#33 KARINNA NOBBS - on moving to Ibiza, digital experiences for the circular economy and ways to develop personal and professional innovation

Karinna Nobbs approaches her life in fashion with three guiding pillars; investigation, conscious innovation and education. Someone whom we may consider a Futurist, she has recently felt the need to turn her attention to the present rather than striving to create the future. So, it stands to reason that Karinna recently entitled herself a Nowist, rather than a Futurist. The current pandemic has made us consider all aspects of our lives and work out what’s essential and important to us. For Karinna, that has led to her making a conscious decision to move more into the present, and be more connected to nature, living in Ibiza where she moved just before lockdown.

Karinna started her career as a visual merchandiser and moved into fashion academia when she realised how addictive researching and teaching could be. During her 15 years full-time academic career she has taught in more than 25 institutions, spoken at 87 conferences, across 19 countries and currently lectures at London College of Fashion, the Antwerp School of Management, ESA, Istituto Marangoni, Hyper Island and was awarded an affiliate Professorship at ESCP Europe in 2018 where she teaches Innovation and Trends.

Since 2017 Karinna has also has worked alongside agencies including Holition, Sunshine and Wednesday, for media brands such as the Business of Fashion, Decoded Fashion and Frieze plus with luxury brands including La Prairie and The Vampire’s Wife.

We visited and featured Karinna’s self-funded project HOT:SECOND, which brought to life the world’s first circular economy concept store where she traded physical products for digital experiences. This project brought together various digital and sustainable applications, concepts and brand into one place for the public to play with and contemplate a different kind retail experience.

Turning her attention to what kind of support and inspiration creative professionals may need post-pandemic, Karinna has been working on creating a transformational experience designed to enable both personal and professional innovation. The Think (Re)treat offers a carefully constructed seven-phase programme delivered intensively over 48 hours in an exclusive environment on the island of Ibiza, due take place in October 2020.

In this podcast, Jodi Muter-Hamilton talks to Karinna about:

• What it’s like to follow your instinct to a place that has yet to be defined
• Her future plans for HOT:SECOND
• Working on The Dematerialised with another incredible woman in innovation, Marjorie Hernandez, Co-founder LUKSO
• Why she felt it’s time to help others develop both personal and professional innovation roadmaps http://karinnanobbs.com www.blackneondigital.com