The Future Laboratory Blog

In Conversation with Barrie Barton

Barrie Barton is founder of the pioneering placemaking consultancy, Right Angle Studio. A Melbournian living and working in Sydney, here he delivers a passionate paean to the role of the city in the ...

Reformation Generation

Our zine digs deeper into how Gen Z have responded & adapted to the chaos of 2020 and collected their insights to paint a clearer picture of their future.

Covid-19: a catalyst for change

Earlier this year we looked at the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic across six key sectors, and explored what this meant for brands and businesses. As we emerge from a second lockdown, The Future ...

In Conversation with David Shah

The Future Laboratory co-founders meet their one-time boss, Viewpoint publisher David Shah, and discuss the future of business travel, the value of insight in the age of Zoom and the future of ...

In Conversation with Robert Buckingham

The Future Laboratory co-founders Chris Sanderson and Martin Raymond talk to one of their oldest associates and supporters, Robert Buckingham In 2003, as founder and director of the Melbourne Fashion ...

Immaterial Fashion : The end of ownership

The Future Laboratory hosted a panel on Selfridges’ Instagram Live as part of its new Project Earth initiative. Watch Tilly Thorns interview three industry experts about how they are helping to make ...

In Conversation with Linda Hewson

Chris Sanderson talks to Selfridges Group’s global creative director Linda Hewson about 20 years of pioneering retail projects and the changing retail landscape, and considers the future of the ...

The Age of Nesting

As we navigate recurring lockdowns, emerging trends are teaching us more about the role of the home. Beko commissioned The Future Laboratory to produce a new foresight report identifying these trends ...

23 : 10 : 20 : Weekly Debrief

This week: a modern Judaica brand, ancestry-driven dishes, cryptocurrency for music fans, Universal's UMUSIC hotels and socially distant tableware.

Selfridges x The Future Laboratory - Project Earth

As we consider the future of retail in the inter-Covid, climate emergency era, London’s foremost department store Selfridges is launching a new sustainability initiative, Project Earth, which will ...

24 : 07 : 20 : Weekly Debrief

This week: Resilient city garments, genderless sexcare, Universal Everything's phygital humans, post-work exercise snacks and an eco-first Indian school.

Financial Feels: How Gen Z are reshaping the retail landscape

Invested in learning more about the generation raised in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, Afterpay commissioned The Future Laboratory to produce a new foresight report identifying key ...

10 : 07 : 20 : Weekly Debrief

This week: Celebrating queer blackness, the rise of African e-commerce, Yeezy’s immersive online store, a pandemic-proof property and Daily Paper's utopian future.

Supporting Black Communities

A collection of resources to read, reflect, open up discussions and enact positive change as we work together for an anti-racist future in all societies.

28 : 02 : 20 : Weekly Debrief

This week: London’s accessible members’ club, banking the unbanked, mouldy marketing from Burger King, Burberry kicks off carbon insetting and waterless beauty.

The Future of Romantic Travel

As the luxury travel market size is expected to reach $2.5 trillion by 2025, Mr & Mrs Smith commissioned The Future Laboratory to identify key trends that will shape the romantic travel market in ...

Future Forecast 2020

Our Foresight researchers have identified 50 consumer trends that will define the coming year in our latest trend report. Uncertainty and division have defined the Tumultuous Teens. With the American ...

17 : 01 : 20 : Weekly Debrief

This week: Championing financial wellness, Toyota's research city, revolutionising click and collect, an intimate speed dating app, and Adidas reimagines women's sport.

06 : 12 : 19 : Weekly Debrief

This week: The luxury of nature, re-imagining taste, truly inclusive skincare, Facebook's wellbeing surveys and no-nonsense pet food.

29 : 11 : 19 : Weekly Debrief

This week: The future of cosmetics, mall playscapes for kids, a piercing revolution, single-dose cannabis tablets and remodelling the running shoe.

Nespresso Professional : Workplace Futures

Through technology, the physical boundaries of a workplace aren’t what they once were. Nespresso Professional commissioned The Future Laboratory to identify the trends that will shape the workplace ...

Futures Presentations

Our forward-looking foresight presentations are designed to equip you and your team with the insights and strategic thinking required to answer the most compelling issues of tomorrow Instigate ...

Retail Futures 2019

Interact with our new Community Commerce online experience

12 : 04 : 19 : Weekly Debrief

This week: The world's first sustainable floating city, Puma's AR shoe, Bianco encourages Millennials to stop overthinking, an Instagram newspaper and a clinic that modernises women's healthcare.

25 : 01 : 19 : Weekly Debrief

This week: pixelated performance-wear, Aavia reminds you to take the pill, a shoppable hotel, Spotify matches music to horoscopes and Junius is reinventing workplace dining.

Need to Know: 2018 Recap

Over Christmas, our LS:N Global sector specialists hand-picked their top campaigns and consumer behaviours that defined 2018. Here's a key trend from each.

30 : 11 : 18 : Weekly Debrief

This week: A new retro-futuristic pharmacy, BMW rethinks car interiors, Libresse encourages female confidence, Coinmine simplifies mining cryptocurrency and Swedish homes form a scattered design ...

Bio Tracker

Click to track and trade your health data

New Masculinity: The Film

Nine British men debate the changing face of masculinity in this insightful new film collaboration between IGGYLDN and The Future Laboratory In the wake of all the toxic masculinity headlines and ...

The Future Laboratory at Corinthia Hotel London

Over the next year, The Future Laboratory will be the Futurists-in-Residence at London’s epicentre of luxury, the Corinthia Hotel London. Discover what we’ve got lined up and how you can get ...

The Storefront Salvation Game

Trend Briefing 2018: The Moral Uprising

We are living in a time of upheaval where we question everything from who our moral leaders are to how much we should let technology rule society. At our Trend Briefing 2018, we examined three ...

Branded Cities - Can we avoid an urban dystopia?