MACRO TRENDS SPRING/SUMMER 2016 As the past takes on new relevance and time becomes non-linear, the terms ‘future’ and ‘progress’ are interpreted in different ways. The old and new form unlikely partnerships as fresh interpretations of masterpieces clear the way for a subtle return to romance and opulence. The timelines are being removed from history, and we see a pairing of the digital and the crafted, museums becoming ‘experiences’, and archiving developing into a creative form of expression.
Transcript
MACRO TRENDS SPRING/SUMMER 2016
As the past takes on new relevance and time becomes non-linear, the terms ‘future’ and ‘progress’ are interpreted in different ways. The old and new form unlikely partnershipsas fresh interpretations of masterpieces clear the way for a subtle return to romance and opulence. The timelines are being removed from history, and we see a pairing of the digital and the crafted, museums becoming ‘experiences’, and archiving developing into a creative form of expression.
S/S 16 MACRO TRENDS
PASTMODERN
PAST MODERN
As deep history meets contemporary design, current culture and classical art and thinking are overlaid in new, non-judgmental ways. The past feels less exclusive and elitist as more recent events are wrapped in older histories, and ancient ideas are updated in split seconds.
HIGH/LOW
PAST MODERN
If we think of history in a non-linear way, the old and new can collide in ways that reinterpret traditional artistic conventions, in turn creating disobedient masterworks and contemporary artefacts. This act of historical augmentation creates additional layers that review and revitalise the past.
REWORKS OF ART
PAST MODERN
Curators are increasingly tailoring the presentation and storage of artworks and artefacts to the viewer by reimagining and repackaging them, digitally and physically, in ways that make them more accessible to all. Anything can be archived innovatively, from traditional patterns and building materials to DNA.
LIVINGARCHIVE
PAST MODERN
The creation of artworks that embody the concept of timeshifts is linked to a ‘multi-layered’ approach to museums, and this encapsulates the display of both ancient and modern ideas. These pieces incorporate global and cultural influences in digital and hand-crafted forms.
MUSEUM OF THE FUTURE
PAST MODERN
We see a return to decorative and luxurious design that updates romance with a provocative yet contemplative edge. Although the mood is ornamental, the fresh and artistic mix of periods and cultures is thoughtful, delightful and illuminating.
NEWOPULENCE
PAST MODERN
As design is increasingly exhibited in similar ways to artworks and relics, it takes on the same influences in terms of timelines and distortion. As such, a focus on context, process and ritual, including the exhibition space and manufacturing process, helps to create refined, quasi-religious objects.
DESIGNICONS
Removing the timelines from history allows for ingenious mixes of the digital and the crafted
Tradition and pop culture combine to attract new audiences
Effective user experience and personalisation are crucial for engaging clients – whether it be in design, in museums or in stores
Thoughtful and innovative archiving preserves and promotes a wealth of data and creativity
Opulence makes a comeback as romance and ornamentation are repackaged with a contemporary edge
KEYTAKEAWAYS
PASTMODERN
RESEARCH & REFERENCE
THE CLOTHWORKERS’ CENTRE IN THE MAKING
LILICOPTÈRE ANYWHERE, ANYWHERE OUT OF THE WORLD
LINCOLN 3D SCANS NEVERLAND SPACE
The V&A Museum’s new appointment-only study room in London provides visitors with a modern, custom-made environment for accessing the museum’s textiles and fashion archive.vam.ac.uk
This show at London’s Design Museum focused on disrupting the assembly line and looking at unfinished mass-produced products, such as beverage cans and lightbulbs.designmuseum.org
Joana Vasconcelos overlays the excess of 18th-century Versailles with modern-day technology to create an opulent helicopter, covered in rhinestones and feathers, that’s fit for Marie Antoinette. io9.com
Visitor experience is central to this exhibition of Philippe Parreno’s work at the Palais de Tokyo, using sound, objects, light and film to guide the viewer on a journey through his back catalogue.www.palaisdetokyo.com
Oliver Laric’s 3D renderings of artefacts from the Lincoln Museum in England transcend the importance of materials and age, translating history into high-resolution data files. lincoln3dscans.co.uk
