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To promote its newest shoes, the Swiss athletic apparel brand On filmed a fictional movie trailer with Zendaya. Zone Dreamers stars the actress as an elf-eared astronaut who wears athleisure, trains in space with her flight crew, andOn hopessells some merchandise. It’s all an elaborate ad campaign for On’s new low-profile sneaker, Cloudzone, its one-piece Studio Knit Bodysuit, and other offerings from the companys Spring/Summer 2025 Movement Lifestyle collection, which Zendaya wears throughout. (Consumers hoping to get their hands on the futuristic space suit Zendaya sports in one scene will be disappointed to learn that it’s not part of the collection. Celebrity stylist Law Roach, who styled the shoot, commissioned the white-and-clear suit from creative studio Chrishabana. “Some of my best work!!!” Roach wrote on Instagram.) [Photo: On] It’s also a high-production way to sell workout apparel in a market that’s more competitive than ever. Global athleisure sales are expected to grow by more than $173 billion from 2024 to 2028, according to data from Technavio, a market research firm, and lifestyle, yoga, and women’s athleisure are expected to be major drivers. Challengers like On and Lululemon have cut into the market share of legacy brands like Nike since the pandemic, and today apparel companies are jockeying for many of the same consumers. On’s campaign suggests that having a celebrity spokesperson isn’t enough in a product category this competitive. The truth is that celebrity brand ambassadors are everywhere. Athleta and Lululemon have partnered with athletes like Simone Biles and DK Metcalf for years, Fila recently tapped model-influencer Hailey Bieber to promote a tennis-inspired athleisure line, and Nike just teamed up with Kim Kardashian’s Skims for a first-of-its-kind collaboration due out later this year. Skims is also a leader in advertising innovation, often engaging external collaborators who bring artistic vision to tentpole campaigns. [Photo: On] On is leaning into that approach. Visual artist Nadia Lee Cohen, whose work has been featured in Interview magazine and the Dolce & Gabanna X Skims campaign, directed the spot. The resulting work allows On to “push the limits of creative storytelling,” as Alex Griffin, the companys chief marketing officer, put it in a statement. With elevated production and an unconventional concept, Zone Dreamers sets itself apart from traditional fashion photo shootsand that’s the point. [Photo: On] The rise of hi-fi marketing campaigns, from the likes of Skims and now Onfeaturing magazine-style editorial execution and big-name creative talent both in front of and behind the camerapoints to how well-suited narrative storytelling is for today’s biggest distribution channels: social media feeds. They’re attention-grabbing, create conversations, and can draw out launch-related buzz over multiple posts and days in a way that echoes box-office-style marketing for movies. Zendaya’s leading role in the new Zone Dreamers video shows there’s room to take high-production marketing concepts to the movies, outer space, and beyond.
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E-Commerce
A decade ago, streets in Paris were clogged with cars and exhaust. But now, if you ride a bike down a major boulevard at rush hour, youll be surrounded by a stream of other cyclistsand much cleaner air.Its an incredible feeling to ride your bikeit feels like Copenhagen, basically, says Vincent Thorne, a postdoctoral researcher in sustainable mobility at the Paris School of Economics, who moved to the city a little over a year ago.Since Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo took office in 2014, the citys roads have radically transformed, speeding up a shift away from driving. More than 100 streets have been closed to cars. Tens of thousands of parking spots have disappeared. Hundreds of miles of bike lanes have been added. In response, car traffic keeps dropping. A new report shows what the changes mean for local air quality: pollution levels have dropped roughly by half compared to 2005.[Image: Airparif]Airparif, an organization that tracks the citys air quality, found that levels of particulate matter (PM 2.5) pollutiontiny pieces of soot, dust, or smoke that can lodge in the lungsfell by 55% over the last 20 years. Nitrogen dioxide pollution, one of the main ingredients in smog, dropped by 50%.When Hidalgo began fighting to speed up the citys transition to sustainable transportation, she was motivated both by the need to cut climate emissions and by Pariss dismal air quality, which regularly exceeded EU health limits. The previous mayor, Bertrand Delanoë, had introduced Pariss bike-sharing network, along with an electric car-sharing network, and closed traffic on the left bank of the Seine. Hidalgo pedestrianized the right bank, turning a busy highway into a pedestrian path and park. A new low-emission zone blocked the most polluting cars from the city center. The city started getting rid of parking spots, replacing some of them with trees and other green space. Speed limits were lowered. Streets next to schools were closed, making it easier and safer for students to walk. Hidalgo embraced the concept of the 15-minute city, the idea that you should live a short bike ride or walk away from work and errands. (To help, the city is helping redevelop some single-use buildings, turning offices into housing, shops, coworking spaces, preschools, and other uses under one roof.) The citys network of bike lanes keeps expanding. The way that people get to work has quickly changed. Between 2022 and 2023, alone, the use of bike paths doubled during rush hour. On some roads, bikes started to outnumber cars. Some of the bike commuters might not have switched specifically from a car, says Thorne, the mobility researcher. Many Parisians already took public transportation, for example. But even if some people previously took the subway, if theyve now switched to biking, that means that theres now more room on the train. With the train less crowded, some drivers might now be more willing to take it instead of their cars.Thorne has been studying the impact of adding bike lanes on air pollution in New York City, where he found that bike infrastructure helped some people replace short taxi rides. The situation in Paris is likely different, he says. On many streets, entire lanes of traffic were converted to bike lanes. The shrinking road space for cars is convincing people to drive less overall; some of them may be walking or on public transportation rather than riding a bike. As traffic has subsided, the city is also just a better place to live. Yesterday, I was having dinner [outside] at a restaurant on one of our main boulevards, and it was kind of enjoyable, Thorne says. It wasnt something that was completely overwhelming with gas vehicles and traffic noise.
