Today we are faced with fears of « flattening » and a cultural, intellectual homogenization of society where everything converges, interconnects and blends. We want to extract ourselves from this « magmatic » centrality, often seen as lacking in substance : we want to « ex-center » ourselves.

Paradoxally, this ex-centricity develops by re-centering … on our selves (our personality, our inner space) but also on local particularities – from here or elsewhere - with the intention of rediscovering distinctiveness, validating cultures and celebrating « otherness ».

We want to fill a void and defend all forms of uniqueness … so we can move from one world to many worlds…

Emerging signs
 

1. New icons
Julian Assange, the spokesperson and co-founder of Wikileaks, is an apostle of transparency, he operates in the greatest secrecy and fascinates us with his ambivalence. In the image of this angel-faced, troubling hacker, new icons seduce us by their commitments, anti-conformity, strong personalities and secrecy : they divulge neither their objectives nor their unique approach, thus working against the current masks of social norms.

2. Interior worlds
Besides the huge success of his Pop-Art silkscreens, Andy Warhol did a more intimate series of portraits. The Andy Warhol : Motion Pictures at MOMA exhibit shows ten of these stop-motion, filmed portraits. The faces move slowly so the viewer approaches the inner world of each person. They show the meandering soul, track emotions, capture auras or emanate charisma in a fleeting glance. They depict each person’s uniqueness within his environment which we can sense beyond the « envelope » of his or her body… This fascinates us today.

The evolution of values
From collective intelligence to intellectual autonomy

After years of an experimental sharing of intelligence and the collective creativity offered by developing technologies, a community or « crowd » has become an essential component to construct an identity. In reaction, tomorrow’s consumers will seek to explore « contradicting » territories : intellectual autonomy, individualism, turning inward, having an independent spirit or a critical sensibility…

In search of distinctive signs

The corollation of this re-centering on « inner worlds » means a desire to « have things in common » without being communal : how to rediscover a unifying form outside the group without completely rejecting it. In answer to this quest for singularity, we see emerge a subtle form of neo-dandyism that is more transgressive and non-conformist than it appears, hidden behind the banal and the commonplace : strange obsessions, disconcerting rituals or unusual « whims »…

From a flat world to a re-geographized world

Parallel to the development of a world culture mixed with hybrid, composite influences appears the desire of certain consumers for a « cultural decentralization ». A new ethic of globalization that recreates symbolic borders and highlights, rather than distorts the world’s abundant, multiple « exoticisms ».

Creative concepts

A new « custom-made » contrasts with a « showy customization » by revalidating local specialities from elsewhere and emphasizing uniqueness : both of a product … or the consumer himself.

1. Personal Code Ink by Montblanc. An exclusive, inimitable, personalized ink means its author can be identified and important documents authenticated.
 

2. Jovoy Boutique in Paris. A concept store dedicated to perfume which brings together rare fragrances and hard-to-find juices in identical bottles, plus an olfactory workshop for conceiving custom-made perfumes.

 

3. Orflögur Microchips by Björg i Bù. Potato chips from Iceland. Inside the packaging, their Icelandic origin is validated by a card plus detailed information.
 

4. IOU Project by Kavita Parmar. A new collection made from fabrics handwoven in India. Each piece is equipped with a Quick Response marker so the buyer can follow the story and steps of its manufacturing.