Edward Enninful’s Countdown, Dazed’s Youth Study, L’Oréal Professionnel’s Sephora Deal
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THE FINAL COUNTDOWN: Edward Enninful’s final issue as editor in chief of British Vogue will be March 2024, according to an Instagram post.
Enninful, who is taking on two new roles at Condé Nast, confirmed that he is working on his remaining seven issues.
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He urged followers to “set your clocks” as he counts down to the March 2024 issue, and asked them to name their favorite issues of British Vogue during his tenure.
In the Instagram post, he said the issues between now and March will involve “brilliant global change makers. The unbeatable creativity of the U.K. And above all FASHION! More than anything, I am just so excited for what is still to come in the next seven months.”
As reported, Enninful will take on the new position of global creative and cultural adviser at Vogue. He will also become editorial adviser at British Vogue. Separately, Enninful will work on projects and causes outside of the Vogue and Condé stable.
In his Vogue and Condé roles, Enninful will continue to report to Anna Wintour, who is global chief content officer for Condé Nast, and editor in chief of American Vogue.
Neither Condé Nast nor Enninful has specified what the two new roles will involve. Enninful has not clarified what the new projects, outside of Condé, will be.
Enninful is also helping to hunt for a head of editorial content for British Vogue, who will look after the day-to-day of the magazine.
Condé’s decision to hire an editorial content head is aimed at bringing British Vogue in line with the overall group’s new management structure, where content is shared globally and editors in chief are a thing of the past.
Enninful took over as editor in chief of British Vogue in August 2017 and in December 2020 was promoted to European editorial director of Vogue. — SAMANTHA CONTI
YOUTH QUAKE: Dazed Studio, the creative consultancy arm of Dazed Media, the publisher of Dazed, AnOther and Nowness, on Tuesday released the first two chapters of its latest and biggest report: “Ctrl Shift: The Future of Youth Culture.”
Isobel Farmiloe, author of the 286-page report and brand strategy director at Dazed Studio, touted it as “an expansive guide for brands and media to gauge Gen Z’s cultural coordinates and unique approach to a changing world.”
The findings are based on a survey of more than 2,500 people ages 18 to 34 from around the world, and with a committee of experts working across the creative industries, exploring timely and pressing topics such as the impact of AI, shifting trend cycles, job instability and changes in influence and power.
“It shows how in a time of political and economic instability, youth are finding themselves more conflicted and polarized than ever, and are looking for answers in entirely new places,” Farmiloe said.
Notable experts cited in the report include fashion designers Martine Rose and Marine Serre, IMG president Ivan Bart, Alexandria Williams, creative strategy director of TikTok Beauty, and Matt Klein, head of global foresight at Reddit.
In the first two chapters, the report questioned the definitions of self and media in the social-media era. For example, the survey showed that young people spend the most time on TikTok and Instagram, yet they find TikTok to be less of a true representation of people’s lives than Instagram. Some 32 percent of surveyed 16- and 17-year-olds prefer their life online, more than any other age group.
Farmiloe believes the findings serve as “a reference document to support brand strategy and understand the values of youth,” and to help brands to “stay close to a culture that is moving at a faster pace than ever before.”
One unexpected conclusion Farmiloe drew from the data is that the control on influencing opinions has shifted away from celebrities and influencers and that young person’s friends are now the most influential people in their lives. It appeared that celebrities and influencers with 100,000-plus followers ranked lowest for influencing youth’s purchasing decisions.
The remaining parts will be released two per week from Aug 1. Each chapter retails at 500 pounds, and the whole report is priced at 2,000 pounds.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Dazed Media has become a pioneer in diversifying its revenue stream. On top of producing branded content and paid-for reports under Dazed Studio, the publisher introduced Dazed Club, a membership offering.
It hosted its first event outside of London in Manchester in May. Following Manchester, Dazed Club will head for Glasgow and Liverpool. A new dedicated events space and an app for its community will be revealed later this year as well. — TIANWEI ZHANG
NEW PARTNERSHIP: L’Oréal Professionnel has inked a specialty retail partnership with Sephora.
The brand is entering 26 Sephora doors with six collections, including its Metal Detox, Curl Expression, Vitamino, Silver, Absolut Repair and Prolonger franchises. They will debut online Aug. 8 and in-store in Aug. 16.
Mounia Tahiri, the brand’s general manager, said the partnership comes at a time of growth for the brand. “We’ve been very focused on our ranges that not everybody has — the ones based on our expertise as the number-one professional brand in the world,” Tahiri said. “It’s really paying off — this year is probably going to be our record growth year, and last year, we had a very strong year.”
