LSN : Daily Signals : Foresight Friday: Olivia Houghton, insights and engagement director

Rosewood leans into modern luxury with refreshed brand identity

Rosewood rebrand, global

Global – Luxury hotel group Rosewood is repositioning itself as a lifestyle and cultural leader, with a focus on storytelling and experiential travel.

Central to this transformation is a bold new visual identity, anchored by a custom Discovery Green colourway, which replaces the brand’s signature navy blue. Inspired by the natural landscapes surrounding Rosewood properties, the palette is applied across digital platforms, on-site signage and guest experiences.

Creatives including artist Sarah Van Rij, design studio Isabel+Helen, AI artist Sybille de Saint Louvent and filmmaker Conner Griffith were selected to create works using the the company’s new colourway.

The new visual identity will be rolled out across the globe on the facades of key Rosewood properties, on the sides of taxis in New York and London, and on trams in Hong Kong during the Green Moments initiative.

A limited-edition coffee table book, World of Rosewood, created in partnership with Monocle, accompanies the rebrand. The book celebrates local culture, heritage and creativity, connecting guests to Rosewood’s narrative of exploration and community.

Rosewood’s redesign reflects insights from our New Codes of Luxury macrotrend which identified discernment and elasticity as two of the most important values for modern brands when appealing to experience-led luxury consumers.

Strategic opportuntiy

Commission local artists, designers and cultural partners to co-create content, installations or limited-edition products that expand your brand universe and bring your story to life across physical and digital touchpoints

Foresight Friday: Olivia Houghton, insights and engagement director

Every Friday, we offer an end-of-week wrap-up of the topics, issues, ideas and virals we’re all talking about. This week, insights and engagement director Olivia Houghton explores two very opposing – yet equally telling – cultural shifts, from at-home supercomputers to pubic politics.

: This week, Kim Kardashian’s Skims released a sheer mesh thong hand-tufted with curly and straight faux pubic hair – a product that sounds like an April Fool’s joke but isn’t. Available in 12 shades, it sold out instantly, echoing the frenzy of Skims’ nipple bra earlier this year. While it taps into a growing movement reclaiming body hair as a symbol of autonomy and natural confidence, it also raises the question whether this is empowerment or oppression. Why are the natural features of the female body only deemed acceptable when imitated by lingerie, packaged and sold? Women spend thousands lasering off their hair only for brands to sell it back as empowerment – a paradox that blurs the line between liberation and commodification.

: At the other end of the spectrum, Nvidia’s new personal AI supercomputer, Spark, is now available to buy – bringing the kind of processing power once limited to energy-hungry data centres onto desks. The device, which can train and run advanced AI models locally, marks a significant leap towards everyday super-intelligence, particularly for creative professionals, researchers and technologists.

In a world increasingly shaped by generative AI, the arrival of desktop-scale supercomputing signals a future where innovation becomes decentralised and intelligence is no longer cloud-bound, but human-directed.

Google DeepMind, global

Quote of the week:

‘Un logro mio es un logro de todo demostrando nuestra huella, nuestra aportacion este pais. Nadie nunca le podra sacar ni borrar’ [‘An achievement of mine is an achievement of everyone, demonstrating our mark, our contribution to this country. No one can ever take it away or erase it’]

Bad Bunny, music artist, on Saturday Night Live, speaking about his upcoming Super Bowl performance and adding, ‘If you didn't understand what I just said then you have four months to learn’

Stat: Study shows decline in social media use among younger adults

Unplugged, photography by Pasco Photography, UK

Global – Adults are spending less time on social media, following a peak three years ago. By the end of 2024, those aged 16 or older were spending an average of two hours and 20 minutes per day on social platforms – a decline of almost 10% since 2022, according to analysis carried out for the Financial Times by digital audience insights company GWI.

The drop marks a clear shift in digital behaviour, particularly among teens and 20somethings – a theme we explored in our Teens, Tech and Tapping Out report.

Experts have linked the decline to growing fatigue with algorithmic feeds and the rise of ‘ultra-processed’ AI-generated content from platforms such as Meta and OpenAI.

After years of growth driven by lockdowns and influencer culture, social media appears to have reached saturation point. As audiences turn away from endless scrolling, brands face the challenge of how to connect with consumers who are seeking more meaningful, mindful and human-centred digital experiences.

Strategic opportuntiy

Reimagine engagement beyond traditional social channels by creating community-led, human-centred digital spaces that provide emotional value, authenticity and interaction over volume or passive scrolling