Did I tell you that I got some new shoes? It shouldn’t sound very abnormal (I’m definitely a shoe girl, plus I used to work for you know who). And yet, what’s special is that it’s my first new pair of heels in… four years? Like a large portion of the female population, I’ve moved to 100% flat footwear, often sustainably produced trainers (sneakers depending where you are in the world), like those Chloé ones I am obsessed with.

Anyway, I say this because it’s probably marking a turning point in the post-pandemic (can we say post yet?) era.

The shoes are fabulous—futuristic silver specchio leather with a wedge heel. I picked them up in Rome, in a real store, at Marni on Via Condotti, where me and my friend Carol spent a great deal of time. We left having fallen in love with both the whole Autumn/Winter collection and the wonderful service of Anastasia (who looked after me) and her colleagues.

Thankfully, right on the heels (pun intended) of that trip, I attended a conference in Geneva, the Luxury Innovation Summit & Awards, where I was glad to have my new mirrored pumps. I chose to register for this particular conference after reading that biotech startup MycoWorks would be attending. You may not remember but I wrote about their Reishi faux-leather not too long ago. I figured if such an amazingly innovative company is attending, there are bound to be other interesting people to listen to, right?

Right indeed!

While conferences can be useful but very dull, I was wowed by several of the participating brands, like the amazing technology of Ear Micro, the sustainability commitment from RE49, the beautiful designs and human commitment of Iota Project, the video and live shopping opportunities offered by Karoline Gross at Smartzer, and the story telling of diamonds literally ‘made from thin air’ by Aether. Finally, after writing about circular fashion and how Balenciaga and others are investing in their own resale (or recommerce), I had the pleasure to discover the startup behind the venture ReFlaunt, who are powering circular for many brands and multibrands, changing the game for this part of the market.

Innovation is an interesting topic, especially for me. More than a point of interest, it’s actually a trait according to the results of my Fascinate Test (which I took thanks to my friend Dr Andrea Wojnicki). Innovation is part of my superpower you could say. But, how important or relevant is innovation in your business, in your communication, or in your future? That’s something I’ll explore in next week’s Looking Forward. Until then, thank you for reading me (I appreciate it), and drop me a line if you’ve come across any cool and interesting innovative products or services lately. I’m always keen to discover more.