Neverland Space is an online-only platform beyond the confines of a conventional gallery. Here, artists can shape unique experiences of internet art for each visitor.www.neverlandspace.com
Artist Faig Ahmed distorts history by morphing it with contemporary culture – in this instance, taking a traditional Azerbaijani rug and reshaping it into the familiar digital landscape of a graphic equaliser. faigahmed.com
The leaves and petals of Daniel Brown’s 3D flowers – based on exhibits at Dundee’s D’Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum – grow according to algorithms based on their surroundings. danielbrowns.com
The interior of Venice’s Palazzo Grassi museum was transformed for this artist’s self-curated exhibition, in which he covered every interior surface with antique rug-style carpeting.palazzograssi.it
Lernert & Sander’s installation at the Milan Furniture Fair 2014 was inspired by the wallpaper archive of Rath & Doodeheefver. Patterns became distorted as layers were stripped away over time.hetnieuweinstituut.nl
Labelling DNA samples with a portrait of its human donor, Gabriel Barcia-Colombo’s installation explores how history can be packaged and displayed, highlighting our increasing access to biotechnology.gabebc.com
Man replaces machine in this twist on the printing process. Hand-made CMYK printouts mimic those made by computers, but with subtle differences in colour and tone. thehumanprinter.org
Based on a performance piece by Marina Abramović, this film features Jay Z rapping for six hours in a New York gallery full of celebrities, merging high art with pop culture. youtube.com
The new Wu Tang Clan album, of which only one copy exists, will be toured in festivals and art galleries before being sold as a piece of unique, handcrafted contemporary art.scluzay.com
This service matches your chromosomes to populations around the world, repackaging the idea of ancestry as useable data. 23andme.com
Belgian art and designer duo Studio Job used their archive to produce rolls of patterned wallpaper, harking back to a time when decorative wallpapers were treated as art in their own right. dezeen.com
Design agency Studio Droog’s napkin collar reworks an Elizabethan fashion statement, the ruff, into a stripped-back table decoration, updating historic looks with a modern minimalism.studio.droog.com
Mixing traditional Chinese references with high-fashion imagery, photographer Sun Jun creates editorials with a quiet, painterly quality that makes historical rituals seem timeless.sunjunphoto.com
Each season, the macro trends provide a progression of the previous season’s themes. We have seen the change from History 2.0 to Data Divination as creativity becomes a powerful tool for analysing statistics. Past Modern overlays the digital and the classical by repackaging art and artefacts for new audiences by removing their timelines and introducing pop culture references.
PAST MODERN
DATA DIVINATION
HISTORY 2.0
S/S 16
A/W 15/16
S/S 15
Old and new form unexpected partnerships as fresh interpretations of ancient masterpieces take on an air of romance and opulence. We see the pairing of contemporary and crafted, museums becoming ‘experiences’, and archiving evolving into a creative form of expression.
In Data Divination, we look at how the future will be driven by data yet powered by intuition. New digital analytics systems allow us to process statistics and predict outcomes, and there is a growing move towards more instinctive means of knowl-edge-gathering.
View report
History 2.0 reconsiders the past and creates new products for imagined worlds and futures that may once have seemed impossible – from bringing back historically extinct creatures such as dodos to building floating hotels in the desert.
The story of our world is both natural and manmade – and as we come to terms with the effect we’re having on our planet, we are taking a more active role in finding solutions. The global community is gathering to help avoid the loss of ancient cultures and the Earth as we know it. As our survival instincts kick in, sport becomes more extreme, we explore alternative design solutions to basic needs, and new city concepts focus on shifts in geography and populations.
S/S 16 MACRO TRENDS
ECOACTIVE
ECO ACTIVE
The depletion of natural resources is becoming evident, and these problems are bringing about changes on a planetary scale: not only are we endangering the environ-ment, but also ancient cultures. The race is on to preserve societies and regions at risk and to uphold the power of nature and place.
