Experience Design, Back to Basics and A New Vision for Masculinity
The weekly look at three curious points of tension, plus optimistic ‘what if’ ideas for what to do moving forward.
Fashion Month Highlights
We love to experience it. Beautiful events proving fashion can be inclusive? Say no more: LFW and Chet Lo developed a tactile experience for visually impaired guests:
“Now, it’s like we can do whatever we want and we can be whoever we want to be. That’s what fashion week represents. I went blind through no fault of my own so why should I stand here and be like: ‘Oh, I’m going to just accept not feeling like myself.’ I don’t have to do that in 2026.”
Elsewhere in Milan, AVAV always have the best runways (and good-weird whatarethose shoes), this season is no different: flipping attention with the attendees walking the runway to explore The Female Gaze. Yes! Be gone lazy-celebrity-content, make us feel something instead. James Denman had the best take on this already.
Moving forward: How might we develop a launch or campaign designed to be fully experienced rather than passively consumed? How might we creatively reimagine traditionally exclusive experiences to be inclusive instead?
Back to Basics
This week, challenger-brand Nothing will be launching in colour! In the words of CEO Carl Pei: “Technology used to feel optimistic. Color helps bring some of that back.” Are they also reviving our collective ObsoleteSonyfantasy? Later in May, The V&A will open a new exhibit on lost music venues, everyone is passing that Death of Spotify post feat. Johnny Iovine again, and one post caught my eye that DO/Curate is launching their latest book with a prio on word-of-mouth not PR campaigns and festival speaking engagements. I think this signals that we are so done with slop, we’re getting back to basics. Hbu?
Moving forward: How might we launch a new product or experience that relied solely on making people feel something worth telling a friend about?
A Few Good Men
In one algorithmically-cosmic scroll, I read the following insight that Gen-Alpha prefer emotionally vulnerable men as role models vs. the classic Marvel-esque superheroes. Sing it with me: At Last… And right beneath that was one deeply vulnerable post of Joe Marler and Josh Widdicombe having this discussion re: anti-depressants and crying. They walk among us. But in all seriousness, this is about-time - I remember reading a thread asking for positive male role-models and every.single.one. was from the 80s…
Moving forward: How might we design experiences to support and socialise emotional vulnerability for all?