17 Aug

Trendswatch | New Business Insight From The Past Week

It was a week of result days, celeb romance rumours (are Ross and Rachel really together?!) and… rain. Hopefully it’ll start to feel like August soon!

In the world of brands, we witnessed yet another CEO hand over the reigns as Roger Burnely stepped down from ASDA and the news that Insta is now testing Ad’s on its shop platform.

As for the trends of the week, today I will be focusing on Australian fashion, second-hand cars and discussing is this the end of meat?

Australian fashion

Last week came the news that Forever New, one of Australia’s leading fashion retailers, will be setting up shop in Sheffield’s Meadowhall shopping centre.

But why is this of any significance? Well, back in May it was announced that another top Australian fashion brand, Cotton On, would become available online in the UK. So, the question is are we at the beginning of an Aussie fashion takeover?!

The UK fashion scene has been dominated by the likes of Boohoo, Topshop and of course the mighty ASOS, but the arrival of these Australia brands could mean that the UK’s top players have some competition – with brands like CottonOn and Forever New being able to provide something fresh and interesting.

In an article from 2019, it was revealed there has been ‘increased attention on Australian fashion’ thanks to the stylists of Kendall Jenner and Hailey Bieber who are frequently outfitted in Australian couture.

So, with these stores hitting our UK shores it may just be that we all start dressing a little more Aussie…

Next, second-hand cars

In the UK, second-hand car sales have more than doubled due to restrictions easing and the shortage of new models.

The SMMT (the society of motor manufacturers and traders) has said that the increase is down to more people getting out on the roads and businesses reopening.

The most popular models were revealed to be Ford Fiestas, Ford Focuses, Volkswagen Golfs – with black, silver, blue and grey being the colours of choice.

However, this has not translated to the EV space, with used battery-electric and plug-in hybrids not seeing as great stats. The guys over at the SMMT have said this is down to the challenges of having to transition an ‘entire used car fleet away from traditional fuels’.

Is this the end of the road for the meat industry?

A few weeks back, a Tiktok that starred billionaire Jim Mellon went viral after claiming that in the next 10 years half of the world’s meat will be replaced by plant-based alternatives or lab grown meat.

In the video he states that the only way the human race will be able to survive and fight off future pandemics is by moving away from meat consumption.

What’s interesting about this video is that it has come out at a time when investments in vegan start-ups are booming.

Last week we saw England footballer Dele Alli invest in Next Gen foods who are the makers of a vegan chicken brand called TiNDLE.

This investment is part of $30 million initial seed funding investment round, which Next Gen Foods has claimed to be ‘the largest ever funding for a plant-based start-up.

On the other hand, we’ve also just seen the huge success of Jeremy Clarkson’s farm, which centres around him learning to become a sheep farmer. The show has been a triumph with some critics deeming it the ‘best show of the year’. So maybe traditional farming isn’t fully on its way out?

Come back next week for further trends and insights!