Gymshark barbershop raises awareness of male mental health

This week we’ve been wondering about: How to indulge Gen-Z’s sweet-tooth? What Gymshark’s mental health barbershop says about modern masculinity and we are excited to announce our latest collab with DC shoes.

Why you should be serving up a treat for Gen-Z

Gen-Z makes up 30% of the world's population (slightly skewed by Chinese and Indian youth). While everyone thinks of this generation as activist hypebeasts and bedroom entrepreneurs - WGSN recently stated that they have a ‘split personality’ when it comes to their buying motivations. On one hand, driving calling out culture, especially on environmental issues, whilst fuelling the rise of fast-fashion brands like Shein on the other.

With Gen-Z at the heart of many of our design briefs, we spend a lot of time looking into and designing for this complicated demographic. Brands are keen to create new ways to connect with this generation and stand-out, which is hard to do when they have the shortest attention span on record! Interestingly though one thing comes up time and again – Food is Gen-Z's top spending priority. ‘Love snacks, hate meat’ is one of the biggest food trends for today’s youth.

Brands need to get comfortable with becoming ‘feeders’. Serving up the best treats in town (even if you’re not a food brand). This more active over passive, sensorial experience is the reason it’s such a hit with attention-deficit Gen-Z. Kith is a brand that is nailing this. It’s Kith Treats bar that are a core component of their retail offer, but they also have a back catalogue of tasty collaborations to boot. Having teamed up with the likes of Cheerios and a brand partnership with Cha Cha Matcha at NYFW . Thinking outside the box – no one wants another in-store coffee shop… #beentheredonethat. As documented by Stylus in their new Food x Fashion report “The more unexpected, the better”. ‘Instagram-bait’ and TikTok ‘Taste Testing’ is what makes Gen-Z tick. So if you want to connect with this generation, in the words of Craig David - ‘Tell me what’s your flavour?’

This week we’re loving Gymshark’s answer to toxic masculinity

Last week Gymshark opened up a mental health barbershop pop-up in London called DELOAD. Based off new research that found men prefer to open up to their barbers than their family, friends – and even their doctors.

Mirroring the ‘It’s OK not to be OK’ sentiment, the space looks to tackle the lack of discussion around male mental health, creating a safe environment aimed at helping men ‘let their guard down’. The brand offered free trims by professional mental health trained barbers and stocked a limited edition capsule collection, with all proceeds going to mental health charity CALM. These types of pop-ups only work when they’re not a PR gimmick and are designed to make a difference. With 84% of men in the UK bottling up their emotions, the strategy to find the best way to get them to open-up (rather than bottle up) gets high praise from us!

A new and exciting partnership with DC Shoes

We are very excited to announce that we are working with DC Shoes.

DC Shoes, born in 1994, took to the streets to turn learners into legends one skateboard and skate shoe at a time. From the backstreets to the snowy mountains their grit, authenticity, style and confidence works together to challenge the status quo on every level.

Keep an eye out for what's to come!