Gen.T lister Christina Dean, founder of sustainable fashion NGO Redress and co-founder of up-cycled fashion brand The R Collective.

"The fashion world’s ethical barometers are now switched on and that’s why we’re seeing an overarching yearning for positive change. From those trying to reduce the industry’s environmental impact to those using fashion to champion feminist action, hope is now sewn into the core of fashion.

This groundswell of hope is also coming into retail. Retailers will be looking to offer more curated, ethically considered, sustainable collections that respond to the huge increase in ethical consumerism and reflect a ‘back to basics’ love of fashion.

We’ll be seeing much more heart and soul as an antidote to the blatantly unsustainable consumption of poorly made clothing that we’ve witnessed, and become exhausted by, over recent years. The future of fashion is full of hope, collaboration and care and I can’t wait to see it all come to life."

Gen.T lister Luke Grana, founder of fashion e-commerce platform Grana.

"Offline and online will continue to merge. With continuous growth in e-commerce and a decline in traditional brick and mortar retail, instead of physical stores being the main channel for purchases we are increasingly seeing offline becoming part of the beginning of the customer’s journey—bringing awareness, traffic and eventually conversion to online.

Digital platforms have the ability to bring the customer experience to the next level thanks to big data, which helps provide a seamless, smart customer experience. This will become one of the most important key drivers for business growth."

Gen.T lister Arthur Law, co-founder of tech-focused venture capital firm Vectr Ventures.

"In 2018 we expect a few major, big-brand tech IPOs. Keep an eye on Airbnb, Palantir, Spotify and Xiaomi. We also expect to see more acquisitions in the private market as corporates continue to get involved with smaller, innovative technology companies, acquiring them either for talent or to boost their main line of business.

Cryptocurrency will continue to be a big trend, for better or for worse. It’s all the buzz right now, but that may change with regulators potentially beginning to figure out how to crack down and reduce its volatility."

Gen.T lister Nicholas Ho, deputy managing director of architecture firm HPA.

"Smart design is going to be the main driver for innovation in the future. Smart design is the integration of hardware and software components to improve both the efficiency and effectiveness of the physical environment, and quality of life of users. Like never before, design will be more responsive, flexible and adaptable to a surrounding’s changes."

For more 2018 trend predictions from Generation T listers, see part two.