Signs Of Coronavirus: The Phone Call Goes Back To College

A recent New York Times article proclaimed “The Humble Phone Call Has Made A Comeback.” Citing reports from telecommunications giants like Verizon and ATT, the Times notes that while more internet use was expected during the coronavirus pandemic, what wasn’t anticipated was an even larger upswing in voice calls, a form of communications that’s been steadily declining for years.

According to the Times, “Verizon said it was now handling an average of 800 million wireless calls a day during the week, more than double the number made on Mother’s Day, historically one of the busiest call days of the year. Verizon added that the length of voice calls was up 33 percent from an average day before the outbreak. AT&T said that the number of cellular calls had risen 35 percent and that Wi-Fi-based calls had nearly doubled from averages in normal times.” By contrast, internet traffic was up between 20 to 25 percent over the average prior to the outbreak of the virus.

Ever since colleges and universities across the nation sent most of their students home for the remainder of the spring semester, they’ve turned to new forms of technology to try to recreate the teaching and student services that were formerly integral parts of their campuses. The result: huge increases in online classes, webinars, videoconferencing and remote meetings. Welcome to the new campus normal: the world of Zoom, Cisco Webex, Google Hangouts and BlueJeans.

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But like the rest of the pandemic world, colleges are rediscovering the many advantages of the old-fashioned phone call as a trusted and personal way to connect with the people who mean the most to them - students. That old ATT jingle - “reach out and touch someone” - has found a renewed resonance among admission officers, college administrators, counseling center staff, students and their families.

A telephone call has a unique psychology. It’s intimate in ways that a chatbot cannot duplicate for the simple reason that in a phone call two people actually talk to each other, and just each other. You hear another human voice. When it’s whispered, it can still be heard. When it’s shouted, you remain at a safe distance. It’s a real conversation where emotions are conveyed along with information. Feelings can be hurt, but they also can be soothed. On the phone secrets are shared, promises made, anxieties eased.

Top Trends In Sustainable Fashion Today

The fashion industry is the world’s second largest contributor to pollution. Talking about ethical commitments has become an expectation for brands, but many in the industry are secretly wondering if consumers are willing to put their money where they mouth is.

While climate change campaigner Greta Thunberg may be Time’s Person of the Year, fast fashion retailer Boohoo expects its revenues to grow over 40% in 2020. Consumers are more skeptical than ever, and are weary of greenwash and female empowerment messages created in boardrooms full of men.

The topic of sustainability in fashion is full of contradictions. Fashion, by definition, is ever changing, whereas to be truly sustainable, you would not buy anything new at all.

Yesterday, I chaired a panel on making fashion sustainable for Enty Live with people who have the power to make genuine change.

Many people want sustainably made clothes and ethical working conditions, but they also want cheap prices. Since organic cotton is around 30% more expensive than the stuff covered in pesticides, the decision to buy sustainable clothes really does hit the pocket.

While some consumers are devotees of the green message, most put style first, with sustainability as a pleasant addition. Hugo Adams, CEO of the Frugi Group, an organic cotton brand, says the company has two distinct customer types: the dark green and the pistachio green.

                                                             

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Everything You Need To Know About CBD Skincare

Whether its chocolates, cocktails, candles or clothing, CBD is everywhere and in everything you can possibly think of. And now the buzzy ingredient is taking over the world of beauty and skincare.  From serums and sunscreen to chapsticks, creams and cleansers, there is an array of hemp-infused products popping up in beauty supply stores everywhere.

According to a recent Market Watch report, the global CBD cosmetics market is estimated to be valued at over $580 million, with North America leading the way. And it's expected to hit $1.7 billion by 2025, predicts Grand View Research. Safe to say, the CBD trend isn't going to die down anytime soon.

If you're considering hopping on the CBD bandwagon too, but are unsure about where to start, here's a primer on all things CBD skincare:

First of all, what is CBD?

Cannabidiol, commonly known as CBD, is a naturally-occurring chemical compound found in cannabis plants (eg: marijuana and hemp). It's one of the two primary active ingredients of cannabis, the other one being THC (tetrahydrocannabinol).

Unlike THC, pure CBD is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid, meaning it doesn't make you feel high.

Research shows that CBD may be effective in alleviating anxiety, chronic inflammation and pain, insomnia and some rare forms of childhood epilepsy. Moreover, a long-term study published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease found that CBD may help prevent cognitive decline. In addition, according to a review published in the Neurotherapeutics journal, CBD may also be effective in treating substance use disorder.

Why Sustainable Fashion Matters

Summer is over and professional woman are falling back to the work routine. Whether you're shuffling between boardrooms or attending your nonprofit's annual gala, most of us struggle to find tailored clothes for business environments that are sustainably made. Whether you are dressing for function, durability, or comfort, it is important to find pieces you can be proud to wear that still meet your sophisticated lifestyle when commitments call.

In recent years, sustainability has become a buzzword and turned a few heads. Just as consumers today are taking a closer look at the food they consume and the chemicals they put into their bodies, they are also shifting their purchasing decisions to create a cleaner environment through the clothes they wear.

Today, professional woman are savvier than ever and not only pay attention to the quality of their garments, but also the entire supply chain, production processes, and product afterlife. They are more aware that a hang tag using the word "sustainable" does not mean the retailer is using clean processes to develop that garment.

One of the biggest culprits in the fashion industry is "fast fashion," or clothes made cheaply to meet demands for the hot new styles. However, fast fashion is putting our future planet at risk.

