Spotting trends early gives a brand or person relevance. Translating them well gives results. In a world where culture shifts faster than ever, how do you separate fleeting hype from movements that truly matter? Join trend forecasters Abbey Cook and Naomi Pollard for a candid conversation on how trends are spotted, interpreted, and transformed into products, brands, and lifestyles people buy into. From cross-category trend migration and the rise of branded worlds, to the evolving role of AI, and using creative intuition, they’ll unpack how forecasting is changing in real time. Expect practical tools to use for creating your own trends and futures along with bold predictions and insider insight on what signals today could shape consumer culture in 2026 and beyond.

For 20 years Abbey Cook has been a trend forecaster and creative consultant, connecting the dots of culture in order to predict the future. She works across fashion, interiors, culinary, marketing and design industries and translates her big picture thinking into commercially viable products for brands, retailers, and Fortune 500 companies. She has predicted large cultural movements and “it” colors such as millennial pink and brat green. Abbey has traveled to 50+ countries to conduct trend research and present forecasts, providing a rolodex of cultural insights and knowledge for her clients. She has worked for Kohler, Cotton Incorporated, The Color Association of the United States, Martha Stewart, and Doneger Group and currently serves as the consulting US trend editor for TrendBible, a trend agency based in the UK. She is also a lifestyle and design contributor for TABLE Magazine and the co-founder of the brand The Taste Curators that merges food, fashion and color into sensorial experiences and collaborations.

Naomi Pollard is the Director of Trend Services at global future trends agency TrendBible. With over 15 years of experience as a consultant to some of the world’s leading home and lifestyle brands, she champions a human-centred approach to forecasting that blends creative intuition with strategic foresight and a heavy dose of commerciality. She and her team partner with creative leaders to help them stay inspired, confident, and aligned with the evolving needs of their audiences—turning what’s next into something they can connect with and act on today.

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