of the United Kingdom’s capitol city.
Prologue: From the Silk Road to Social Feeds
It’s 2017 and I’m in Bratislava on a business trip. After scoffing down a coffee and a croissant, I make my way to the office. I listen to an audiobook: Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. As I’m trudging along the city streets, the narrator details the Mongol and Ottoman trade caravans, the sprawling merchant routes that connected vast lands through commerce.
These were economic enterprises that served as primary vectors for transmitting ideas, technologies, and cultural norms across Eurasia. Gunpowder and philosophical traditions traveled alongside silk and spices. These caravans didn't just connect markets; they stitched disparate societies into an interconnected, early prototype for what we now call globalization.
That moment eight years ago activated my imagination, conjuring an image of merchants not merely trading goods but bridging cultures. I realized that the field I work in, eCommerce, is rooted in those same caravans that once crossed steppes, deserts, and forests. The fundamental principle of connection through exchange remains unchanged. PlayStation taught me more about Japanese culture than any textbook, and Nike shaped my earliest ideas of what American culture looked like.
Let’s reframe this idea around a specific example: have you ever been to Taiwan? Perhaps not. But have you heard of it? Almost certainly. The fact that your iPhone or Android contains a chip made in Taiwan has made the region more recognizable to the world than any traditional markers of culture ever could. The island’s role in supporting such a game-changing innovation has placed it firmly on the mental and cultural map of the Western world. As a result, we’re more aware of the complex relationship between China and Taiwan. And thanks to Taiwan’s commercial influence, the world now has a deeper appreciation for its distinct cultural identity.
If historical trade routes and manufacturing could place imprints on global consciousness, what is the equivalent for a consumer brand in 2025?
The most successful modern brands understand that cultural impact is no longer a passive byproduct of their operations; it is an active, engineered strategy. A tapestry woven over time. They construct identity through narrative, plug directly into the zeitgeist, and ride digital platforms like the new silk roads. The most sophisticated art and science of commerce is not just about moving products; it’s about moving culture.
Chapter I: The Heritage Compass — Translating Legacy into Digital Language
Wine as a Social Sacrament
Before a brand can translate its culture, it must first understand it.
Wine, for instance, has never been just a beverage. It is a medium for ritual, a symbol of status, and a cornerstone of social bonding and diplomacy throughout Western history. When Berry Bros. & Rudd was established in 1698, London was ascending as a global hub of commerce. The shop at 3 St. James's Street was more than a retail location; it was a physical centre for a specific subsection of the cultural elite. A place where business, politics, and social life intertwined. Its cellars held centuries of stories and relationships, contained in bottles of wine.
Despite this rich heritage, Berry Bros. & Rudd faced a daunting challenge: scaling something that felt so unscalable, especially in the digital age.
In a conversation with Emily, the product owner of the brand’s digital storefront, she articulated the core mission of their transformation project: translating the brand’s rich, highly tactile heritage into a modern digital experience.
“It was exciting because you don’t get to transform a 300-year-old business every day. The challenge was translating the brand’s rich heritage into a modern digital experience.”
This is the existential dilemma for all heritage brands: How does one convert a 300-year-old legacy of trust, sensory experience, and human expertise into the flat, highly compact dimensions of a digital screen?
The challenge is equally technical and cultural. Heritage brands must navigate the delicate balance between honoring tradition and embracing innovation, a process that often requires a fundamental shift in a company culture that has evolved over decades.
The website should not just be an online store with regimented lines of product SKUs. It should be a digital embassy of the brand's culture. It must exude the same air of exclusivity, quality, and curated expertise as the historic physical location.
This requires a strategy that goes beyond standard eCommerce practices, creating a high-touch, personalized journey for each customer.
Chapter II: The Zeitgeist Weave and How On-Screen Moments Become Off-Screen Movements
The New Cultural Accelerator
Cultural transmission channels have shifted, with consumers primarily using social platforms like Facebook and Instagram as sources of discovery. Short-form video platforms like TikTok and YouTube have amplified these trends rapidly, bringing product and brand discovery into a rich canvas crafted through unique voices and rich media. This dynamic tapestry doesn’t just reflect culture, it accelerates it.
Sleeper and the "Comfortcore" Symbiosis
Ukrainian apparel brand Sleeper exemplifies product-zeitgeist fit. The brand rose with the cultural shift toward domesticity and casual luxury post-COVID by embracing the pivot toward “comfortcore” fashion and organically integrating into shows like Ted Lasso, And Just Like That, and Barbie, which were defining media tentpoles of the era’s culture.
Kateryna Zubarieva, co-founder of Sleeper, describes the brand as a premium women’s wear label that embodies timeless comfort and style. But it also represents something much more significant: the broader cultural shift toward domesticity and casual luxury.