After nearly 25 years in the industry, Melissa Nataadiningrat has over a dozen patents and immense product successes under her name, not to mention her extensive knowledge on sustainable fashion.

"What so many of us forget or perhaps don't realize is that sustainability is not just about using bamboo based fibers and slapping the term 'sustainable' on the hang tag. True sustainability comes when the entire supply chain of that bamboo is sustainable.

I've picked bamboo because it's so prevalent in the marketplace and we're told about the benefits of using bamboo-based materials. However, we haven't truly achieved an ecosystem of true sustainability when we're still reading about deforestation, water contamination and shortage, and big business farming putting small farmers out of their livelihoods.

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Highlights From Milan Fashion Week

By now you know that Jennifer Lopez ruled Milan Fashion Week. That she reprised the barely there Versace jungle dress, which helped launched her into the celebrity stratosphere, for Donatella Versace’s spring 2020 collection. (This time around the dress lost the sleeves and featured more beadwork). You’ve also probably read in news reports that on their (Lopez and the jungle dress) first time out 20 years ago, the overwhelming searches on the internet for a photograph of Lopez led to the creation of Google Image search. It’s a compelling fashion digital age story.

Second time around, it still broke internet barriers. Wasn’t your Instagram feed flooded with images and videos of Lopez strutting on the Versace catwalk as it was happening and immediately thereafter? Even those who weren’t present at the show were compelled to regram the moment on their Instagram accounts so as not to miss this fashion moment. It was a major fashion statement, so major in fact that it eclipsed the entire collection. Google Versace spring 2020 collection and the overriding image will be Lopez and the green tropical print dress and not much else.

And speaking of prints, there were so many to be had at Marni and Salvatore Ferragamo, all in exuberant colors. Where at Salvatore Ferragamo the shapes where more conventional, at Marni there was more experimentation. Marni and Salvatore Ferragamo are currently headed by relatively new creative directors, Paul Andrew and Francesco Risso respectively.

But the young gun making all the waves is Daniel Lee at Bottega Veneta who has been expounding on the house’s basketweave intrecciato technique. He’s made it oversized and slouchy. He’s used it on trousers and coats in sumptuous ways. He’s also poised to make Bottega Veneta handbags hot again with his take on clutches.

Miuccia Prada delivered one of her best collections in a long time for spring 2020. There was a quiet beauty to the clothes especially the tailored jackets that borrowed their shapes from the 70’s as well as the easy muslin-like dresses that were free of any sort of embellishments. But it wouldn’t be a Prada show without prints and patterns and the most successful were those that reworked Prada’s geometric prints.

                                                               

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Meet Rebecca Hessel Cohen, A Female Founder in Fashion

"People are wanting that connection to something that feels like a happy path and story," says the fashion designer and entrepreneur, Rebecca Hessel Cohen, about LoveShackFancy, the womenswear brand she started 6 years ago. Cohen's line of modern, vintage, victorian-meets-edwardian-meets-floral collection were born at her wedding. She designed dresses for the bridal party that would be easy to move in, easy to dance in, and easy to live in. The result was a chiffon halter—feminine but flirty, sexy but demure. It was the dress that, proverbially, launched a thousand dresses.

Cohen and I are at her family summer home in Watermill, New York where she hosted a dinner in collaboration with milliner, Nicolas Fouquet. It's golden hour and the property is bathed in late summer shimmer laced with a light, warm breeze.

The home, where she spent her childhood summers and where she was married, is a 19th century farmhouse sat within an orchard and framed with rolling country gardens. A small gardening shed with walls comprised of antique french doors is coming slightly undone with perfectly peeling paint. The shed contains one of the two dinner tables at the party and is set with linens new to the LoveShackFancy collection. Whimsical floral centerpiececs of dusty pink roses and lavender decorate the tabletops, and the property is scattered with oversize pillows and blankets in the grasses for lounging. It's magical.

The event is a manifestation of what Cohen does so impeccably—she has a very specific vision from which she doesn't deviate, a vision which she executes down to every miniscule detail. It's why LoveShackFancy is what it is, because she is unwavering on its offering at every touch point, giving her consumers the opportunity to tell their own story, while being a part of the one she's created.

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Could This Be How We Make Fast Fashion Sustainable?

Fast fashion is synonymous with disposable low-cost fashion and as such faces, much of the criticism levied at the fashion industry for its environmental impact. Throwaway garments are currently contributing more to climate change than sea and air travel combined and it has been estimated that more than ½ of fast fashion items are disposed of within one year of purchase—all too often ending up in landfill sights.

Fast fashion also has a poor social responsibility reputation with claims of employee exploitation with workers struggling to survive on extremely low pay, suffering appalling working conditions, excessive hours and being denied basic human rights.

Whilst the fast fashion low priced wear once and throw away fashion items continue to be favored by Instagram obsessed teens and price-driven family shoppers seeking quantity over quality there is undoubtedly an environmental and social backlash brewing.

In much the same way that we have seen public backlashes drive change in other industries from disposable cups, to the reduction in the volume of red meat being eaten to the banning of single-use plastic bags I think we will see the same happen in the fashion industry as consumers start to vote with their feet.

Yet fast fashion as a process has much to recommend it—it relies on early identification of customer wants and a quick turnaround process to get these products into the market with data feedback loops ensuring that the correct volume of product is offered to meet customer demand and avoid stock-outs or margin crucifying discounts.

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