1. Tech Made Simpler
In any month that features an Apple Event, conversation inevitably ends up dominated by news of innovations from the iOS universe. September was no exception, but brand collaborations were prominent at Apple and elsewhere in the tech world – both as a tool for adding functionality and for making technical performance easier for audiences to access and comprehend.
Apple’s own partnership announcements ranged from fairly superficial (Hermés, Disney, Opening Ceremony, etc.) to fairly substantial (Nintendo, Nike). The release of the Apple Watch Nike+ is particularly significant: the latest in a long line of attempts by both brands to find a winning formula for leadership in the activity tracker category. And while the buzz around the Apple Watch remains lukewarm, it was sobering to learn that Apple has quietly become the world’s second largest watch brand.
The IFA show in Berlin was another major hotspot for tech collaboration news. Standout releases included a re-thinking of desktop computing from HP. The HP Pavilion Wave is the latest in a growing trend of designer appliances, and uses the sleek lines and audio performance of Bang & Olufsen’s BeoPlay division to achieve its point of difference. In a similar vein, porcelain brand, Rosenthal, turned heads with prototypes of a streaming speaker system developed with Raumfeld.
But the most profound brand innovations seen at IFA occurred in the kitchen, where collaborations provided for smart aesthetics (Ora Ïto for Gorenje) and smart functionality – especially via traditional appliance manufactures integrating solutions from newer, more function-specific technology brands (see Bosch x Drop, Whirlpool x Innit).
2. Things are Getting Ugly
Punk and grunge were not the only times that it was possible to become famous by offending morals and good taste. But this past month generated so many provocative and deliberately ugly products, the signs are strong that low-brow, polarising and downright icky ideas are gathering force and moving towards a broader lifestyle trend.
Whether ugly design is a fad or a fashion is anyone’s guess, but what is certain is the function of collaborations as a safety net for brands to try out controversial ideas and achieve huge reach with minimum negative fallout. Fashion week events in London and New York showed many brands adopting this philosophy.
First to London, where Christopher Kane, titillated and enraged fashion fans by not only bringing Crocs to the catwalk, but by also adding Jibbitz™ and swirled marble effects. Sensing the climate is ripe for a comeback, UGG seized on the ugly trend by lending its talents to Preen’s Spring 2017 show at London Fashion Week. Preen’s platform shoes arrived only days after a collaboration between UGG and Teva on a line of hideous furry sandals and boots, apparently inspired by orthopaedic footwear.
On other fronts, Christopher Raeburn channelled the dystopian urban mood of Banksy and KAWS with his gloomy visions of Mickey and Minnie Mouse – just in time for the British autumn. And UK high street retailer River Island added a range of creepy jewellery to its Design Forum platform, comprising motifs of flies and Venus flytraps courtesy of accessories designer Dom Jones.
In New York, deluxe streetwear brand Hood by Air created a media ruckus by incorporating Pornhub and Hustler into its show and collection. Meanwhile Heron Preston dedicated a capsule collection to DSNY: no, not a Donna Karan diffusion label, but the New York Department of Sanitation.
Finally, no reportage of bad taste would be complete without mentioning South Park. In advance of the franchise’s next console game ‘The Fractured But Whole’, Ubisoft premiered newly developed game gear called the Nosulus Rift. Hilarious? Or disgusting? Either way, it’s a clever way of taking South Park humour into a new dimension while poking fun at gamers and Virtual Reality.
3. Daring Extensions
With traditional distribution channels breaking down, and brand-consumer relationships becoming stronger, brand extension platforms offer more possibilities than ever for brands to take sideways steps as a way of maintaining forward momentum.
Several new projects emerged over the last month that showed brands unlocking new value by taking a more lateral approach to their cachet. The designer pushchair brand Bugaboo provided a perfect example with the launch of its Boxer modular luggage system. With this bold extension, the Dutch brand is betting its reputation for design, mobility and space-efficiency can bring new impetus to the travel market, as well as giving itself a chance to prolong positive customer relationships.
Another brand well known for simplicity and elegant user interfaces is TomTom. The British satnav brand has seen smartphone apps erode its traditional category since 2008. In response, TomTom has decided to pivot and join growth categories by launching an action camera and a line of activity monitors to compete with the likes of GoPro and Fitbit. Meanwhile the ever-creative Victorinox commissioned designer Stephen Kenn to produce an ingenious range of multi-purpose work-space furniture.
But the award for most daring brand extension goes to Zalando. In September, the fashion eCommerce giant again showed its determination to lead and exert its influence across the supply chain. Besides staging a successful revival of the Bread & Butter fashion show in Berlin, Zalando’s many new announcements included the launch of Project Muze – an experimental joint-venture with Google that aims to apply machine-learning to fashion design – and Collabary, a platform that promises to match brands to social media influencers and content creators.