LOSTEARTH
ECO ACTIVE
A new emphasis on global teamwork and community spirit is reflected in international sporting events, and this is spearheading a positive movement to help halt the onset of eco-disasters. At the same time, harsher ecological conditions are inspiring more extreme disciplines, events and equipment.
RAWPOWER
ECO ACTIVE
Another reaction to the dystopian possibilities of life after ‘ecocide’ sees the materials we use take on a tougher aspect. Rough coatings and rugged substances, including rubber, wood, oil and lava, form the basis of product design that feels raw, yet refined.
BRUTENATURE
ECO ACTIVE
As basic resources such as fuel and water become scarce, we look to creative solutions that rely on a less destructive relationship between nature and technology. Beyond conservation and recycling, answers come from unexpected areas – including algae water pouches and fruit batteries.
SURVIVAL SOLUTIONS
ECO ACTIVE
There are longer-term answers to the ecological problems of the near-future. These touch upon the possibilities of reshaping land to aid climate control, the rehabilitation of abandoned urban architecture, and the building of ‘mobile cities’ that help regenerate the desert.
REDEFINING GEOGRAPHY
Preserving and building long-term relationships with endangered cultures and ecosystems becomes a priority
Extreme and cross-cultural sports become a focal point in the year of the Brazil Olympic Games
Earthy, textured and layered mixes of materials are essential – from raw to refined, man-made to natural
Ecology and humanity gain new-found respect through more considerate manufacturing processes
Creative ways of working with found materials and existing objects show respect for the scarcity of resources
KEYTAKEAWAYS
ECOACTIVE
RESEARCH & REFERENCE
TERRAFORMING
OOHO!
GULLAH
BEFORE THEY PASS
HYPEROBjECTS
LOST HUMAN GENETICARCHIVE
Based around an interactive sandpit, this installation at The Museum of Future Government Services in Dubai makes it possible to create and modify new terrain and explore how it affects the weather. vvurbancodes.tumblr.com
Ooho! is a sustainable alternative to plastic water bottles with an edible form of algae for an outer skin. It’s inspired by the process of ‘spherification’, which can be re-created at home with a basic recipe.designacademy.nl
The US Gullah community, descended from enslaved Africans and based in South Carolina and Georgia, has a rich cultural heritage that’s reflected in its creole language – a mix of African and English.youtube.com
This project by photographer Jimmy Nelson aims to make an ethnographic record of tribal cultures by documenting their time-honoured traditions and rituals before they are lost forever.beforethey.com
Philosopher Timothy Morton uses ‘hyperobjects’ to describe things that are so huge, in terms of their impact on the world, that they defy traditional categorisation – global warming being a prescient example.upress.umn.edu
For this exhibition series, the latest of which is showing at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto has created a post-human futureworld that allows us to look back at the history of our species.palaisdetokyo.com
Bio-engineer Angela Belcher’s work focuses on manipulating viruses so they can be useful to humans, creating nano-structures that form the basis of ‘clean’ batteries, fuels and solar cells.ted.com
Design studio Formafantasma explores the link between landscapes and cultural heritage by producing objects from local materials – in this case, clocks created in Sicily using lava from Mount Etna.formafantasma.com
Designed by Thomas Heatherwick, this public garden and pedestrian crossing is set to provide a green oasis in London that will also encourage more walking in the city.gardenbridgetrust.org
This answer to the problem of desertification proposes the creation of ‘moving cities’ that crawl across the desert, irrigating and fertilising the land as well as providing housing within.stephanemalka.com
Inspired by an imagined future brought about by the downfall of the economy and society, Martijn van Strien has designed a collection of protective garments cut from a single tarpaulin that proves to be both functional and resource-aware.martijnvanstrien.com
Brazilian photographer Julio Canto Chollet‘s warped, hazy pictures were created to reflect the extreme temperatures experienced during a heatwave in the city of Porto Alegre.behance.net
Rio de Janeiro has been criticised for its poor ecological record, so with the arrival of the Olympics in 2016, the city is working on a sustainable management plan to help offset the impact of its infrastructure. rio2016.com
This high-energy, stamina-testing endurance challenge invites participants to tackle mud-pits and run over large fire obstacles across 10- to 12-mile courses.toughmudder.co.uk
The second-largest shopping mall in the world, in the city of Dongguan, has been virtually empty since it opened in 2005. The lack of visitors to the ‘dead mall’ forced shop-owners to abandon the complex. vagabondjourney.com
Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde, in collaboration with the Mayor of Beijing, is developing vacuum cleaner-like technology to help rid an urban park of pollution.studioroosegaarde.net
Rooted in New Orleans R&B and country and western music, swamp pop is a genre strongly associated with Louisiana and has a distinct sound that reflects the cultural and ecological make-up of the region.en.wikipedia.org
Water is Life has helped develop a book with pages that can be used as filters to turn contaminated water into pure drinking water. The book can also be used to teach safe-water values for people in need.waterislife.com
Each season, the macro trends provide a progression of the previous season’s themes. We have seen the transition from Bio-Dynamic to Social Superheroes as the focus shifts from biological to political systems. Scale increases again this season as Eco-Active explores how society as a whole can solve the problems caused by our ecological impact on the Earth.
