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Bumble spotlights 2020 dating struggles

The Brooklyn Brothers and Bumble, UK

UK – Dating app Bumble is exploring the trials and tribulations of dating during 2020 as part of its new campaign by The Brooklyn Brothers.

Featuring Bafta-winning actress Helena Bonham-Carter as the narrator and ‘godmother of dating’, the advert touches on the common relationship pressures felt during the holiday season. In the campaign, Bonham-Carter reflects on the dating barriers people have faced in a year of social distancing.

With Bumble’s recent research finding that 71% of its app users felt their dating life had been significantly affected in 2020, the ad hopes to connect with the shared experience of daters, especially over the festive period. ‘There was an opportunity to do something that showed we understood – something that feels as if it’s for women, by women – and to celebrate this imperfect dating journey that so many people have been on,' says Cali Oliver, creative director of The Brooklyn Brothers.

The dating landscape has faced new challenges this year, leading to innovation in the sector through tools and platforms that encourage socially distant dating.

Vibram Component taps DIY sneakerheads

Vibram Component by Vibram, Italy

Italy – Outsole manufacturer Vibram is launching Vibram Component, a customisation tool that enables consumers to build their own shoe.

The Component tool is a package that includes the brand’s first ever sole, the Carramato, along with pieces of leather, laces and fabric. Customers can choose their colour preference for the shoe sole – black, brown or white – and will be able to manually put together their own shoes without glue or adhesives.

Through a simple stitching technique, customers can assemble the shoes with several options for personalisation; through the colour or pattern of the laces and stitching. ‘Vibram Component is a concept that aims to return to a hands-on/do-it-yourself attitude, using low-tech personalisation,’ said Gianmarco Ricci, connection lab director at Vibram.

As more brands tap into the DIY Dressing Market, the launch could further evolve for the brand, ushering in new opportunities for collaborations that enhance the personalisation element of the shoe.

Waterbuurt is Amsterdam’s floating housing district

Amsterdam – Waterbuurt is a new residential development in Amsterdam, made up of nearly 100 individual floating homes.

Moored on Lake Eimer, the homes are described not as houseboats but as floating houses with jetties in tow. The district includes a variety of housing types designed by Dutch architect Marlies Rohmer. Built as a shipyard, the floating home district is moored to steel pylons, ensuring the individual homes only move vertically with the changing tide.

Residents of Waterbuurt can also trade energy with each other when one household needs electricity, and another has extra. The efficiency of the housing also extends to other areas, with the roofs collecting rainwater that is then used for flushing toilets. Meanwhile, residents can use the roof space for growing food or other plants. Koen Olthuis, aquatic architecture visionary, said: ‘...most big cities are already densely populated, and the square-meter (housing) prices are rising rapidly… and water is not as expensive as land.’

With shelter, safety and climate efficiency rising as key concerns for communities, designers are innovating through more resilient living spaces.

Waterbuurt, Amsterdam

Stat: Sales in France’s small village shops soar

See You Tomorrow resale store by Nordstrom

With French citizens making the most of their rural holiday homes amid the pandemic, remote stores have experienced significant sales growth.

According to research by Nielsen, stores in small villages with more than 50% of second homes recorded FMCG sales growth of 58% during France’s first lockdown period. As Parisians in particular chose to flock to second homes, sales in stores in seaside resorts rose by 60% – despite the lack of tourism.

Anne Haine, senior vice-president Europe, Intelligent Analytics, said: ‘The FMCG industry has been a lifeline for people during the pandemic, and as we look to the future retailers should rethink their current store formats and locations, as well as future construction and expansion plans, to take into consideration the moves French shoppers are making, both at home and away.’

This shift in demand for local stores is prompting the digital evolution of independent retailers, boosting access and efficiency for remote shoppers.