The age of anti-ambition.

Doing the bare minimum, retiring early and idling for pleasure is increasingly aspirational as a new generation opts out of productivity culture and an unhealthy obsession with success. Young people would rather be unemployed than unhappy.

👉 More than half of employees (56%) age 18 to 24 say they would quit a job that prevented them from enjoying their lives, according to a new survey in the 2022 Randstad Workmonitor report.

dazeddigital.com/politics/artic…

In an age of uneasy affluence, luxury is becoming less and less about collecting highly prized items and possessions.

“Today we live in the age of conspicuous egalitarianism. The trick is to signal discernment while conveying everyman casualness.”

The new lessons of luxury 👉 A recent academic paper describes a trick successful modern high-status people have mastered: democracy in genre preferences, paired with elitist choices within those genres.

"Mixing regular-folk genres and snobby particulars allows high-status types to set themselves apart"

“Described elsewhere as a “full-on rejection of self-betterment”, goblin mode is the antithesis of being “that-girl” who embodies productivity, wellness and aesthetic perfection.”

thecritic.co.uk/the-death-of-i… Also I just wanna add that this whole rejection of success and productivity actually can first be traced back to China.

The “sang subculture” — a term that loosely translates to feeling hopeless or dispirited — captures a kind of ironic defeatism.

sbs.com.au/topics/voices/…

LVMH acquired jeweler Tiffany & Co. for $15.8 billion in January 2021, and since then, Alexandre Arnault, son of billionaire and LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault, has revamped the brand to attract younger buyers. Here’s how 👉 As the son of LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault, Alexandre Arnault is one of fashion's youngest chief executives and as of 2021, he has become VP of product & comms.

He says he considers the brand “ripe for disruption”.

“My father said we were driving a Ferrari that needs fuel.”

🌞 Lululemon just released its second annual Global Wellbeing Report.

No surprise to see that mental health has risen in importance as a driver of well-being, while lack of a support network and stress emerged as the top two barriers

businesswire.com/news/home/2022… 🌞 Four coping strategies show the highest increases: spending time outdoors (up 10%), physical activity (up 9%), connecting with people (up 8%), and taking breaks to relax throughout the day (up 8%).

Roblox hopes that its user-generated content platform will become the metaverse, and it made some headway this week with a number of brand partnerships with McLaren Racing, Alo Yoga, The Brit Awards, and the NFL 👉 🏈Just in time for the Super Bowl, the NFL announced it is launching NFL Tycoon, a game on the Roblox platform where users will be able to build and play in their own NFL-centered world

roblox.com/games/86495013…

Adidas tapping into the rise of #thrift with an influencer program (many of whom seem to be depop influencers) to support the re-introduction of it's forum sneaker.

tiktok.com/@emma.rogue/vi… 👉Adidas hired a big vintage bus & took 5-6 thrift influencers on a vintage shopping spree

👉 Feels like a clever way for adidas to connect the relaunch of its forum shoe to Gen Z passion for thrifting considering this group would have no nostalgia for the OG

Consumers are increasingly considering professionally refurbished electronics over new ones.

👉 Amazon’s refurbished brand, Amazon Renewed, became Amazon’s third most popular electronics brand in June 2020

modernretail.co/startups/refur… 👉 Back Market, the leading global marketplace for refurbished electronics, has announced its Certified Renewed collection of electronics refurbished directly by top brands.
👉 It just raised $335m in its series D funding & is now valued at $3.5bn

When people say China is a growth strategy, this is what they mean.

🇨🇳 Greater China delivered growth of 51% for Nike in the three months ending Feb 2021. Single-handedly offsetting contractions in other regional markets

jingdaily.com/nike-earnings-… 👟 The company’s SNKRS app, which provides insider access to launches, events, and exclusive releases for members, has seen engagement explode, with four times more users than in 2020 and buying members increasing by 80 percent