LSN : Daily Signals : 13 : 02 : 26

How Maison Margiela is turning behind-the-scenes access into brand value

Global, China – Luxury French fashion house Maison Margiela has unveiled unprecedented access to its digital archives, releasing its internal Dropbox folders to the public for free alongside a new exhibition series across China.

Titled Maison Margiela/folders, the multi-city initiative explores the ideas and values shaping the house. It launches in Shanghai with the autumn/winter 2026 runway show, followed by Artisanal: Creative Laboratory, an exhibition spotlighting the couture line. The programme then moves to Beijing for Anonymity: Our History of Masks, examining the brand’s legacy of concealment. Chengdu hosts Tabi: Collectors, celebrating the split-toe shoe, while Shenzhen presents Bianchetto: Atelier Experience, focused on Maison Margiela’s signature white overpaint technique.

In a move to democratise its creative process, the house is making internal materials – including images, press releases, project timelines and working documents – publicly accessible for the first time. The evolving archive will continue to expand with new files added over time.

The digital archive is now live via the brand’s website, with physical activations running throughout April 2026.

Read our Luxury Recrafted macrotrend report to understand why consumers increasingly want to play an active role in the brand universe – seeking deeper appreciation of the time, craft and story behind every piece.

Strategic opportunity

Transform historical assets such as design files, research documents and campaign drafts into a public digital archive, enabling consumers to deepen understanding of the brand’s heritage while building loyalty and connection

Foresight Friday: Alice Crossley, deputy foresight editor

Every Friday, we offer an end-of-week wrap-up of the topics, issues, ideas and virals we’re all talking about. This week, deputy foresight editor Alice Crossley reviews a big week of sporting spectacle.

: Never has there been a clearer reminder of how much the world needs sport. After weeks of some of the most disturbing news headlines I can remember, the Super Bowl (half-time show…) and Winter Olympics arrived as a welcome injection of humanity.

: Puerto Rican musician Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Show – the first ever to be delivered in Spanish – was a joyful ode to his homeland and Latin American culture. Taking on a stage of that magnitude during one of the most divisive moments of modern American history is no small task, yet his show felt like a visual declaration of unity and pride. The image of him holding a football stamped with ‘Together, We Are America’ was a simple but powerful reminder of the power of art, music and culture in the face of crisis. In 2026, much of our coverage will look at resistance in all its forms: political, environmental, cultural and technological.

: Just two days prior to the Super Bowl, the 2026 Winter Olympics kicked off in Milan, Italy. From US skier Lindsey Vonn’s bravery after breaking her leg 13 seconds into her heroic return to the Olympics to Norwegian biathlete Sturla Holm Laegreid’s very public admission of cheating on his girlfriend in a tearful bid to win her back, this year’s winter games have demonstrated both the most impressive and fallible parts of human nature.

: From the Women’s Sports Economy and Grassroots Game Days to Next-Gen Sports and Micro-victories, we’ve been building out our sports content over the past year. Stay tuned as we continue to explore the ways sport is evolving, exploding and providing much-needed escapism for people all around the globe.

Bad Bunny performing at the Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show, Apple, US

Quote of the week

‘The hate gets more powerful with more hate. The only thing that is more powerful than hate is love’

Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio (Bad Bunny), musician, accepting the award for Best Album of the Year at the 2026 Grammy Awards

Stat: Global waste is projected to surge as circular design becomes critical

Let’s Not Waste Our Wonderful World by Olio, UK

Global – Waste volumes are projected to rise more than 80% by 2050, according to a new report from the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) environmental charity.

With waste management already contributing up to 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, pressure on global waste systems is intensifying. Across OECD countries alone, waste generation has increased by more than 100m tonnes since 2000.

WRAP argues that the UK could position itself as a leader in the shift to a circular economy, moving beyond disposal to design products that stay in use longer and retain value through reuse, repair and recycling – a key theme we explored in our Designing for Extinction report.

However, government forecasts suggest more than 17m tonnes of unrecyclable waste could still be generated in the UK by 2042, even under best-case recycling scenarios.

How this residual waste is managed will be decisive. WRAP stresses that integrating prevention, recycling and value-recovery strategies – as opposed to relying on landfill – will shape whether environmental impact is reduced while economic value is preserved.

Strategic opportunity

Embed circular design principles, material recovery plans and end-of-life value mapping into product, packaging and service development to reduce residual waste exposure and future regulatory risk