Lives of Tomorrow

In this episode we discuss ageing. We are all living longer and this is creating consumer shifts, opportunities and imperatives for age-positive products and services. WGSN’s CEO Carla Buzasi welcomes fashion influencer Lyn Slater, aka the accidental icon to talk about life after influencing, the narrative around ageing, the lack of women over 50 represented in advertising and the challenges of being yourself as your body begins to change. This former professor of social work, now retired fashion influencer, writes about this and more in her new book ‘How To Be Old: Lessons in Living Boldly from the Accidental Icon‘. The conversation meanders from reflections on the world of fashion bloggers and influencers to the advantages of multigenerational living and why ageing closer to death, encourages Slater to embrace living life in the moment and to its fullest. Hopeful about the future of ageing, Slater is keen that more older women should be “blowing it up and inviting young women to ask us those hard questions” – tune into this episode to hear just that.At WGSN we’ve been tracking the rise of age compression since 2015 and are forecasting the dismantling of age-related stereotypes for 2026, as we all embrace a more inter-generational world – you can sign up to read more about this here.

In this episode of Lives of Tomorrow – WGSN’s podcast about how we will live our lives in the future – we discuss nocturnal living.Director of Strategic Forecasting at WGSN, Lisa White, joins Carla Buzasi, CEO of WGSN, to talk about why daytime activities in many regions of the world are shifting to happen at night. Scorching temperatures are pushing people in the world’s hottest regions to live more of their lives in the cool of darkness, which is impacting when they shop, work, rest, and spend most of their day-to-day routine. OpenTable in the US noted rises of up to 24% in late-night dining in 2023. The shifting schedules of consumers are pushing cities to reimagine their after-dark economies, with shopping, entertainment, leisure, and tourism pushed into nighttime hours.Lisa White shares insight into how brands can tap into this lifestyle shift, plus gives examples of nocturnal living, the data behind this trend, and her predictions for the future – including constellation leggings and thermoregulated pyjamas.

WGSN CEO Carla Buzasi talks about the future of sex, sex tech investment, and how porn is impacting young people with guest Cindy Gallop.Former advertising executive Cindy is the founder of Make Love Not Porn, a user-generated video-sharing platform. A sex-tech pioneer, she aims to build a community to promote positive sexual values through user-generated content, in response to the ubiquity of hardcore porn and the harmful myths it generates.In this episode Carla and Cindy discuss social attitudes towards sex and porn, the future of the adult entertainment industry, and how Cindy plans to utilise AI to help build an algorithm for consent. The two CEOs also talk about why so few female entrepreneurs in the sex tech industry were able to secure Venture Capital funding in 2023 and why this needs to change.

How can luxury brands build a more sustainable future? What does luxury mean in a climate crisis?In this episode of Lives of Tomorrow, WGSN CEO Carla Buzasi discusses the future of luxury exploring ways brands can uphold their social and environmental responsibilities.Joining Carla to explore the evolution of the luxury market is Diana Verde Nieto, co-founder of Positive Luxury, a sustainability organisation that supports luxury brands in adapting and transitioning to a sustainable future.Diana is the author of Reimagining Luxury: Building a Sustainable Future for your Brand. She holds a degree in Global Leadership & Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School and has been trained by former USA Vice President, Al Gore at the Alliance of Climate Protection, and was subsequently honoured by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader. Carla and Diana discuss how luxury is a dance between modernity and heritage, what luxury brands can do to build a better tomorrow, how ‘thinking the unthinkable’ can keep a business agile and guarantee success, and how five consumer demographics interact with luxury – from Boomers right down to Alphas – are impacting the industry.

In this episode of Lives of Tomorrow, WGSN CEO Carla Buzasi speaks to Apple Fitness+ Trainer Cory Wharton-Malcolm about running.We’ve been tracking the boom in outdoor lifestyles since 2015, and in this episode we throw the spotlight on arguably the most accessible form of exercise. We discuss the future of running, the importance of different running communities, plus how Cory motivates people globally to push themselves. Author of new book All You Need Is Rhythm and Grit, Cory works with Nike and Apple Fitness. Head out for a run and tune in to hear the renowned running guru talk about the need for speed, essential running tips and how brands can engage and sustain meaningful relationships with different running groups.

Will the robots take over? How will brands tackle sustainability? And what will become our favourite tipple in 2024? Tune in to get the answers as we discover just some of the trends WGSN is forecasting for the coming year. Join Carla Buzasi, CEO of WGSN and the host of this end-of-the-year episode with her fellow WGSN guests Andrea Bell, VP of Consumer Insights, and Lisa White, Director of Strategic Forecasting and Creative Direction. And if you’re listening to this from the comfort of a heated blanket on your chair... find out how we called it in 2022. Happy 2024 to you all!

Normally Carla Buzasi the CEO of WGSN asks the questions in the Lives of Tomorrow podcasts. But in this special end of the year episode we turn things around and put Carla in the hot seat and ask her the questions she normally asks her guests. So listen in and find out what makes her tick, what drives her in her role as CEO of WGSN and what she thinks the future of trend forecasting looks like. The host of this special episode is Akeem Nicol who normally works as Carla’s podcast producer.

Let’s be honest, trend forecasting is a really unique industry. We've been global leaders in this space for 25 years, and because it’s our birthday, we’re making some noise about it.We compile and analyse information for brands to use to help them make informed decisions about the future of their business and the products they should create, whatever the industry. Today we talk fashion. WGSN CEO Carla Buzasi unpicks the seams to find out about the fashion industry, and the role that trend forecasting plays. To celebrate 25 years of working with brands across the globe, we speak to Sally Joyce, Trend Design Lead at British multinational retailer Marks & Spencer. Who better to take stock of trend forecasting with us at 25 years than one of our first ever clients who has shared the journey and continues to work with us today.Sally tells Carla what clients will want from WGSN in coming years, why the role of the trend forecaster has to evolve, and the science behind how trends are created. We also hear from Sally what it feels like to set trend directions for a global company. Press play and join the party!

In this episode of Lives of Tomorrow, Dor Skuler, CEO and co-founder of Intuition Robotics, joins WGSN CEO Carla Buzasi to discuss the future of aged care, and how AI can play a part.How much do we think about care for the elderly, and what questions are we asking about how we will care for the elderly in the future? To address this social issue, Dor’s company launched award-winning proactive social robot ElliQ. The AI tech robot focuses exclusively on older adults who are living alone, and acts as a companion to offer support and connection.Dor is serial entrepreneur who has co-founded five ventures – the most recent being IntuitionRobotics. The company is driven by his passion to develop AI robotics that can address major social issues of the 21st century, such as loneliness. In addition to discussing the value of AI in aged care, he also discusses the ethics of the technology in this episode.

Do we respond best to managers or leaders, and what is the difference?CEO of WGSN, Carla Buzasi, talks about the future of management with Sarah Moore, UK head of workforce at PwC – one of the Big Four accounting firms. Sarah explains what it means to be a manager, the fine line between leading and managing, plus what the future holds for management.In this episode, Carla and Sarah broach a number of topics, including the approach to hiring managers and different manager styles; for example, micro versus macro. Sarah talks about her work with hybrid employees, creating connections in the workplace, and reflects on some of the challenges and positives of evolving working environments.Carla picks Sarah’s brain about placing value on non-management roles and how you can still climb the career ladder without going for managerial positions. Sarah goes into detail about different generations’ approaches to management, a shift in attitudes towards career progression, and work-life balance.Plus, find out how Sarah went from am-dram to leading hundreds of colleagues at PwC, one of the leading firms in the country.