The album is "traditional, not inevitable," according to William Higham of Next Big Thing, a London-based youth trend consultancy.
Lorna Hall, head of retail at trend consultancy WGSN, said it can be very hard for fashion brands to move upmarket and even more so in the glare of the stock market where executives are forced to publish regular sales updates.
A London-born artist whose stream-of-consciousness drawings adorn the walls of private homes and companies like the trend consultancy PSFK, Ms. Martin is also known for live performances in which she makes drawings that are digitally projected and set to light and music, events that have been staged in a variety of venues, from the Museum of Modern Art to nightclubs in Tokyo.
Most recently a director at The Futures Company, a strategic marketing and trend consultancy, she has made a career out of understanding insights that drive women's aspirations and life decisions.
Dan Kara of Robotics Trends, a consultancy, agrees.
"They are serious about humanoids," says Dan Kara of Robotics Trends, a consultancy.
A study of global luxury trends from consultancy Bain & Company out yesterday predicted sales of designer clothes, leather goods and jewellery will grow just 2% to €223bn this year.
"We are reaching the nadir of the current fashion-season cycle and it is about to fall apart," says Chris Sanderson, co-founder of the Future Laboratory, a British-based trend forecasting consultancy.
In 2010 over 50% of renewable-energy capacity was in the hands of individuals or farmers, according to trend:research, a consultancy.