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E-Commerce
Nearly a decade after Congress passed the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015, the law is facing an uncertain future. Not to be confused with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (which shares the same acronym), the lawoften referred to as CISA 2015 to avoid confusionwas designed to clear the way between private companies and the federal government to more openly share cyber threat data. Supporters argued it would bolster national cybersecurity by speeding up the flow of information about emerging attacks. In ways that most people dont see, the law has helped financial firms, hospitals, and major retailers spot and respond to threats fasterthwarting ransomware, phishing scams, and other attacks before they spiral. But CISA 2015 came with a built-in expiration dateand that clock is now ticking. Key provisions of the law are scheduled to sunset at the end of September unless Congress acts to renew them. As lawmakers weigh the future of CISA 2015, theyll have to navigate a tricky set of obstaclesnamely skepticism from privacy advocates. Fast Company spoke with Matthew Eggers, vice president for cybersecurity policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, about whats at stake in the renewal process. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. Broadly speaking, how has the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act shaped the governments relationship with the private sector? The law, and the attitude that it’s built up over the years, has really provided government entities with a host of cyber threat data that they can’t get on their own. In a lot of ways, the information-sharing legislation has built a lot of connective tissue between the government and industry. What were trying to say to Congress is they need to pass the legislation by September 30, because not only is the law the cornerstone of U.S. cyber security, but it’s also to their benefit. They’ve got the public and private entities in their districts, in their state, that are under attack from cyber criminals and foreign nationsChina, Russia, Iran, North Korea. Can you give an example of a tangible impact the law has made? I look at something like the food and ag sector. They’ve got a new Information Sharing and Analysis Center, and I think that is definitely an outgrowth of CISA 2015. There was a very good paper that David Turetsky, a professor at the University of Albany, put out in 2020 that showcases cyber success stories. It basically hits on a small fraction of the incidents that were probably mitigated or prevented. Thats one of the things about cyber information sharing: It’s hard to prove or show situations where you probably stop attacks at the outset or mitigate them. What is at stake, then, if the law lapses? It’s probably the case that information sharing would go down, and that’s in no one’s interest. There was information sharing happening before CISA 2015 passed, but what you’ve seen is an expansion of information-sharing bodies. And we don’t want to undercut that progress that’s been made. The other thing thats at stake is trust. It takes a long time to build trust among individuals and organizations; at the end of day, it’s individuals within organizations who share information, and they have to know one another. Is a straight reauthorization sufficient? Some folks have pushed to modernize the law to address new cyberthreats like AI-driven attacks. It’s definitely part of the mix, and I can say that many leading organizations that are invested in this law are giving that a lot of thought. The law expires September 30; we definitely don’t want the law to lapse, but it only makes sense that we should be thinking about ways to improve the program, and I think that would likely entail new legislation. That can take time to consider. Do we have time to do that? I think that remains to be seen. Our priority is making sure that the program doesn’t lapse. Groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation have argued that the law doesn’t have sufficient safeguards for data. What is your response to those concerns? I think those concerns were unfounded when the program was being considered. A Congressional Research Service report that just came out showed that industry and government have a strong record of safeguarding privacy and civil liberties under CISA 2015. And to my knowledge, there have not been any privacy incidents. Plus, sharing privacy information really doesn’t do an organization much good from a cyber standpoint. Typically, what you’re sharing are cyber threat indicators, which are things like domain names, log data, malware, date stamps, stuff like that. Senator Rand Paul was a major opponent of the original bill, and hes now chairing the Senates Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee. Have you engaged with him directly? We have been engaging his staff, and would be more than willing to engage him. I would say it’s just a matter of time before we try to meet with him. We’re always willing to talk. One thing were trying to do is more or less impress upon him the importance of the program to his state’s public and private entities. President Trump hasnt said anything on the laws future, but there have been cuts to similar cyber initiatives. The people he is putting into positions at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and likely the Office of the National Cyber Director and the National Security Councilthey get the importance of information sharing. Probably between now and September, when you may see a statement of administration policy, I can’t help but think that there would be a thumbs-up in favor of this program. Someone like Sean Plankey, who is expected to head up CISA, I know personally that he believes in the importance of this kind of effort.
