Armani and work from home trend
Armani, the eponymous luxury fashion label of Giorgio Armani posted advertisements in the Financial Times this week. The advertisements harked back to Armani’s looks of the 1980s and 1990s. But what I thought was most notable about the advertisements was their promotion of made-to-measure menswear.
Armani is clearly putting its weight behind a return to the office. Presumably Armani think that this move back to the office will also mean a move to formal business dress. This doesn’t seem to be supported by what I have been seeing and is in a stark contrast to the current approach of rival Zegna. Armani have called a lot of past trends right. They were one of the first brands setting up a retail network in China. They were early to putting their catwalk shows on the web to gain a wider audience. Armani were clever in the way they approached licensing of their brand. During the 1990s Armani expanded into sportswear, watches, eyeglasses, cosmetics and home which looked prescient in retrospect.
We’ll see if Armani’s views on a return to the office pan out, I am not so sure it will be.
Business
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Startups – by Rex Woodbury
Degree inflation: Why requiring college degrees for jobs that don’t need them is a mistake – Vox – businesses signalling that there is a large amount of potential workers out there. Arbitrary way of filtering down applications. The Philippines is much worse, where working in a retail job would require a college degree of some sort
China
SVB’s First Failure – The Wire China – SVB’s Board had asked me to found a brand-new bank: the Shanghai Pudong Development Silicon Valley Bank (SPD SVB), a joint venture between SVB and the state-owned Shanghai Pudong Development Bank. The board had committed $100 million to establishing SVB’s operations in China, and I was filled with goodwill and optimism about the endeavor. Although I thoroughly enjoyed my time in China and the many friends I met there, from today’s vantage point, I firmly believe we were (and are still) being played.
For female journalists, covering China comes at a cost — Radio Free Asia – The sheer volume of vitriol targeting reporters given China’s size and the nationalistic fervor of many of its citizens can set the abuse apart. Compounding their anxiety is a fear that the intimidation is sanctioned, if not coordinated, by the Chinese Communist Party itself. “When, for example, an American female journalist gets trolled, it’s probably coming from right-wing crazies or some fringe corner of society,” said Vicky Xu, a journalist in Australia, whose reporting on abuses against Uyghurs in Xinjiang brought a flood of death threats. “The kind of role and voice they have is very, very limited.
Opinion | Xi’s visit to Putin should worry the West – The Washington Post – If you were looking for another reason why it’s important that Ukraine succeeds against Russia, consider the photos from Moscow. “The President of Eurasia” — I fear that’s the invisible caption of the pictures of Xi that we’re seeing amid the Kremlin’s golden doors and red carpets. The idea that a vast swath of the world is dominated by a China that stands so resolutely against freedom and democracy is chilling. If this alliance succeeds, we will live in a darker world
Culture
A Documentary About the Hasidic Jews of Brooklyn
Design
A Campaign to Remind Us That We Love New York (City) – The New York Times – The people who came up with We ♥ NYC say it is a mark for a different time. But they see parallels to the troubled era that gave rise to I ♥ NY. “We’re hopefully going to be able to cut through divisiveness and negativity” that accompanied the pandemic, said Kathryn Wylde, the president and chief executive of the Partnership for New York City, a consortium of corporations and business executives that is leading the We ♥ NYC campaign. She said that besides rejuvenating people’s spirits, “we want to remind them they can make a difference, whether it’s on the block or in the city as a whole.” She added: “We want to remind them we don’t have to maintain these divisions that have grown up between business and labor and rich and poor.” She cited surveys her group had conducted during the pandemic. “The results we’ve gotten back are people in New York want to be part of fixing what they see as broken in the city,” – Interesting choices in this. Curious to know why they didn’t rally around the previous campaign? It was atemporal in design and a personal commitment, the NY aspect of it implying inclusion? The new one has a lot of challenges: it lacks visual symmetry & balance. Ironically the original works better in digital contexts (for instance as an app logo) than the new version. The emoji heart will date very fast. The font choice I don’t understand. And what about the exclusive nature of NYC rather than the inclusive aspect of NY – even a DE&I fail. ‘Tunnel people’ are a key part of NYC too.
FMCG
IPSOS noted that global inflation likely peaked in 2022 (according to IMF), and negotiations are happening at the moment between retailers and FMCG companies. Consumers will still grapple with high prices for a good while yet. Ipsos posit that the inflation creates opportunities for growing market share via innovation, with a view to eventual revenue growth.
