LSN : Daily Signals : Japan’s working week shrinks as average hours fall below US

How Tressly Studios is redefining retail for textured hair

Tressly Studios, UK

UK – London’s first dedicated textured hair concept store and salon is set to open at Lewisham Shopping Centre on 7 March 2026. Tressly Studios has been created exclusively for Afro, curly and coily hair, addressing a long-standing industry blind spot.

Co-founded by Antoinette Ale, hair equity lead at the British Beauty Council, the concept brings together independent professional stylists and a curated selection of culture-first hair brands often overlooked by mainstream beauty retail. The space has been designed as a calm, contemporary environment offering in-depth consultations, expert protective styling, personalised haircare advice and educational workshops tailored to textured hair needs.

The opening marks Tressly’s evolution from a digital platform supporting stylists’ online storefronts into a premium physical destination, translating its tech-first infrastructure into an elevated, design-led retail and community experience.

In our Future Forecast 2025: Beauty report, we identified textured haircare as a market to watch, as consumers increasingly prioritise natural hair and self-expression. This cultural shift is driving greater product diversity and a new wave of brand innovation in a long-underserved sector of the industry.

Strategic opportunity

Create retail environments that focus on underserved consumer needs to build category authority and transform overlooked audiences into long-term brand communities

Japan’s working week shrinks as average hours fall below US

Shu-Chew Beats by Lotte, Japan

Japan – Japan’s long-held reputation for punishing work schedules may be softening.

New figures from the Cabinet Office show the average Japanese employee worked 1,654.2 hours in the 2024 financial year, down 17.7 hours from the previous year and significantly lower than the 2,121 hours recorded in 1980 at the height of the country’s period of rapid economic expansion.

The total also places Japan below the US’s average of 1,796 hours, South Korea’s 1,865, Canada’s 1,697 and Italy’s 1,709 hours of recorded work, according to OECD data. Germany’s 1,331 and Denmark’s 1,379 hours remain low in comparison.

Reforms targeting karoshi (death by overwork) have gathered pace since the 2000s, culminating in the 2019 Work Style Reform Act, which caps overtime at 45 hours per month and 360 hours per year.

This shift in workplace culture reflects insights from our Emerging Youth: Japan report, which delves into how young people in Japan are driving a quiet reset in how they live, work and push back amid political unrest and social fragmentation.

For more on the evolving expectations, behaviours and aspirations shaping the future workforce, head to our Future Work Personas report.

Strategic opportunity

Reframe workplace culture by designing trust-led office environments that value outcomes over hours, empowering employees to achieve personal and professional goals without the risk of burnout

Stat: How wellness-minded flyers are reshaping the inflight menu

VistaJet Wellness

UK – Travellers are extending their focus on health and wellbeing into the air, prompting airlines to rethink what good inflight food looks like. New research from global air and travel services supplier dnata, based on a nationwide survey of 2,000 adults, found that 47% of UK passengers are now more conscious of wellness over indulgence when choosing meals and drinks onboard than they were five years ago.

More than half of respondents (56%) want fresh, minimally processed ingredients, while 50% are calling for low-sugar or low-carb options. Functional nutrition is gaining traction, with 53% seeking more hydrating options such as electrolyte water, 45% wanting protein-rich meals and 19% willing to pay extra for food or drinks that support gut health or immunity. We have been tracking how airlines are integrating wellness into their offering since our 2023 Five Airlines Uplifting In-flight Wellness report.

Despite 46% agreeing that airline food has improved, 41% believe wellness options still lag behind. With the UK functional food market now worth over £1.6bn ($2.1bn, €1.8bn), inflight catering is increasingly judged by everyday eating habits. This shift mirrors the rise of Longevity Menus, as consumers increasingly prioritise nutrient-dense, scientifically backed food and drink across all eating occasions, including travel.

Strategic opportunity

Treat health and wellbeing as a core decision driver, ensuring products and experiences reflect consumers’ growing expectation that functional, feel-good choices are available by default