It all began thirty years ago with sulky models, then came the multinationals with their obsession with EBITDA, prices rising at a dizzying rate which had to be countered by the product’s timelessness to justify its purchase, followed by ‘woke’ culture, cultural appropriation and the anxiety of saying or doing something wrong in a globalised world that is impossible to control. The result: never has there been a less cheerful environment than this one, which, as Sottsass said, should instead draw its strength from the ephemeral and the unstable. And yet you’re still surprised that results are suffering and recovery is stalling?