ECO-ACTIVE
SOCIAL SUPERHEROES
BIO-DYNAMIC
S/S 16
A/W 15/16
S/S 15
We take a more active role in preserving ancient cultures, raw materials and the Earth itself. As our survival instincts kick in, we look to alternative design ideas and new city concepts to help deal with shifts in geography and population.
Designers are using creativity as a force for good, addressing issues such as privacy, sustainability and product lifecycle. An envi-ronmentally ethical approach reaffirms the urgent need to create responsible solutions for consumer goods.
View report
Bio-Dynamic sees the way that we under-stand form, structures and even our own bodies completely revolutionised. It inspires us to create bacteria-friendly products and systems based on the fluid intelligence of the most basic life forms – microbes.
Playful and emotional themes carry intellectual weight in a new cultural climate: frilly decoration can be subversive, and intuition influences design that embraces ‘soft power’ and a creative mix of the senses. This is driven by a more comprehensive approach to identity and the modern rebranding of feminism, making for an all-inclusive world view no longer constrained by gender, sexuality or ethnicity.
S/S 16 MACRO TRENDS
SOFTPOP
SOFT POP
A new form of feminism is having an impact on masculinity as men aim to recapture their gentle sides. This highlights the importance of ‘trans’ thinking by focusing on soft power for all. Gender-free assertiveness sees rules and definitions cast aside in favour of an intelligent, open-minded world.
VISUALIZINGEQUALITY
Sweet decoration and frilly design go beyond the obvious and ironic, taking on an intellectual significance. The subtle introduction of fetish-style materials is rebellious and funny, as well as promoting the rejection of stereotypes via visual activism.
DARINGDECORATION
SOFT POP
Cuteness has a practical use for education, translating teenage iconography such as the emoji into ‘soft teaching’ tools that make sensitivity available to all. Immersive gaming and emotional computing are pivotal here, encouraging learning that reinforces positive, all-inclusive messages.
PLAYFULLEARNING
SOFT POP
Blurring applies to colour and race as well as sexuality and culture, with sharp definitions becoming more obsolete when interpreting how people look and feel. We can no longer define identity in simple terms, and instead see it as a rich kaleidoscope of personal data and feelings.
KALEIDOSCOPEHUMANS
SOFT POP
SOFT POP
Visualising emotion and embedding touch into technology add sentiment into design, thereby inspiring products for all of the senses. The use of comfort as a functional requirement is essential to this, creating objects that are sensitive and fun.
EMOTIONALMACHINES
SOFT POP
The links between sensation and feeling carry over into a subversive form of minimalism, combining texture with reductive shapes and bleached-out colour. There is a sense of romantic fuzziness, emphasised by the de-saturated shades, that ties in with the importance of pairing playfulness with tenderness.