“Sleeper exists in mass culture not just through media but, crucially, through cinema. In America especially, film isn’t just entertainment — it’s a tool of identity formation. Post-COVID, with work-from-home culture, the home has become a public-facing space. Our clothes are about bridging that new duality.”
Sleeper’s integration into mainstream media moments felt natural, not commercial. The characters embodied the same reality as viewers, allowing Sleeper to become the uniform of a generation, turning consumers’ screen time into social momentum.
This is a great example of how brands can tap into changing culture. By riding the ebbs and flows of society, brands have a unique opportunity to embrace a new position in their market.
Cultnaked and Authenticity as a Resonant Frequency
Cultnaked was founded by Mary Furtas based on her personal frustration with ill-fitting luxury clothing. The brand's aesthetic predates the return of Y2K and Indie Sleaze, proving that authenticity, not trend-chasing, is the real asset for longlasting brands.
Born in Lviv, Ukraine, Mary was immersed in fashion from a young age. She started as a fashion photographer shooting for Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, but her entrepreneurial drive soon took over. “I realized my entrepreneurial side was stronger than my artistic one,” she explained.
Cultnaked’s distinctiveness lies in its confident sensuality and bold aesthetic. In Mary’s view, the fashion industry often misrepresents sensuality, an issue she used as a creative accelerant as she built the brand:
“A lot of what’s considered sexy in fashion actually borders on vulgar. Cultnaked is about something else — about the fit and the comfort. That’s what makes people feel sexy.”
With just 25 team members, Cultnaked has become a cultural force, worn by stars like SZA, Doja Cat, and Dua Lipa. Mary attributes this celebrity support to the brand being a direct expression of her taste, personality, and evolution. It’s this authenticity that resonates.
Up to 88% of consumers say authenticity influences how they select which brands to buy from. Cultnaked’s genuine voice gave it standout power — even with a small team. And while modern media amplifies brands already in tune with cultural frequencies, you can’t manufacture resonance. You have to live it first. This is how a culturally relevant brand founded by a single person and created by a small team can scale on the global level.
Chapter III: The Urban Canteen and Designing for Our Innate Need to Connect
The Human Need for a "Third Place"
Sociologist Ray Oldenburg’s "Third Place" theory defines three types of spaces: home, work, and a neutral space for connection, such as cafes, canteens, parks. These third places are essential for civic life and social cohesion. This is how Starbucks was created, for example.
Slava Balbek’s Urban Canteen exemplifies third-place design. His lesson: visual appeal isn’t enough. A space must speak the user’s language to succeed. The project succeeded because it stripped the concept down to intuitive simplicity. A canteen for the modern city that is accessible and unpretentious.
“For me, cultural relevance isn’t a trend or a manipulation tool,” he said. “It’s basic human respect for the context you’re working in. If you create something new without understanding what it’s built on or what it resonates with, it won’t endure.”
Slava didn’t arrive at this conclusion academically. He discovered it through experience. “In restaurant design, we learned fast: you can create a visually stunning space, but if it doesn’t speak the same language as its visitors, it will soon be empty.”
Epilogue: The Modern Agora — Where Culture and Commerce Coalesce
From ancient caravans to TikTok, physical storefronts to cultural TV moments, one truth persists: Commerce shapes culture and culturally relevant brands scale.
The agora of ancient Greece was a marketplace — and the center of public life. Today’s agoras are digital, narrative, architectural, rooted in our unique and shared experiences.
The future of brand-building isn’t about funnels or impressions. It’s about building modern agoras; intentional spaces where culture and commerce meet, and where brands don’t just sell, they mean something.
To build a brand is to build a bridge that connects not just markets, but meaning.
Prologue: From the Silk Road to Social Feeds
It’s 2017 and I’m in Bratislava on a business trip. After scoffing down a coffee and a croissant, I make my way to the office. I listen to an audiobook: Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. As I’m trudging along the city streets, the narrator details the Mongol and Ottoman trade caravans, the sprawling merchant routes that connected vast lands through commerce.
These were economic enterprises that served as primary vectors for transmitting ideas, technologies, and cultural norms across Eurasia. Gunpowder and philosophical traditions traveled alongside silk and spices. These caravans didn't just connect markets; they stitched disparate societies into an interconnected, early prototype for what we now call globalization.
That moment eight years ago activated my imagination, conjuring an image of merchants not merely trading goods but bridging cultures. I realized that the field I work in, eCommerce, is rooted in those same caravans that once crossed steppes, deserts, and forests. The fundamental principle of connection through exchange remains unchanged. PlayStation taught me more about Japanese culture than any textbook, and Nike shaped my earliest ideas of what American culture looked like.
