1: Super Natural Energy

Echoing new concepts detailed in Global Store Openings: Winter 2023 (see Ultra-Nature Reverence) and the future-positive messaging in Eco Comms: Summer 2023 (see Project Optimism), the grand imperative was to rethink our relationship with nature and indigenous cultures, including recasting green energy and biomaterials via a seductively inspirational design lens.

2: Surrealism IRL: Adventures in Experiential AI

Tapping into the growing audience appetite for hyperrealism in physical environments as well as online (see Virtualised VM in Global Store Openings: Autumn 2023), several installations offered significant spatial inspiration by fusing virtual, AI-fuelled dreamscapes and surrealistic iconography with the tactile frisson of physical environments.

3: Heritage Remixed, and on the Road

Heritage matters: rounding off a year of luxury brands flaunting their heritage credentials via opulent travelling exhibitions (from Bulgari’s immersive Serpenti-collection celebrating showcase to Gucci Cosmos detailed in Evolving Luxury Retail: Trends & Opportunities), Swiss fine jeweller/watch-maker Cartier unleashed its roaming self-homage, while US resales site StockX and The Museum of Graffiti showcased the conjoined history of hip hop and sneakers.

4: Kidulting & The Liberation of Play

Homing in on the power of play, including the allure of nostalgia in new formats and the evolved notion of kidulting (childlike, now often encompassing mindfulness-inducing activities for adults), several brands backed inspirational playscapes and/or campaigns with an overtly liberating sense of playfulness. Embracing cultural diversity underscored more than one.