Tomorrow starts here.
LOOP.Trends

This bike was created through the collaboration of Swedish start-up Vélosophy and Nespresso, who are continuously exploring new ways to encourage their customers to recycle their coffee pods. The bicycle itself features some quirky elements to hint at its origins, such as cup holders for coffee, a coffee pod-shaped bell, and its unique color.

An additional achievement of RE:CYCLE is that with each one sold, a bicycle is also donated to a schoolgirl in the developing world. This is a result of Vélosophy cutting down on costs by having no showrooms and conducting all sales online.

The RE:CYCLE costs €1,290, and the man behind the idea - Jimmy Östholm, former IKEA communications manager turned bike entrepreneur - says "I want that premium experience, but I want as many people as possible to afford the bike.”

As part of the campaign, both the San Antonio Zoo and El Paso Zoo are hosting an event that lets people honor their ex in a satisfying way. Visitors will be able to dedicate a cockroach after their ex and have it fed to an animal.

The event in San Antonio costs $5, whereas the one in El Paso is free, although donations are suggested. El Paso Zoo director Joe Montisano promised to eat a cockroach for every $1,000 they raised in donations.

What’s best, people won’t have to live in either city, as the zoos are offering people an opportunity to watch the events through a live stream on social media.

Sephora's latest commercial, Color Up Close celebrates skin tone diversity by directly addressing the fact that color is something "we're not supposed to talk about" and turning the taboo on its head to embrace the beauty to be found in diversity. 

The brand has approached a number of women of color – influencers and makeup artists – to be Equity Advisors in an attempt to advance efforts to "eliminate racial bias in retail and create spaces where everyone belongs." 

The campaign comes just months after the company faced backlash for a well-publicized incident of racial discrimination in one of its stores. The brand has reportedly implemented racial sensitivity training across all of its stores. 

The brand said the following about the campaign: "It recognizes that, beyond merely offering a vast range of complexion offerings, retailers must acknowledge and embrace all shades and backgrounds while serving a diverse clientele. This chapter honors the diversity of all clients, and implements a series of actions to ignite immediate and long-term improvements."

As younger shoppers - particularly Generation Z - continue to demonstrate a greater interest in customizable products, even the luxury fashion market is responding. Gartner shared statistics that show the increase from 2018 to 2019 in personalization-focused post content online by all of the most popular fashion brands in China.

Limited edition and exclusive content rose from 62% to 80%, product collaboration from 36% to 51% and product customization from 24% to 44%. These increases can be seen in some of these brands' latest trending items, for example, Louis Vuitton made their personalization service available to global customers through their online platform. Coach enables its customers to personalize products not only through their website but via a WeChat Mini Program. Similarly, Calvin Klein also offers this channel for the customization of their signature #MYCALVINS underwear, where customers can add their favorite emoji to their item.

Amie Song, an advisory specialist at Gartner L2 observed that customization is becoming a must-have service for luxury brands and that it is particularly welcomed by customers during the gift-giving period.