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E-Commerce
If you follow much tech news, youve probably read about the Reddit theory of search. The Reddit theory is the idea that the best info you can get from Googling anything these days comes from Redditand the power of crowdsourced wisdom. You want to find the best portable battery pack? Or uncover the secret to getting Sharpie off your skin? See what scores of Redditors have settled on and save yourself the trouble of trying to dig up a definitive answer from any single source without all that extra perspective. Its become such a popular tactic, in fact, that Google inked a major deal to feature Reddit info more prominently in its results. But you still never know exactly what youre gonna get for any given search, and finding anything close to a consensus of opinions is often easier said than done. My friend, Ive found a better way. Allow me to introduce you to the search-supplementing supertool you never knew you needed. Psst: If you love these types of tools as much as I do, check out my free Cool Tools newsletter from The Intelligence. You’ll be the first to find all sorts of simple tech treasures! Answers, answers, everywhere All rightso here it is: Few mere mortals who arent Reddit regulars realize it, but Reddit recently launched its own interactive search system for finding worthwhile info across the site. Its called Reddit Answers. And Ive legitimately been blown away by how useful and effective of a resource it can be. Youll only need about 20 seconds to see what it can do. Just open up the Reddit Answers website, then type any question or general search query into the box in the center of the screen. Reddit Answers offers up a single search box where you can ask anything. [Screenshot: Reddit Answers] The key here is to think about this as a specific sort of supplement for your standard searching. Reddit probably isnt the place to turn for objective facts, definitions, or any other such info. But it is an unmatched repository of genuine human opinion on a huge range of topics, and Reddit Answers helps you navigate that sea of sentiment better than any other tool Ive tried. So, for instance, if youre seeking out a new smart lock for your home, you might find it helpful to see a big-picture view of opinions from relevant Reddit discussions on the subject: You can get instant summaries of opinions from all across Reddit without any time-consuming searching. [Screenshot: Reddit Answers] Or if youre planning a trip, you might benefit from browsing through stacks of firsthand opinions on different neighborhoods within a certain city: Reddit Answers pulls info from numerous threads and sums ’em up for easy skimmingand further probing, too, if you want. [Screenshot: Reddit Answers] What makes Reddit Answers especially interesting for me is not only the info it gives you but also the way in which it structures it. Instead of just serving up scattered answers, it shows you smart summaries along with links to specific threads for more detailed reading. Its like a gateway into a wild and often unapproachable jungle of popular perspectivesa starting point that makes it infinitely easier to explore that info without having to scroll through a zillion different pages and put it all together on your own. Reddit Answers works entirely on the web, in whatever browser you like. Its free. And you dont have to sign in or share any sort of personal info to use it. That being said, you will be limited to 10 queries a week if you dont sign in (and a regular Reddit account is free and easy to create). Ready to rev up your productivity even further? Check out my free Cool Tools newsletter for an instant introduction to an incredible audio app thatll tune up your days in some truly delightful waysand another off-the-beaten-path gem in your inbox every Wednesday!