Let’s reframe this idea around a specific example: have you ever been to Taiwan? Perhaps not. But have you heard of it? Almost certainly. The fact that your iPhone or Android contains a chip made in Taiwan has made the region more recognizable to the world than any traditional markers of culture ever could. The island’s role in supporting such a game-changing innovation has placed it firmly on the mental and cultural map of the Western world. As a result, we’re more aware of the complex relationship between China and Taiwan. And thanks to Taiwan’s commercial influence, the world now has a deeper appreciation for its distinct cultural identity.
If historical trade routes and manufacturing could place imprints on global consciousness, what is the equivalent for a consumer brand in 2025?
The most successful modern brands understand that cultural impact is no longer a passive byproduct of their operations; it is an active, engineered strategy. A tapestry woven over time. They construct identity through narrative, plug directly into the zeitgeist, and ride digital platforms like the new silk roads. The most sophisticated art and science of commerce is not just about moving products; it’s about moving culture.
Chapter I: The Heritage Compass — Translating Legacy into Digital Language
Wine as a Social Sacrament
Before a brand can translate its culture, it must first understand it.
Wine, for instance, has never been just a beverage. It is a medium for ritual, a symbol of status, and a cornerstone of social bonding and diplomacy throughout Western history. When Berry Bros. & Rudd was established in 1698, London was ascending as a global hub of commerce. The shop at 3 St. James's Street was more than a retail location; it was a physical centre for a specific subsection of the cultural elite. A place where business, politics, and social life intertwined. Its cellars held centuries of stories and relationships, contained in bottles of wine.
Despite this rich heritage, Berry Bros. & Rudd faced a daunting challenge: scaling something that felt so unscalable, especially in the digital age.
In a conversation with Emily, the product owner of the brand’s digital storefront, she articulated the core mission of their transformation project: translating the brand’s rich, highly tactile heritage into a modern digital experience.
“It was exciting because you don’t get to transform a 300-year-old business every day. The challenge was translating the brand’s rich heritage into a modern digital experience.”
This is the existential dilemma for all heritage brands: How does one convert a 300-year-old legacy of trust, sensory experience, and human expertise into the flat, highly compact dimensions of a digital screen?
The challenge is equally technical and cultural. Heritage brands must navigate the delicate balance between honoring tradition and embracing innovation, a process that often requires a fundamental shift in a company culture that has evolved over decades.
The website should not just be an online store with regimented lines of product SKUs. It should be a digital embassy of the brand's culture. It must exude the same air of exclusivity, quality, and curated expertise as the historic physical location.
This requires a strategy that goes beyond standard eCommerce practices, creating a high-touch, personalized journey for each customer.
Chapter II: The Zeitgeist Weave and How On-Screen Moments Become Off-Screen Movements
The New Cultural Accelerator
Cultural transmission channels have shifted, with consumers primarily using social platforms like Facebook and Instagram as sources of discovery. Short-form video platforms like TikTok and YouTube have amplified these trends rapidly, bringing product and brand discovery into a rich canvas crafted through unique voices and rich media. This dynamic tapestry doesn’t just reflect culture, it accelerates it.
Sleeper and the "Comfortcore" Symbiosis
Ukrainian apparel brand Sleeper exemplifies product-zeitgeist fit. The brand rose with the cultural shift toward domesticity and casual luxury post-COVID by embracing the pivot toward “comfortcore” fashion and organically integrating into shows like Ted Lasso, And Just Like That, and Barbie, which were defining media tentpoles of the era’s culture.
Kateryna Zubarieva, co-founder of Sleeper, describes the brand as a premium women’s wear label that embodies timeless comfort and style. But it also represents something much more significant: the broader cultural shift toward domesticity and casual luxury.
“Sleeper exists in mass culture not just through media but, crucially, through cinema. In America especially, film isn’t just entertainment — it’s a tool of identity formation. Post-COVID, with work-from-home culture, the home has become a public-facing space. Our clothes are about bridging that new duality.”
Sleeper’s integration into mainstream media moments felt natural, not commercial. The characters embodied the same reality as viewers, allowing Sleeper to become the uniform of a generation, turning consumers’ screen time into social momentum.
This is a great example of how brands can tap into changing culture. By riding the ebbs and flows of society, brands have a unique opportunity to embrace a new position in their market.
Cultnaked and Authenticity as a Resonant Frequency
Cultnaked was founded by Mary Furtas based on her personal frustration with ill-fitting luxury clothing. The brand's aesthetic predates the return of Y2K and Indie Sleaze, proving that authenticity, not trend-chasing, is the real asset for longlasting brands.
