Lifestyle & Culture | VML

A rooftop terrace featuring a square swimming pool with checkered tiling. The pool deck is made of matching brown and beige square tiles, furnished with a wooden side table, a lounge chair, and sun loungers. In the background, green trees meet the blue ocean under a clear sky.

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Safe haven travel

In an era defined by global flux, geopolitical shifts are reshaping the travel landscape.

CANNES, FRANCE - JUNE 24: Francine Lacqua, Demis Hassabis and a guest onstage for 'The Future of Creativity with Demis Hassabis' on Day 3 of Cannes Lions 2026 on June 24, 2026 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Shane Anthony Sinclair/Getty Images for Cannes Lions)

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Cannes Lions 2026: Key Trends

AI inspires conversation around what technology cannot automate: the human element

Two women chat on a sofa. One woman is black with an Afro hairstyle wearing a black sweater with white spots, and the other is a white woman with a wavy bob in a geometric colour block sweater.

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Gen X's power era

The oft-overlooked generation is becoming a formidable consumer force.

An outdoor, paved courtyard area filled with people socializing in front of industrial-style buildings. Some people are sitting at wooden picnic tables and high-top bar stools under beige umbrellas, while others walk through the space. In the background, there are shipping containers, brick buildings, a white car parked on a lower rooftop, and a large, stylized bow sculpture pointing toward the sky on the right.

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SXSW London 2026: Trends and insights

Wielding creativity to write a better future

Neo humanoid. Courtesy of 1X Technologies

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The humanoids shift

The next generation of artificial intelligence is shedding its screen-based constraints to walk, stretch, and pray alongside humanity.

Quartz concept ring. Courtesy of Modem and Retinaa

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Proof of humanity

The digital world is facing an identity crisis and people want proof of life.

Photography by Hani Almuzaini. Courtest of Pexel

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Olfactory archaeology

Perfumers are pioneering a new frontier in sensory storytelling by bringing the ancient and extinct back to life.

DogTV

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Five pet care innovations

Even as the cost-of-living rises, petrents continue to splurge on their pets.

Alibaba

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Superapp sovereignty

The race is on. Companies are competing to build the single app that will command every corner of our lives, redefining convenience and control.

United Airlines’ Relax Row transforms a standard row of three economy seats into a couch-like sleeping space. Courtesy of United Airlines

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Elevated economy

If economy used to mean compromise, airlines are now quietly rewriting the deal.

What appears to be a classical tapestry on closer inspection depicts a crowd of adoring women around another in the centre wearing jeans and a denim shirt.

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Tastemaking brands

For brands looking to cement their tastemaking credentials, Milan’s Salone del Mobile provides a showcase.

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The human premium

In a world flooded with AI, the human touch is everything.

Vigloo hero

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AI micro-dramas

If micro-dramas were built for speed, AI just pressed fast-forward.

Heinz Trade Up

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Functional billboards

Billboards go beyond advertising and are now guiding commutes and sparking social interactions.

Bar interior featuring paneled wood booths, mirrored wall, teal blue divider screens and round black tables, with retro style globe lamps.

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Retro-futurist design

In an era of technological overwhelm, the future looks more like the past.

Image by Mart Production. Courtesy of Pexels

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Five new work formats

From microshifting to job-hugging – the work landscape is evolving in myriad ways.