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E-Commerce
Environmental lawyers say two new White House directivesdesigned to greatly expand executive power to strike down federal energy and environmental regulationsare not likely to hold up in court and represent an attempt to move far beyond the established boundaries of presidential authority. I do not think this even comes close to passing the test for legality, said Andres Restrepo, a senior attorney in the Sierra Clubs Environmental Law Program, of the April 9 executive order, Zero-Based Regulatory Budgeting to Unleash American Energy. This executive order directs the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, and other key federal agencies to incorporate a sunset provision into their regulations governing energy production. Once inserted, the provision would repeal that regulation within one year unless an extension is granted. Among those targeted are rules authorized under the Endangered Species Act. In a press release, the Center for American Progress, a public policy group, warned that enacting this order would create chaos, uncertainty, and a nightmare of administrative procedures to justify almost every individual regulation relating to energy and environment. To just arbitrarily have a cutoff date for all regulations issued, regardless of what the statute says, and regardless of whether theres an evidentiary basis for itthat is simply unlawful, Restrepo said. This is really just not how our laws work. Restrepo said the order may be inspired by an Idaho law that includes a sunsetting provision stating that regulations expire automatically after one year unless they are extended by the state legislature. But the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs how federal agencies write and enforce regulations, contains no such language. Federal agencies create regulations based on laws passed by Congress. It makes no sense. It is impossible to implement. It reflects a complete lack of understanding of how government works, said Ari Peskoe, director of the Electricity Law Initiative at the Harvard Law School Environmental and Energy Law Program. Peskoe theorized that the administration is enshrining a misguided quote from billionaire Trump donor Elon Musk about his support for applying a zero-based budgeting framework to the federal government. Zero-based budgeting is a financial strategy Musk employed at Twitter that forces an organization to constantly re-justify its expenses. When reached for comment about the legality of the order, a White House press representative pointed to an administration fact sheet for Zero-Based Regulatory Budgeting. That says the order will unleash American energy innovation, which has been frozen in the 1970s. Regulations from the Carter Administration should not govern energy production today. From the fracking boom to advances in solar and wind technology, the American energy landscape is very different today than it was 50 years ago. Existing regulations didnt stop those innovations. A presidential memo also released Wednesday, Directing the Repeal of Unlawful Regulations, refers to an earlier executive order, Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the Presidents Department of Government Efficiency Deregulatory Initiative. That order required agencies to identify certain categories of unlawful and potentially unlawful regulations within 60 days and begin plans to repeal them. The memo lists several recent Supreme Court decisions and directs agencies to prioritize repealing any regulation in conflict with those decisions. You cant do that. You cant just repeal a regulation thats on the books without holding a notice and public comment process, Peskoe said. If they want to do this, theyre going to inevitably lose in court. Under the Administrative Procedure Act, agencies must follow a specific process in order to repeal a regulation. That process involves writing a proposal based on the administrative record for that regulation, soliciting public comment on the proposal, and then incorporating that feedback. The memo says agencies can use the good cause exception in the Administrative Procedure Act to dispense with notice-and-comment rulemaking. The good cause exception has been narrowly defined by the courts to apply only to emergency or urgent situations where delay could result in serious harm, Restrepo said. What this presidential memorandum does is it just provides the administration with a nuke button to get rid of any rule it doesnt like, said Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, an attorney and the executive director at the Western Environmental Law Center. He is concerned about what could happen if legal battles over this memo and the related executive order reach the current Supreme Court, with its conservative majority that has upended precedent before. The Supreme Court justices have proved very willing to use their own values to determine what the law is, rather than reading the plain language of a law and applying it to the facts of a particular situation, Schlenker-Goodrich said. Theres a risk, once it rises to the Supreme Court, that they will interpret what the federal government did as perfectly lawful. It will essentially expand the power of the federal government. If the sunsetting provision were somehow to be upheld in court, it would be a complete free-for-all on public health and the environment, Restrepo said. A huge amount of the work that has been spent to protect the public health and welfare will be erased. He thinks thats unlikely, but he does foresee the federal government wasting time and money to defend these directives with little likelihood of succeeding. Restrepo and Schlenker-Goodrich both questioned how the agencies would even be able to carry out the work outlined in these directives, given the drastic staffing cuts the new administration has made across the government. Schlenker-Goodrich said the order and memo were part of the administrations broader efforts to dismantle the federal government and consolidate power away from federal agencies and into the hands of the president. Ive been practicing law for going on 26 years, and no administration in my lifetime has exercised authority in the abusive and wild way like the Trump administration is doing now, he said. The administrations policies would take the United States back to a world before landmark environmental legislation like the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, a world of burning rivers, smog-filled cities, and polluted public lands, he said. It is truly a five-alarm moment, Schlenker-Goodrich said. By Kiley Bense, Inside Climate News This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for its newsletter here.
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E-Commerce
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