Beauty Briefing: What recent investments from Estée Lauder and LVMH say about the fragrance market
This week, I checked in on the spate of investments from major conglomerates into niche fragrance brands. Additionally, Gap taps Summer Fridays for its latest collab, and Black Friday data points to cautious purchasing. Why Estée Lauder and LVMH are taking minority stakes in niche fragranceThis...
Interview: How ‘mid-level bureaucrats’ are helping to shape Chinese climate policy
Local officials are often viewed as relatively weak actors in China’s governance structure, largely implementing policies issued from the central level. However, a new book – “Implementing a low-carbon future: climate leadership in Chinese cities” – argues that these officials play an important...AI vs. Human Drivers
Two competing arguments are making the rounds. The first is by a neurosurgeon in the New York Times. In an op-ed that honestly sounds like it was paid for by Waymo, the author calls driverless cars a “public health breakthrough”: In medical research, there’s a practice of ending a...Substitution Cipher Based on The Voynich Manuscript
Here’s a fun paper: “The Naibbe cipher: a substitution cipher that encrypts Latin and Italian as Voynich Manuscript-like ciphertext“: Abstract: In this article, I investigate the hypothesis that the Voynich Manuscript (MS 408, Yale University Beinecke Library) is compatible...
Beauty brand Summer Fridays unveils debut apparel with Gap
Beauty Gap x Summer Fridays collection campaign Credits: Gap American retailer Gap is collaborating with cult-favourite beauty brand Summer Fridays to launch a curated collection of “cosy essentials,” such as soft knits, fleece sets, and matching pyjamas for the holiday season. The...
Brand loyalty in 2026 gets personal
Brand loyalty Credits: Pexels As 2026 approaches, loyalty programmes are evolving from simple retention tools into strategic growth engines, reshaping how brands engage with consumers. According to Lena Kleinwechter, Customer Engagement & Loyalty Strategist at Talon.One, four key trends are...
Dario Vitale’s short tenure ends as Prada resets Versace's creative direction
Versace SS26 Credits: ©Launchmetrics/spotlight Opinion If fashion’s game of musical chairs has felt unusually frenetic this season, you’re not imagining it. Across the SS26 cycle, designer rotations have at times overshadowed the collections themselves, reflecting an industry where creative...
EMEC successfully demos tidal plus storage and hydrogen integration
Hailed as a world first, the demonstration integrated the O2 tidal turbine, vanadium flow batteries, and a 670 kW electrolyzer. Continue reading →
You can’t rush a Biscay breakthrough in marine energy
Yago Torre-Enciso of BiMEP says that patience and persistence will be essential to achieving commercial-scale marine energy, a milestone he doesn’t expect to see before 2050. Continue reading →