Katie Baron
London-based author, journalist, brand consultant and futures director specialising in deciphering the intersections between consumer insights, creative cultures, and emerging technologies.
About
An expert in marrying commercial acumen and creative enterprise, Katie Baron has spent almost 20 years helping guide forward-thinking brands and individuals in retail, media, fashion, publishing, wellbeing, and the arts.
She's currently a foresight director at global trends intelligence agency Stylus, where she spearheads the Retail & Brand Comms and Pop Culture & Media divisions – helping brands navigate the now, plan for what comes next and/or shape the future.
She is also a senior contributor at Forbes, spotlighting pioneering thinking in sectors as diverse as sex, sports and style.
As a thought-leader, she’s spoken at international events and institutions including Milan Design Week, Decoded Futures, International Retail Design Conference (IRDC), CogX, WRLDCTY, Condé Nast Traveller Points of View and The V&A, and has helped establish future-scoping think-tanks including London College of Fashion’s Digital Anthropology Lab.
An accomplished storyteller, her unique future-focused cross-industry perspective has led to special projects including curating & hosting the Frieze Academy’s EXHIBITIONism talks and CaixaForum’s fashion + series.
She has also authored two books: Stylists: New Fashion Visionaries (2012) and Fashion & Music: Fashion Creatives Shaping Pop Culture (2016) and is Editorial Director of The 3rd Act, a new magazine dedicated to the art of movie-making.
If you’d like more details, to see specific examples of Katie’ Baron's work or discuss a collaboration please get in touch here.
The books
Katie is the author of two seminal books exploring the reciprocal influence of fashion and popular culture:
Stylists: New Fashion Visionaries provides an in-depth journey into the extraordinary landscapes of a unique breed of pioneering contemporary creatives: stylists. From catwalk shows to magazines, pop music personas to high design ateliers, Stylists is a celebration of some of the brightest and most influential visual communicators and collaborators of our time. Foreword by Nick Knight CBE. Published by Laurence King Publishing, March 2012.
Fashion + Music: Fashion Creatives Shaping Pop Culture offers unique insights into how these twin agents of change have collided to both reflect and influence the popular culture of their times. Featuring exclusive interviews with the creatives (stylists, designers, and art directors) behind era-defining looks and cultural movements, it’s an analysed homage to the tribe-forming, even lifesaving, collision of two formidable creative playgrounds. Foreword by Frances Corner OBE. Published by Laurence King Publishing, August 2016.
She has also contributed essays to books including Gestalten’s Shoplifter! New Retail Architecture & Brand Spaces (2018) and Glorious: 40 Years of Bananarama (2024).
Foresight, trends, think tanks + brand strategy
Since 2010 Katie has been a leading light in trends forecasting and innovation curation, helping brands to prepare for, reimagine and even create what comes next.
She is currently Content Director (Retail & Brand Comms, Pop Culture Media) for global trends intelligence business Stylus, which specialises in identifying and analysing emerging trends via the lens of consumer behaviours, socio-cultural shifts, and emerging tech.
Her focus on alternative futures means she also regularly participates in future-scoping think tanks and projects such as London College of Fashion’s Digital Anthropology Lab (a multi-disciplinary team assembled to examine how the digital world will collide with the human experience); Today Studios’s Outlandish Strategy for Outliers Nike Workshops (unlearning traditional brand strategy); and Outlier Ventures Dream Assembly (mentoring fashion-tech start-ups shaping the future of Web3- based luxury commerce).
Journalism + editorial consultancy
As a journalist Katie Baron's work spans art, fashion, design, popular culture, architecture, retail, travel, brand strategy and futurism via contributions to publications including Vogue, Dazed & Confused, Luxure, 125 Magazine, VOLT, Glass, Esquire, Hole & Corner, The 3rd Act, The Times, Condé Nast Traveller and Frieze.com.
As an editorial consultant, she has supported fashion brands including Reiss, Kilgour, Emporio Armani, Dunhill, Belstaff, Nicopanda, SØRENSEN, Meng, MULO; property developers & interiors specialists Knight Frank, Native Land, Mills Studio and Fabrix; glassware designers J. Hill’s Standard; and aestheticians The Lovely Clinic.
She is also a senior contributor to Forbes.com, unpacking innovation and opportunities in retail & brand culture.
Public speaking + broadcasting
Katie is a prolific public speaker, delivering keynote talks, fireside conversations, and moderating panel sessions on topics as diverse as AI and Authentic Creativity, Where Is My Mind? Mental Health & The Metaverse, Young Luxe: Future Tech, and The Future Retail Manifesto.
She has spoken at international events including Milan Design Week, CogX, the NextM conference, WRLDCTY, and the International Retail Design Conference.
As a brand expert and cultural commentator key credits include the BBC (TV and radio), Verizon Media, SHOWstudio and Frame Magazine’s #FrameLive architectural series.
Special projects
An occasional curator, Katie has also co-produced or appeared in numerous special projects. These include Frieze Academy’s EXHIBITIONISM talk series (2019) – hosting a series of talks exploring the changing role and influence of exhibition making from blockbuster biopics to countercultural game-changers; a short film on the synergetic influence of fashion & music for the CaixaForum, Barcelona; and an essay + talk series for one of Europe’s most acclaimed choreographers: Russell Maliphant.