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Gap and Katseye tap into new-nostalgia for autumn 2025 denim campaign

Better in Denim, Gap, US

Global – Gap has unveiled its autumn 2025 Better in Denim campaign, fronted by global girl group Katseye. Set to Kelis’ 2003 hit Milkshake and choreographed by Robbie Blue, the film blends dance styles such as hip hop and ballet, with each member styled in Gap denim.

The campaign revives Gap’s early 2000s Long & Lean jean style with a reengineered waistband, 10 new washes and fits designed to move with the body. Low-rise styles also return, sitting alongside the brand’s full denim range.

By pairing one of today’s biggest pop groups – Katsye has more than 22m followers and Billboard-charting singles – with a distinctly noughties aesthetic, Gap leans into ‘new-nostalgia’: heritage codes imagined through contemporary talent.

The campaign also signals a return to the values Gap is known for: personal expression, inclusivity and denim made for movement. This echoes insights from our viewpoint Is Essentialism the Future of Branding?, which argued that brands must see essentialism as a driver and a need state.

Strategic opportunity

How can your brand’s legacy codes be engineered to match today’s cultural landscape? Translate products, rituals or stories into formats that resonate with contemporary cultural aesthetics, ensuring your brand feels timeless and relevant to new audiences

Oura to support ring wearers through pregnancy and perimenopause

US – Health and wellness tech company Oura has announced new features designed to support women through pregnancy, perimenopause and menopause, which will be rolled out globally later this year.

The update provides comprehensive insight into how biometrics evolve throughout pregnancy, as opposed to those available following a scheduled check-in with a doctor. Expectant mothers gain access to educational content and a range of metrics that help them better navigate each stage of pregnancy. The ring identifies common pregnancy patterns using biometric data collected from more than 10,000 pregnancies.

‘We’re expanding the Oura experience to better reflect the deeply personal and varied realities of women’s health,’ said Holly Shelton, chief product officer at Oura. ‘From pregnancy to perimenopause, women undergo profound physiological changes that have too often been dismissed or misunderstood. For generations, many have faced these transitions without the knowledge, resources or care they deserve and we’re committed to changing that.’

Additionally, the perimenopause tracker could represent a significant step forward in the monitoring of women’s health. Oura reports that perimenopause is among the most under-researched phases of health, despite affecting a global population of over one billion women who are either in perimenopause or post-menopause. The new tool equips members to track symptoms and understand the potential impact on their bodies by completing a survey that analyses answers to generate a personalised assessment.

For more insights on the future of women’s health tech, read The Future of Femtech.

Oura, Finland

Strategic opportunity

Explore how wearables and digital health tools can be tailored to the needs of overlooked demographics (eg midlife women, women of colour, LGBTQ+ communities). Designing inclusively today could secure market advantage tomorrow

Stat: Over one-third of workers would prefer to be managed by AI than by a human

Hello, Robot. Design Between Human and Machine. Vitra Design Museum, Germany

US – As companies increasingly integrate artificial intelligence, workplace dynamics are evolving, with employees and executives warming to AI in managerial roles.

A survey from AI security firm CalypsoAI shows that 38% of US office workers would rather be managed by AI than by a human. Among C-suite executives, half said they’d prefer AI leadership, even though 34% aren’t sure they could tell the difference between an AI agent and a real person.

‘These numbers should be a wake-up call,’ said Donnchadh Casey, CEO of CalypsoAI. ‘We’re seeing executives racing to implement AI without fully understanding the risks… inappropriate use of AI can be catastrophic for enterprises, and this isn’t a future threat, it’s already happening inside organisations today.’

The findings also reveal shifting trust and compliance patterns: 45% of workers said they trust AI more than colleagues and 34% would quit if AI were banned. As AI continues to embed itself into workflows, the survey suggests that algorithmic management is becoming a defining feature of the modern workplace.

For deeper analysis on the impact of artificial intelligence across industries read our The Synthocene Era: Merging Human and Machine Intelligence macrotrend report.