TACTILENEUTRALITY
There is an increased open-mindedness towards gender, race and sexual ambiguity
Soft power, which is open to instinct, emotion and all other human senses, is gaining ground in all areas, including technology
Softness and comfort are central considerations throughout the design world
Decoration and playfulness become serious concepts for making design more approachable
In contrast to this, decoration can take on cartoon aspects that are simplified, contemporary and fun
KEYTAKEAWAYS
SOFTPOP
RESEARCH & REFERENCE
ILLUMINATI GIRL GANG
SARAH CAIN
MISS ATHI-PATRA RUGA
SÃO PAULO ART BIENNIAL 2014
ADDICTED PRODUCTS
Alternative-literature author Gabby Bess founded Illuminati Girl Gang magazine as a means of female expression, supporting a new generation of feminist writers, photographers, illustrators and other creatives.illuminatigirlgang.com
Mixed-media artist Sarah Cain pursues her feminist stance through shows including the comically named Burning Bush, a solo exhibition at New York City’s Galerie Lelong exploring mysticism, purity and love.galerielelong.com
Providing a context for femininity in architecture – typically a male-dominated profession – is the goal of MISS, a platform introducing a design dialogue on gender roles via events and publishing. miss-mag.com
Cultural identity is central to this South African artist’s work, in which he uses performance, video and costume to conjure up a dreamlike Utopia where humans are hybrids and divisions are unimportant.athipatraruga.blogspot.co.uk/
The São Paulo Art Biennial 2014, taking place in September, has been nicknamed the ‘trans-biennial’, as this year’s main themes are based on transgression, transcendence and trans-sexuality.biennialfoundation.org
This graduation project by Simone Rebaudengo and design and research team Haque focuses on the emotional wellbeing of household toasters, enabling them to communicate online with their owners when they feel underused.addictedproducts.com
As part of a crowd-sourced and -funded project utilising Amazon’s on-demand workforce, Herman Melville’s novel about a legendary whale hunt has been translated in its entirety using emoji icons. emojidick.com
This media-art installation, featuring a wall of LED rings, is an interactive space where developers can create tangible light, colour and audio content using their regular coding platforms.tangibleinteraction.com
The latest music video for Canadian band Arcade Fire blurs the boundaries between male and female roles as its main character embarks on a journey of gender exploration and discovery. youtube.com
Created to show plants as hypersensitive objects that are capable of communicating, Cactunes was exhibited at the Milan Furniture Fair 2014 and featured cacti that hummed when touched. disegnodaily.com
With the population of the US becoming increasingly multiracial, traditional notions of black and white are becoming obsolete. Photographer Martin Schoeller’s digitally altered portraits show how average Americans could look in 2050.nationalgeographic.com
Gender Swap allows its subjects to experience physically what it’s like to be a member of the opposite sex. To do so it uses Machine to be Another, a system of ‘embodiment experience’ wherein people can feel like they inhabit a different body.themachinetobeanother.org
HBO’s Girls, written and directed by Lena Dunham, depicts a realistic view of the lives of four young women in New York City.hbo.com
Olly is a small computer device that gently releases bursts of scent into the air to inform of the receipt of emails and messages, plus other important notifications. ollyfactory.com
Belgian pop musician Stromae creates catchy tracks with subliminal messages. The singer subverts gender stereotypes in his latest music video, Tous Les Mêmes, by becoming ‘half-female’.stromae.net
The 2014 Eurovision Song Contest winner, Conchita Wurst (the alter ego of Austria-born Tom Neuwirth), has become a symbol of tolerance, equality and artistic freedom after performing at the event with a beard and wearing a dress.eurovision.tv
Beyoncé’s self-titled ‘visual album’ features promotional videos for every track. Through its lyrics and visuals, she touches upon themes such as female empowerment and the notion of beauty in popular culture. beyonce.com
Waitrose is now selling the bubblegum-flavoured ‘bubbleberry’ – a pale, rounder version of the strawberry that was popular in 19th century before falling out of favour and largely being forgotten.waitrose.presscentre.com
Each season, the macro trends provide a progression of the previous season’s themes. We have seen the change from Focus to Everyday Utopias as emotion and connectivity inspire a contemplative plan for enriching everyday life. This season, the emphasis on touch and sentiment continues with Soft Pop as a future based on equality, playfulness and feeling emerges.
