Healthy China, Legacy of Trees & Augmented Reading
Healthy China 2030
China’s wellness economy is growing fast, driven by a growing middle class and increasing demand for health-conscious lifestyles. Government support and corporate investment are building a stronger infrastructure for both physical and mental well-being.
More Chinese women are embracing fitness not for aesthetics, but for health, strength, and empowerment, redefining traditional beauty standards in the process. Gym participation, outdoor sports, and strength training are now female-led, with women-only fitness spaces emerging to better serve their needs. This shift is not just physical but psychological, as women reclaim confidence, bodily autonomy, and a sense of agency through movement. Read more here
Friends for a Month
Month Friend is new small social media, pairing random users for one month. The pair can exchange one message a day that are guided by prompts, such as “What is your favourite kind of soup?” or “What are you most proud of?”.
There is no matching or scrolling, just interpersonal messaging via daily emails. It is a response to the overwhelming mental and emotional labour that exists on the main platforms, boosted by hyper-optimised experiences. Read more here
The Legacy of Trees
Angel City Lumber began with a simple question: What happens to fallen trees in Los Angeles? Founder Jeff Perry discovered that millions were discarded without purpose, and set out to create a hyper-local model that gives these trees a second life as furniture, flooring, and art.
Each piece of wood tells a story of a neighbourhood, a park, a past season, and reconnects people to the natural world around them. More than a lumber company, ACL is reshaping urban forestry into a community-led movement. Read more here
Lure of the Image
Fotomuseum Winterthur celebrated its reopening with a new exhibition, ‘The Lure of the Image—How Images Seduce Online’. The exhibition explores contemporary digital photography and the process of seduction: how does it capture and control us, and what goes viral?
Covering social media feeds, ASMR, emojis, computer-generated images, and low-res screenshots, the exhibition sheds light on our attention, influencer opinions, and methods to provoke our emotions. Read more here
Augmented Reading
Spectacles to integrate real-time audio and image generation into the physical book-reading experience. The glasses track reader progress and scans the text, using ML for generating images, music, or ambient soundscapes (e.g. creaking doors, suspenseful music, etc) to elevate the experience.
The reader can also share their experience and pick up virtual artefacts during reading. The goal is not to replace the traditional reading experience, but to create a deep, meaningful engagement with text by adding an extra dimension. See the video here
Chanel Recycle Platform
Chanel launched Nevold (‘never old’), a standalone company that focuses on turning textile waste into raw materials. Silk and cashmere are increasingly difficult to source due to climate change, and Chanel is benefiting from the strategic move to leverage leftover inventory as an asset.
Waste from Chanel and other brands is collected to turn into high-quality replacements for virgin materials. Nevold functions as an R&D hub and B2B supplier, separated into three parts: L’Atelier des Matières, which collects deadstock fabrics and unsold items; Filatures du Parc, a legacy wool-spinning mill; and Authentic Material, an upcycled natural leather provider. Read more here