“Our relationships with the salons is clear and solid. They can really see what our brand focuses are,” Tahiri said. “The relationship with Sephora is only going to enhance their relationship with their customers… we’re at a point in the U.S. where professional and prestige retailers are enhancing each other, and the demand for professional products has never been so high.”
It comes as those channels continue to blur. Recently, Briogeo entered the professional side of the business with SalonCentric. As it applies to L’Oréal Professionnel, “One thing that made our partnership so meaningful with Sephora was that their guests over-index when it comes to going to salons,” Tahiri said. “They will translate those products from Sephora to asking for a service.”
For Tahiri, Sephora allows the brand to cast a much wider net. “There’s not professional products in everyone’s showers,” she said. “There’s still so many consumers we can touch and that’s where Sephora comes in. They can help us continue to develop that awareness. And that is being anchored in salons, so ultimately, it’s a win-win.”
Tahiri contended that hair stylists are still the brand’s foremost ambassadors. “The experience, the relationship you create with your stylist, you’ll never get anywhere else. Our presence and partnership with Sephora is only a way to bring awareness that that exists, and that our professional products exist, and that will drive their curiosity around what services could enhance their regimen, and what steps can be built in.”
The move also comes as prestige hair care continues to climb. According to Circana, prestige hair care grew 11 percent in the first quarter of 2023, outpacing the mass market. — JAMES MANSO
CELEBRATING STREET ART: The Web3 craze is not waning. Quite the opposite — its fascination and potential are trickling down the supply chain.
Storied Italian textile mill Olmetex is stepping into the non-fungible token game by partnering with Web3 firm Another-1, which orchestrated a “phygital” project to celebrate street art, fashion and the digital realm.
Named Drip-Lab, the NFT and physical project is centered on famed graffiti artist Zoow24’s mural “The Wall,” which he painted on a wall of Olmetex’s headquarters in Como, Italy, as well as on his illustrated characters, all turned for the occasion into NFT renditions.
The “miniature behemoth” monster figurines — known as Rekt, Exto, Kult, Crymelon, and Root and representing vices — will be available in 5,555 variations, with combinations of more than 1,700 backgrounds and 183 different monster characters’ traits.
Pre-mint for the Drip-Lab monster NFTs officially kicks off Wednesday at 1 p.m. EST while the general sale starts a day later.
Each NFT comes as a profile picture, or PFP, selling for $150 and its purchase unlocks the opportunity to redeem a customized windbreaker crafted by Olmetex and known as the “writer’s jacket” for $350.
Each NFT and PFP owner will get a complimentary NFT depicting “The Wall” mural in Como, as well as further benefits to be revealed at a later date. The latter include a 25 percent cash back in $AN1 tokens, a cryptocurrency created by Another-1 to access its Web3 community.
“Olmetex has decided to make the facade of its textile company available to graffiti artists, because it has always believed in the close union between fashion and art… With these NFTs and the physical redemption of the waterproof jacket produced with our own fabrics, Olmetex sets itself the goal of making an art project tangible and fashionable,” said Olmetex managing director Beatrice Breschi, highlighting the company’s flexibility and openness to embrace market revolutions.
“We’re excited to see our near 70-year-old mill involved in a Web3 project that creates a new and important way to enjoy art and fashion. We have always been future-focused with our fabric innovation, and now we are taking this mindset to a collaboration that takes fashion, art and fabric into the next decade,” she added.
Owners of the windbreaker — a high-tech garment available in five different iterations each bearing waterproof thermo-reactive dual-colored fabrics and featuring a Zoow24 monster on the inside lining — will unlock the possibility to take part in Another-1’s “Flex to Earn” program. Equipped with an NFC tag, the shell jacket is equipped with an NFC tag which not only provides authentication but also allows to earn Web3 rewards anytime the garment is “flexed,” the Web3 term for wearing, in different physical and digital environments.
“Our mission is to push the envelope and radically change the way art is produced and traded. By establishing the Drip-Lab project along with Olmetex and renowned artists such as Zoow24, we are proving that graffiti is a medium that can live on and be appreciated forever. This is a historical crossover of art, fashion, and groundbreaking technology and we’re excited for what’s still to come,” said Marco Staglianò, chief executive officer of Another-1.
“Working with a renowned fabric manufacturer like Olmetex, we also have the opportunity to tie physical fashion to this story of street and digital art. This is a first for the world and we’re excited to see how these passionate communities of street art and streetwear collectors will respond,” he added.
The project marks a new fashion activation championed by Another-1, which partnered last year with shoemaker Casadei to mark the milestone of the signature Blade heels with the release of limited-run wearable NFTs. — MARTINO CARRERA
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