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The North Face pledges to close the nature gap

Reset Normal by The North Face, us

US – Outdoor brand The North Face is pledging to diversify access to nature with its Reset Normal initiative.

The initiative features Lena Waithe and Jimmy Chin, two cultural innovators, who will be supporting the brand on a new global programme. Bringing together leading thinkers and non-profit organisations to accelerate equity in the outdoors. As part of the pledge, The North Face will create a group of experts across culture, entertainment, academia and the outdoors to guide the brand in its aims.

It will also create mentorship opportunities for those interested in exploration but have limited resources. Taking action against nature deprivation among communities of colour, the brand is hoping to diversify access and educate people around the importance of time spent outdoors as a basic health need.

With the health and wellness sector traditionally dominated by white-centricity, brands are diversifying their campaigns and services to provide more Inclusive Fitness opportunities.

Burberry uses blockchain to trace garments

Burberry Voyage by IBM’s Extreme Blue and Burberry, UK. Burberry worked with IBM's Extreme Blue interns on a sustainability prototype to trace products using the Cloud and blockchain

Burberry Voyage by IBM’s Extreme Blue and Burberry, UK

UK – The luxury house is collaborating with IBM on a new product tracing system that gives consumers insight into the lifecycle of their clothing.

The system, Voyage, was created as part of IBM’s Extreme Blue Internship, in which university students were challenged to develop a new product with Burberry’s digital team. Using IBM’s blockchain platform, Voyage identifies a product through scanning a near-field communication tag or entering a product ID, allowing consumers to trace a garment’s production at every stage, even allowing consumers to add additional stages if the clothing is upcycled.

According to Luq Niazi, global managing director at IBM Consumer Industries: ‘We hope that both the students’ experiences and this prototype can inspire new ideas around tackling sustainability and traceability for the fashion industry.’

The Voyage platform uses blockchain to empower consumers to consider each stage of their garment's life. Discover more ways blockchain can be used in our Blockchain in Fashion article.

Allure magazine’s immersive AR beauty issue

Allure magazine & Perfect Corp, China

China – Allure magazine is launching an augmented reality (AR) activated holiday shopping issue in partnership with Perfect Corp.

For its November issue, the magazine will allow users to try on products virtually and experience elevated imagery. To view the AR features, users scan a QR code in the magazine with their smartphone and download Perfect Corp’s YouCam Makeup app for free. Organised into sections – featuring make-up, skincare, haircare and fragrance – readers can instantly shop for over 300 products as part of the immersive publication.

‘The fun, interactive, in-person part of beauty shopping — swatching, smearing and spritzing in stores — has been put on hold indefinitely,' says Michelle Lee, editor-in-chief of Allure. 'So we set out on a mission… How could we bring the experience of the beauty store into your home?’

Billed as the first of its kind, this issue shows how publishers can provide more engaging and shoppable experiences for readers. For more on beauty’s phygital experimentation, explore our Q&A with Lush.

Stat: All age groups are invested in mental wellbeing

Ritual, US

According to Euromonitor’s 2020 Health and Nutrition survey, generational definitions of health focus more on cognitive wellbeing.

While mental health is often considered the concern of younger consumers, many of whom suffer from conditions such as anxiety, the study found that older consumers are equally accepting of mental health. According to the global study, some 66% of Baby Boomers and Generation X rank mental wellbeing as the top meaning of health, followed by 64% of Millennials and 61% of Generation Z.

In addition, the report highlights the growing market for supplements targeted at cognitive health. Between 2015 and 2020, the market for memory and cognitive health-positioned supplements saw a compound annual growth rate of 7% globally, with the US driving this growth.

As consumers focus more on enhancing the resilience of their minds as well as their bodies, we can expect to see a boom in health products that cater for this shift and tap into Resilience Culture.