Season 4, Episode 4: What to wear to predict the future (with guest Paula Zuccotti)

Dahlia is joined by Paula Zuccotti, to discuss the stories that our clothes tell today and the role that they will play in predicting the future. Paula is an industrial designer, ethnographer, trends forecaster, creative strategist and visual artist. Through the conversation, Paula explains the role that clothing plays in helping her understand how people choose to live, personal identity and consumption trends. As a leading expert in global consumption Paula looks at consumer behaviour and product interaction in the past, the present and in the future. She discusses her work on the ‘Future Archaeology’ challenging listeners to think about how what they own tells their story and how in the future people will use our clothes to understand how life was in 2024. Just like archaeologists use the artefacts they find to connect the story of the past, Paula’s work helps us understand the way future generations will view how we live today by analysing what we own and how we interacted with the clothes and objects around us. The conversation includes an exploration of the meaning of clothes, reflections on how fast our product needs evolve with technology and the shocking fact of how much of what we ‘use’ is now centred on one handheld device. Paula travels the world running strategic lead creative projects researching people’s everyday lives, society, markets and culture uncovering insights and trends to envision user-centric products, brands, comms and services. Since 2012 she runs her own practice in London taking on large scale projects for the likes of Google, Nike, IKEA, LVMH, Starbucks, Hyundai, McKinsey, R/GA and LG. She specialises in working across industries primarily in: technology, home living, media consumption, entertainment, mobility, fashion, retail, luxury, food and drinks, personal care, sports, banking, fintechs. (She is currently working across five continents on a study about financial inclusion and empowerment).   Paula is the author of "Every Thing We Touch: A 24-Hour Inventory of Our Lives”, the book that introduced us to storytelling with objects, as she portrayed the lives of people around the world presented by a single photograph of every object they touched in a day. Her work relate to the project can be found at www.everythingwetouch.org 'Stressed But Well Dressed' addresses topics linked to stress, clothes and confidence helping listeners to understand how to set themselves up for success through unlocking what Dahlia defines as a 'well dressed mindset'. Each episode tells a new story of how what you wear influences how you feel, and how finding the right clothes for you can contribute to your success. Dahlia is joined by a weekly guest to discuss how they use their style as a way to shape their identity and personal brand. Guests include psychologists, authors, actors, television presenters, fashion designers, engineers, founders and even Barbie herself. Listen to hear the link between clothes, confidence and mindset. Topics in this episode include: fashion technology design archaeology product design culture society evolution psychology