Alex Hawkins

Director of Strategic Foresight

Alex joined The Future Laboratory in 2018, working across its trends intelligence platform LS:N Global. He now leads the Applied Foresight division, overseeing commissioned foresight reports, research and presentations for clients such as Dior, Bacardi and Marriott.

Latest articles from Alex

Timeline in collaboration with L’Oréal, Switzerland and France

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Health, Wellness & Sport

The Longevity Effect: Future:Poll

Our latest Future:Poll findings explore how a new era of longevity is reshaping consumers’ expectations – redefining the relationship between brands and consumers, wellbeing and lifestyle, and luxury and health.

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Health, Wellness & Sport

Bio-based Activewear

Performance apparel and exercise accessories are going plant-based as the need for sustainable, non-toxic alternatives to synthetic materials becomes clearer.

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Marketing & Branding

Rebranding Ready-to-drink

As ready-to-drink emerges as one of the fastest-growing drink sectors, the category is being updated and elevated in line with premiumisation.

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Beauty

Stat: Gen Z consumers value diverse beauty content

The global Generation Z beauty community is becoming more inclusive than ever, according to a Kyra Media’s Gen Z State of Beauty report

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Fashion

Rotaro and Airbnb make travel wardrobes sustainable

Fashion rental platform Rotaro has teamed up with Airbnb to launch a series of sustainable fashion events listed under the travel platform’s Social Impact Experiences.

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Technology

A smart skin serum that scales personalisation

Responding to demand for multi-purpose products that streamline rather than complicate routines, skincare brand Dermalogica has developed an advanced formula said to address micro-changes in the skin before they are visible.

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Food & Drink

Prismaster is a reality show for a supermarket

Prisma, the Finnish supermarket group, recently created a fake reality tv show to showcase its product assortment in an unexpected yet entertaining way. Prismaster invited six Finnish celebrities to compete in Prisma stores in three cities across Finland.

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Fashion

Zara’s Store Mode drives clicks to bricks

The fast fashion retailer has rolled out its Store Mode across all physical locations in the UK, enabling customers to browse items in a specific store to find out which garments are in stock.

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Retail

Period underwear gets an inclusive update

To ensure period inclusivity for everyone who menstruates, absorbent underwear brand Pantys has launched its first transgender and non-binary collection of underwear.

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Luxury

Sportive Affluents

With active pursuits growing among luxurians, traditional sports are surging in popularity as brands refresh and revive sportswear for younger audiences.

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Food & Drink

Alternative Vintners

Next-generation winemakers are experimenting with low- and no-alcohol innovations, creating flavourful fusions that hint at wine’s post-category future.

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Food & Drink

Lollipop's AI closes the gap between recipes and retail

Lollipop is a new British online grocery marketplace that enables shoppers to build meal plans from recipes and assemble the ingredients automatically into their shopping baskets. As its URL suggests, the start-up’s AI assistant has been developed to automate and streamline grocery shopping in various ways.