Create Tomorrow, The WGSN Podcast

In this episode, Bethan Ryder, Editorial Director at WGSN is joined by guests Simon Mitchell, co-founder of architectural studio Sybarite, and Laura Saunter, Senior Strategist at WGSN. Together, Bethan and guests explore the landscape of luxury retail, from the return of the mega flagship in the post-pandemic era to how luxury brands are meeting the needs of the most discerning consumers by delivering memorable in-store experiences. Simon and Laura bring valuable insights on designing luxury retail spaces around the world, how China is leading the way, the influence of sustainability on the design process, and the evolving relationship between consumers and brands within the physical retail environment. Find out why retail design is theatre. Why stores and malls need to deliver delight and joy. And how luxury brands are becoming cultural curators. Hear from Simon Mitchell, co-founder of luxury retail design specialists Sybarite, on how a Katharine Hamnett store inspired him to follow a design career back in the 80s and how working with Marni taught him how you could push the boundaries of retail design.

Welcome back to Create Tomorrow. On this week’s episode Claire Lancaster, WGSN head of Food & Drink and Katherine Schub, Forecaster and Strategist on our Food and Drink team join Bethan to discuss snacking culture. Consumers are snacking more than ever, whether for comfort, for their health or for convenience. In this episode, host director of Editorial at WGSN and her expert guests explore consumers’ evolving snacking tastes plus the pioneering brands on the market right now. Bethan, Claire and Katherine find out why snacking has cult appeal, how brands are collaborating with creators to release limited edition snacks and how this is impacting the food and drink landscape. Listen to hear Katherine and Claire’s favourite snack, we don’t get to hear Bethan’s because well… listen to find out why.

Vollebak is a British fashion brand focusing on designing clothes that will see us through extreme environments, war and space exploration. Co-founder of the clothing company Steve Tidball joins host editorial director Bethan Ryder and WGSN head of activewear Yvonne Kostiak to discuss the future of clothing for the next century, innovations in the activewear market and why Vollebak doesn’t produce seasonal collections like most clothing brands. Steve talks about Vollebak's inception, the brand's  journey into the future and of course the Jason Bourne-esque pants designed to last 100 years.

This is the concluding episode of our Milan Design Week Special series in which we’ve explored some of the key trends and brought you insights and interviews from the 2023 edition, which takes place across the city and also at Fiera Milano exhibition centre located just outside the city. Bethan Ryder, WGSN Executive Editorial Director is joined by Director of Interiors Lisa White and Head of Interiors Gemma Riberti as we explore materials, a trend that had a strong focus at this year’s Milan Design Week. Tune in to hear about creative material contrasts, recycled glass, a biodegradable hemp chair and an innovation that might help us to detect dangerous UV rays in the future.

This is the third in our series of episodes in which we bring you some of the key trends, insights and interviews from Milan Design Week 2023. The annual Milan Design Week is considered the world’s biggest event dedicated to design which takes place at Fiera Milano exhibition centre located just outside the city, plus across the city as Fuorisalone in showrooms, palazzos and other venues. Bethan Ryder, WGSN Executive Editorial Director is joined by Director of Interiors Lisa White and Head of Interiors Gemma Riberti as we explore our sustainability trend. In this episode we focus on an interview with Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin, co-founders of Formafantasma, the research-driven design studio who are leading the conversion on sustainability and design not just from a materials perspective but also a human one. And also catch up with Dutch designer Maarten Baas, who created a private jet of recycled denim for his collaboration with G-Star RAW.

This is the second in our series of episodes in which we bring you some of the key trends, insights and interviews from Milan Design Week 2023. The annual Milan Design Week is considered the world’s biggest event dedicated to design which takes place at Fiera Milano exhibition centre located just outside the city, plus across the city as Fuorisalone in showrooms, palazzos and other venues. Bethan Ryder, WGSN Executive Editorial Director is joined by Director of Interiors Lisa White and Head of Interiors Gemma Riberti as we explore our outdoor lifestyles trend. We focus on an interview with Marie Kristine Schmidt, chief brand officer at the Danish company Gubi, speaking as we toured their installation at the iconic Bagna Misteriosa in Milan.

Over the next four episodes our Interiors experts will be bringing you key trends, insights and interviews from this year’s Milan Design Week. Subscribers can find a suite of six trend analysis reports covering all the trends you need to know from this year’s event, in this short series of podcasts we’ll cover four of those trends.  The annual Milan Design Week is considered the world’s biggest event dedicated to design which takes place at Fiera Milano exhibition centre located just outside the city, plus across the city as Fuorisalone in showrooms, palazzos and other venues. Expect to hear from innovators, disruptors and designers from Formafantasma and Danish company Gubi’s chief brand officer Marie Kristine Schmidt to German designer Markus Benesch and the makers of a compostable hemp chair.  In this episode, Bethan Ryder, WGSN Executive Editorial Director is joined by Director of Interiors Lisa White and Head of Interiors Gemma Riberti to discuss our first trend, the overall sense of optimism at the festival, it's the first time in four years it returned to its April slot and the joy was palpable.

Redefining masculinity, men’s make-up has grown in popularity, driven by celebrity pioneers like Pharrell Williams and Brad Pitt launching brands and K-pop idols openly wearing and experimenting with make-up.In this episode Sienna Piccioni, Head of WGSN Beauty, Senior Strategist on Fashion, Nick Paget and Jaeyeon Park, Youth Fashion Strategist based in Seoul, South Korea share the need-to-know brands and strategies for catering to this new cohort.Host Bethan Ryder chairs a conversation covering male makeup stigmas, its history, the language brands are adopting to capitalise on this rising trend and how dating apps and the pandemic have encouraged the normalisation of male makeup.

Biotechnology company Modern Synthesis have developed a biomaterial from bacterial fermentation that can be used to create a low-carbon alternative to traditional clothing fabrics.Modern Synthesis founder Jen Keane explains her process to this week’s host Helen Palmer, head of materials at WGSN and Lucila Saldana, Footwear & Accessories Editor at WGSN.The biomaterial was developed in the company’s London lab and in this episode of Create Tomorrow Jen Keane talks about the development, stigmas around synthetic biology and GMO materials and about fabric innovations of the future.

This week WGSN Director of Insight Joe McDonnell in conversation with Cassandra Napoli, Senior Strategist, and Brielle Saggese, Insight Strategist, they discuss this year’s SXSW festival. For those unfamiliar with SXSW, it’s an annual festival in Austin, Texas that brings together creatives, innovators, and entrepreneurs from around the world to share ideas, showcase their work, and connect with others in their industries. Joe, Cassandra and Brielle all attended the 36th SXSW and in this episode, they give us a full rundown on the emerging trends and major discussion topics from this year’s event. Cassandra and Brielle share some of their most interesting highlights from this year’s SXSW including AI mental health resources, snacks being used as political signalers, and video games that help surgeons prepare for surgeries.