Gen Z: How beauty, food and drink brands can support their unique needs | Mintel – new generation, same as the old generation. These are longitudinal trends rather than ‘gen Z’ specific
Germany
The commentary about collusion between Huawei and Deutsche Telekom is particularly illuminating: Germany could ban China’s Huawei, ZTE from parts of 5G networks -source | Reuters
Health
Will Ozempic Change How We Think About Being Fat and Being Thin? | The New Yorker
Are We Going Into An #Ozempic Epidemic? | Hypebae – interesting that this is being covered by their beauty team
Cognito’s Experimental Headset to Treat Alzheimer’s Disease | Business Insider
Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s state-sponsored national anthem SEO is working • The Register
Ideas
Innovation Culture & Business Portfolio Assessment Program | Strategyzer
How Chinese Companies Are Reinventing Management – If a team splits up and some members form a new team, the leader of the new team must pay a fee to the original team for its previous training of the acquired staff. Moreover, the company’s financial system automatically transfers 10% of an acquired staffer’s bonus to the original team leader every month for one year. This system encourages each team to reorganize and generate new autonomous teams
Indonesia
The rise of performance politics in Indonesia? – New Mandala
Japan
Japan’s biggest defence fair raises questions about military expansion | Financial Times
Korea
Kakao Mobility picks up ‘super app’ startup Splyt, once backed by SoftBank and Grab | TechCrunch
Luxury
Here’s How Big and Profitable Watch Collections Are Around the Globe – Robb Report
Marketing
Need to trim advertising spend? Kantar research suggests what you can’t afford to cut – ThinkTV
Materials
Europe Balks at Strategic Stockpile for Critical Green Metals – Bloomberg
Idaho and Montana Rest Atop Incredible Mineral Riches
Media
This makes sense, particularly after Bytedance tried to use the app to track journalists: BBC advises staff to delete TikTok from work phones – BBC News
Online
Google opens early access to Bard, its AI chatbot | TechCrunch
Yes, of course we should ban TikTok – by Noah Smith
TikTok Showdown Reaches Fever Pitch: CEO’s Congressional Testimony | National Review
Quality
HDD Average Life Span Misses 3-Year Mark In Study of 2,007 Defective Drives – Slashdot
Retailing
WPP acquires data-driven influencer marketing agency Goat | WPP – from memory Goat were about affiliate marketing via social media for brands
Security
CIA’s CTO and deputy director explain the future of high-tech spying | Fast Company
Ferrari Has Been Hit by a Cyberattack That Exposed Customer Data – Robb Report
Singapore
Singapore and Hong Kong vie to be the Caymans of Asia | Financial Times
Software
OpenAI Research Says 80% of U.S. Workers’ Jobs Will Be Impacted by GPT – its already there to a certain extent with the likes of Grammarly and Nuance Communications
Amazon Faces Moment of Truth on Alexa as ChatGPT Steals Its Thunder — The Information – Toyota doesn’t seem to need Alexa anymore. The automaker has dropped support for an app that allowed users to operate Alexa in their cars via smartphones in 2023 editions of several of its most popular models, including the RAV4, Prius and Corolla. And according to a person close to the automaker, Toyota plans to phase out Alexa integration from the rest of its lineup in the coming years. The automaker is now focused on improving an in-house voice assistant it launched last year and is considering integrating ChatGPT, the chatbot created by OpenAI, into it
Style
The influence of cyberpunk on tech wear and functional fashion. William Gibson’s Zero History talks explicitly about the function and tech wear nature of military clothing. They are a central part of the plot line.
Technology
Amazon Faces Moment of Truth on Alexa as ChatGPT Steals Its Thunder — The Information – Toyota doesn’t seem to need Alexa anymore. The automaker has dropped support for an app that allowed users to operate Alexa in their cars via smartphones in 2023 editions of several of its most popular models, including the RAV4, Prius and Corolla. And according to a person close to the automaker, Toyota plans to phase out Alexa integration from the rest of its lineup in the coming years. The automaker is now focused on improving an in-house voice assistant it launched last year and is considering integrating ChatGPT, the chatbot created by OpenAI, into it
Taiwan
I am currently reading Chris Miller’s book Chip War. This is a great talk by Chris about many of the areas covered in the book
Wireless
Satellite operator enables 3GPP device interoperability | EE Times