This month: The ‘Brat’-ification of Kamala Harris’s campaign; Gen Z women and Carrie Bradshaw don’t get along; Seventeen makes history at Glastonbury; Supermarkets are hot destinations for tourism; And no more public yoga in San Diego.
Pop artists just needed some chutzpah
Media & Entertainment
In the monopolised musical sphere that is the Swiftie empire, pop music is in need of a shake up. However, amid the ultra-mainstreaming of mainstream pop, an era of artists are disrupting the landscape with their bold and colourful brand of surrealism. Interested by the rise of this overt form of self-expression, Rafa has been keeping an eye on artists like Charli XCX and Chappel Roan, who, with their low sans serif fonts and muppets inspired makeups, are in a pursuit to find freedom and euphoria in music. Spotlighting the hedonistic elements of queer culture and defying perceptions of Gen Z killing club culture by embracing a new era of club classics, it makes sense that these are our favourite artists’ favourite artist – the loud and iconic looks speak for themselves. It’s time for Miss Americana to open space for It Girls coming up.
Personal shoppers for all
Technology
Online retail may, in theory, have transformed the level of convenience around the shopping experience for consumers, but the increasingly sprawling product pages of the likes of Amazon, Asos, eBay and Etsy can often lead to cries of choice paralysis. However, you could soon all have your own personal shoppers on these types of platforms thanks to developments in AI. Second-hand clothing retailer ThredUp recently launched a new AI search product that intuits what its users are looking for across hundreds of attributes, and Puma has partnered with Google Cloud to deliver generative AI tools that allow for virtual try-ons of sportswear using AI-generated content. Why is this interesting? Consumers have discovered post-covid that there’s still something missing about the online shopping experience. The online experience needs to innovate fast and provide the personal element of the in-store experience, and start proving that it is serving the best interests of the shopper, against a critical backdrop of the evolution of apps. You can read MTM’s award-winning work on retail apps here.
TikTok DJs
Entertainment & Lifestyle
TikTok’s influence on the music scene is undeniable with 85% of videos on TikTok containing music. More recently, a trend has emerged where DJs are taking funny, popular TikTok sounds and remixing them into their live sets, and Marina is here for it. For example, production and DJ duo, LOUD LUXURY, have made headlines for their ability to seamlessly intertwine audio clips from viral videos, such as Madeline Argy’s “what the f*** do DJs actually do?”, and iconic couple Jett and Pookie saying “Pookie is looking amazing tonight” into epic beat drops and set lists. The participatory nature of TikTok is what sets it apart in the music industry for not only creating opportunities for DJs to go viral, but remixes too. Spotify is reportedly testing a series of TikTok-inspired remixing features, which would allow subscribers to “speed up, mash up and otherwise edit” tracks from their favourite artists. Regardless of such developments, the fact remains that competitors can’t give aspiring DJs access to the same culturally rich bank of popular sounds as TikTok, which points to a promising future for this scene on the app.
What’s on your mind?
Curious about trends? Want to know more about something we’ve spotted? Let us know! Be it for businesses or personal curiosity, we’re here to help!