SOFT POP
EVERYDAY UTOPIAS
FOCUS
S/S 16
A/W 15/16
S/S 15
An inclusive approach to identity makes for a worldview no longer constrained by gender, sexuality or ethnicity. Frilly decoration can be subversive in this new cultural climate as playful products embrace a creative mix of the senses.
As designers exalt the ordinary objects and elements of modern life, we find pockets of paradise in the everyday: from pauses in the humdrum routine of work to more mindful experiences in our daily lives.
View report
In Focus, the material world comes into sharp focus as a reaction to virtual living. Technology becomes a means of connecting to our surroundings, with objects encouraging contemplation, emotional response and connecting us to a specific environment.
The strange beauty of the deep sea reminds us of the wonders of the universe and the fantastical possibilities of going beyond its limits. Science takes on a cinematic quality in this preserved world where an unscripted drama is played out by weird creatures, bio-mimicry and morphing substances. Rare and contrasting materials take on an otherworldly importance, often in suspended and floating states. The atmosphere is ephemeral, refined and darkly compelling.
S/S 16 MACRO TRENDS
DEEPSUMMER
DEEP SUMMER
With the awareness of other worlds running parallel to our own, there also comes the possibility of other dimensions and alternative perspectives. This in turn inspires us to think beyond the known boundaries of the deep sea and deep space, and to explore science-fiction and noir-inspired design.
THEMULTIVERSE
THEMULTIVERSE
DEEP SUMMER
Cosmologists now believe that gravitational waves triggered by the Big Bang created the perfect conditions for the formation of additional universes to our own – giving rise to the concept of the ‘multiverse’.
DEEP SUMMER
Existing within preserved worlds where the drama of nature becomes a filmic experience, deep-sea creatures have a supernatural quality. An emphasis on instinct and wonder over scientific analysis helps to highlight the awesome power and splendour of evolution and the unknown mysteries of the deep.
SUBMERGED
DEEP SUMMER
A shift in scale takes us from astral thinking to diving into the microcosm of the natural world. This reflects how beauty can be found in unexpected places – from rare animal markings to exaggerated plant forms. In this ephemeral world, berries become jewel-like and creatures inspire amorphous shapes.
WEIRDNATURE
DEEP SUMMER
Light takes on a chemical significance with a bright, noxious quality. In the deep oceans and dark of night, organisms emit a synthetic, alien glow. This eerie biolumines-cence can be mimicked via the use of acid-bright colours and mutating shades.
TOXICLIGHT
DEEP SUMMER
The many and varied treatments that place flora and fauna in new contexts or suspended states serve to magnify nature’s extraterrestrial side. This otherworldly look is achieved through crystallising, encapsulating and splicing techniques.
ALIENHYBRIDS
Inspiration comes from the unexplored and imaginary, such as the deep sea and deep space
Cinematic backgrounds are vital for showcasing the bright, otherworldly colours, materials and shapes of this trend
Equally essential is the introduction of light effects and bioluminescent technology to design
Pattern, colour and texture are showcased in fresh ways, with watery, submerged and weightless aspects focused upon
By looking at nature in detail, we become aware of strange new technical and organic surface possibilities
KEYTAKEAWAYS
DEEPSUMMER
RESEARCH & REFERENCE
UNDER THE SKIN LEOPOLD AND RUDOLPH BLASCHKA
RECOLLECTION SANDRA KENNEL
RU XIAO FAN IRIS VAN HERPEN
Jonathan Glazer’s 2014 film, following an alien on the hunt for men to lure into a strange submerged trap, used an extraterrestrial to explore humankind’s darker impulses.undertheskinmovie.com
Guido Mocafico’s photos capture the brilliance of Leopold and Rudolph Blaschka’s 19th-century glass replicas of weird sea creatures.guidomocafico.com
French artist Pierre Huyghe created a theatre-like aquarium, entitled Recollection, for the Frieze Art Fair in 2011. Here, sea creatures became actors, playing out the unscripted drama of nature in this enclosed world.friezefoundation.org
Flesh and fluid are constant themes of this Zurich-based photographer’s work. Her visceral images, which often explore sunken artificial worlds, play on the concept of purity. sandrakennel.com
