The Innovation Group’s annual Future 100 report is a snapshot of emerging trends, tracking innovation across major consumer sectors. How did our forecasts fare last year? Below, we look at the top trend predictions in luxury, beauty and retail.

Masstige lifestyle

In last year’s Future 100, we wrote about the Uber-ization of luxury services as they become accessible to a wider range of well-off consumers, thanks to on-demand apps. This year, the trend expanded from valet services to private jets and more.

–JetSmarter, the “Uber for jets”, charges an annual membership fee for access to luxury travel at the tap of a button. The company recently closed a $105 million funding round, with backers that included the Saudi royal family and rapper Jay Z.

–Once the height of style and exclusivity, hailing a helicopter is now as easy as calling a cab. Uber’s UberCHOPPER service expanded this year, offering on-demand helicopter trips over Dubai, Sao Paolo, and chartered rides to events like Coachella.

–In April, Uber also launched UberYACHT in Dubai. “We want to be more than just a leading global technology app, we want to provide experiences at the push of a button,” said a company representative.

­–The future of luxury travel? Airbus unveiled plans this year for the flying taxis of the future, a self-driving hovercraft that could bypass traffic.

–Launched in December, Uncloset is a £149-per-month subscription service that rents out designer handbags.

In our newest Future 100 report, we look at the rise of on-demand spa and massage services.

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Further Future. Photography by Jacob Avanzato

Mystic beauty

The Innovation Group predicted the rise of spirituality-themed beauty products as part of a consumer shift toward embracing the mystic and the unknown. New wave beauty products were “modern and technical,” said beauty editor Anna-Marie Solowij, rather than “hippie.” In 2016, the sector exploded.

–Cult hit Glossier launched Haloscope, billed as the “galaxy’s first dew effect highlighter.” Haloscope’s outer core was enriched with rose quartz crystals and topaz for extra glow.

Blue Moon Dream Water made a splash with its skin-clearing alkaline powers, courtesy of an infusion of lapis crystals.

Wild Medicine soaps contain individual crystals that personalize and enhance the bathing ritual.

–Luxe French skincare line Gemology makes gem-based toners and serums, and even offers a “diamond facial.”

–Mystic beauty even goes beyond makeup now. Item M6’s crystal-infused tights , calibrated to stimulate acupuncture pressure points. sell for for $98/pair.

For more on spirituality in the beauty industry, download our Unreality report.

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Beauty Tights

Beauty foods

2016 saw the rise of products that blurred the lines between “beauty” and “food” as consumers turned to an inside-out definition of wellbeing. This year saw even more entries into the category, sparking beauty trends around the globe.

–Moon Juice sells both juice cleanses and trendy tonics and dusts that “unlock your own healing force,” including one aimed at beauty; founder Amanda Chantal scored her first cookbook this year.

–One of the year’s biggest hit products, Dirty Lemon’s detox tonics now include a Skin + Hair line. The millennial-friendly line includes ingredients like activated charcoal and drinkable collagen.

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Dirty Lemon

–Beauty stalwart Burt’s Bees recently launched a pea protein-based powder.

–Tumeric emerged in 2016 as a superfood, but also as a super skincare ingredient with powerful anti-aging properties.

Community stores

Last year, brands opened flagship locations that not only sold products but sought to bring a benefit to the surrounding community. “Although e-commerce has supplanted many functions of the traditional bricks-and-mortar store, physical retail spaces still offer a better opportunity to demonstrate a brand’s social mission in an authentic way that will resonate with consumers,” we wrote.

This year, major brands took the idea to heart, placing it at the heart of their design philosophy.

–Apple’s redesigned stores feature what the brand calls its “latest design thinking”: a “town square” layout with a central forum that hosts daily entertainment and workshops. The design has rolled out to Regent Street in London, San Francisco and more.

–In London, The Dining Club by Ikea featured a pop-up restaurant with “Food for Thought” workshops designed to bring groups of family and friends together around food.

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Ikea DIY Dining
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Ikea DIY Dining
WEB IKEA DIY Dining Edit
Ikea DIY Dining

–Brands like Samsung are also experimenting with locations that exclusively provide cultural or community benefits, eschewing retail entirely. For more, see “Productless Flagships (#63)” in this year’s Future 100 report.

Download The Future 100: Trends and Change to Watch in 2017 for the key trends shaping culture and travel in the year ahead.

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