of the tech-powered retail experience the company is set to unveil later today at the debut FarfetchOS conference at London’s new Design Museum in a move that further extends the platform into physical stores. The announcement comes at a critical time for Farfetch, which is reportedly preparing for an IPO. But Store of the Future could prove to be one of the company’s most important moves yet. From fitting rooms equipped with photo booths to mannequins with screens on their foreheads, most in-store technology has been gimmicky stuff that’s more likely to drive short-term PR than actual sales. The concept is also modular, meaning brand and boutique partners can pick and choose the components that make most sense for their businesses.
Experiences, not possessions: how social media helps shape the future of luxury