Xiao Fan’s paintings emphasise the menacing beauty and unworldly appearance of magnified flower parts, hinting at the artist’s dark yet humorous take on pleasure and obsession.adamgallery.com
For her Biopiracy collection, the Dutch womenswear designer suspended vacuum-packed models over the catwalk, introducing an alien, embryonic edge to couture-like dress design.irisvanherpen.com
Peugeot’s debut lab project, featuring a knife made from a metorite and 3D printed metal, highlighted the otherworldliness of man-made objects fused with natural materials.cardesignnews.com
Consisting of 12 custom-made pendulums that create light and sound as they swing, this immersive installation by United Visual Artists is a deeply strange and introspective space.barbican.org.uk
Inspired by deep-sea jellyfish, this Dutch designer explores the possibility of using ‘biomimicry’ to solve everyday problems, such as growing bioluminescent trees to replace street lights.dezeen.com
Curved concrete patterns are encased in a glass shell at this new building in the Austrian port of Fussach. When lit from within, its amorphous aquatic appearance stands at odds with the hard-edged nature of its materials.baumschlager-eberle.com
Cosmologists now believe that when the Big Bang occurred, the process that created our universe may have been repeated. This opens up the possibility that parallel universes could, theoretically, exist.nationalgeographic.com
Filmed without light using innovative thermal-imaging 3D technology, filmmaker Philippe Baylaucq’s Ora portrays a submerged, solarised world where the human body takes on an outlandish presence.emptykingdom.com
THE WATER DISCUS HOTEL, DUBAI ALEXANDER MCQUEEN S/S 14 CAMPAIGN VIDEO
I’M AQUARIUS BY METRONOMY
SHEEZUS BY LILY ALLEN LICK ME I’M DELICIOUS
In this series of images produced for online menswear store Oki-ni, art director Andrew Stellitano and photographer Sam Hofman capture the flowing abnormality of the deep sea using large iridescent bubbles. astarism.co.uk
Currently under construction, these hotels – each with two levels above and below the sea – will make it possible for guests to experience life and luxury underwater.deep-ocean-technology.com
This short film is directed by Steven Klein and stars Kate Moss. The model, looking like a visitor from another dimension, walks the dark streets of London lit by an unnatural glow. youtube.com
Compiling the top 300 festivals around the world, this site was set up to champion the need for real-time human interaction in the digital age, but it also underscores the contemporary importance of escapism and journeys in to the unknown.fest300.com
This video, with its saturated colours and synthetic highlights, sees the influenceof bioluminescence used in a youthful, commercial context.youtube.com
By synthesising the luminescent protein that makes jellyfish glow in the depths of the ocean, Wales’ ‘edible inventor’ Charlie Harry Francis has created a glow-in-the-dark ice-cream that lights up when lickedlickmeimdelicious.com
Each season, the macro trends provide a progression of the previous season’s themes. We have seen the change from Bio-Dynamic to Data Divination as the importance of physical structures gives way to an emphasis on mind power. This season, Deep Summer looks to the awe-inspiring nature of the organic world, with its intuitiveness and drama being of particular interest.
DEEP SUMMER
DATA DIVINATION
BIO-DYNAMIC
S/S 16
A/W 15/16
S/S 15
The deep sea reminds us of the universe’s wonders and the possibilities of going beyond its limits. Science takes on a cinematic quality in this weird world of bio-mimicry and morphing substances where otherworldly organics feel ephemeral and darkly compelling.
In Data Divination, we look at how the future will be driven by data yet powered by intuition. New digital analytics systems allow us to process statistics and predict outcomes, and there is a growing move towards more instinctive means of knowledge-gathering.
View report
Bio-Dynamic sees the way that we understand form, structures and even our own bodies completely revolutionised. It inspires us to create bacteria-friendly products and systems based on the fluid intelligence of the most basic life forms – microbes.