Born in Lviv, Ukraine, Mary was immersed in fashion from a young age. She started as a fashion photographer shooting for Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, but her entrepreneurial drive soon took over. “I realized my entrepreneurial side was stronger than my artistic one,” she explained.
Cultnaked’s distinctiveness lies in its confident sensuality and bold aesthetic. In Mary’s view, the fashion industry often misrepresents sensuality, an issue she used as a creative accelerant as she built the brand:
“A lot of what’s considered sexy in fashion actually borders on vulgar. Cultnaked is about something else — about the fit and the comfort. That’s what makes people feel sexy.”
With just 25 team members, Cultnaked has become a cultural force, worn by stars like SZA, Doja Cat, and Dua Lipa. Mary attributes this celebrity support to the brand being a direct expression of her taste, personality, and evolution. It’s this authenticity that resonates.
Up to 88% of consumers say authenticity influences how they select which brands to buy from. Cultnaked’s genuine voice gave it standout power — even with a small team. And while modern media amplifies brands already in tune with cultural frequencies, you can’t manufacture resonance. You have to live it first. This is how a culturally relevant brand founded by a single person and created by a small team can scale on the global level.
Chapter III: The Urban Canteen and Designing for Our Innate Need to Connect
The Human Need for a "Third Place"
Sociologist Ray Oldenburg’s "Third Place" theory defines three types of spaces: home, work, and a neutral space for connection, such as cafes, canteens, parks. These third places are essential for civic life and social cohesion. This is how Starbucks was created, for example.
Slava Balbek’s Urban Canteen exemplifies third-place design. His lesson: visual appeal isn’t enough. A space must speak the user’s language to succeed. The project succeeded because it stripped the concept down to intuitive simplicity. A canteen for the modern city that is accessible and unpretentious.
“For me, cultural relevance isn’t a trend or a manipulation tool,” he said. “It’s basic human respect for the context you’re working in. If you create something new without understanding what it’s built on or what it resonates with, it won’t endure.”
Slava didn’t arrive at this conclusion academically. He discovered it through experience. “In restaurant design, we learned fast: you can create a visually stunning space, but if it doesn’t speak the same language as its visitors, it will soon be empty.”
Epilogue: The Modern Agora — Where Culture and Commerce Coalesce
From ancient caravans to TikTok, physical storefronts to cultural TV moments, one truth persists: Commerce shapes culture and culturally relevant brands scale.
The agora of ancient Greece was a marketplace — and the center of public life. Today’s agoras are digital, narrative, architectural, rooted in our unique and shared experiences.
The future of brand-building isn’t about funnels or impressions. It’s about building modern agoras; intentional spaces where culture and commerce meet, and where brands don’t just sell, they mean something.
To build a brand is to build a bridge that connects not just markets, but meaning.
Prologue: From the Silk Road to Social Feeds
It’s 2017 and I’m in Bratislava on a business trip. After scoffing down a coffee and a croissant, I make my way to the office. I listen to an audiobook: Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. As I’m trudging along the city streets, the narrator details the Mongol and Ottoman trade caravans, the sprawling merchant routes that connected vast lands through commerce.
These were economic enterprises that served as primary vectors for transmitting ideas, technologies, and cultural norms across Eurasia. Gunpowder and philosophical traditions traveled alongside silk and spices. These caravans didn't just connect markets; they stitched disparate societies into an interconnected, early prototype for what we now call globalization.
That moment eight years ago activated my imagination, conjuring an image of merchants not merely trading goods but bridging cultures. I realized that the field I work in, eCommerce, is rooted in those same caravans that once crossed steppes, deserts, and forests. The fundamental principle of connection through exchange remains unchanged. PlayStation taught me more about Japanese culture than any textbook, and Nike shaped my earliest ideas of what American culture looked like.
Let’s reframe this idea around a specific example: have you ever been to Taiwan? Perhaps not. But have you heard of it? Almost certainly. The fact that your iPhone or Android contains a chip made in Taiwan has made the region more recognizable to the world than any traditional markers of culture ever could. The island’s role in supporting such a game-changing innovation has placed it firmly on the mental and cultural map of the Western world. As a result, we’re more aware of the complex relationship between China and Taiwan. And thanks to Taiwan’s commercial influence, the world now has a deeper appreciation for its distinct cultural identity.
If historical trade routes and manufacturing could place imprints on global consciousness, what is the equivalent for a consumer brand in 2025?
The most successful modern brands understand that cultural impact is no longer a passive byproduct of their operations; it is an active, engineered strategy. A tapestry woven over time. They construct identity through narrative, plug directly into the zeitgeist, and ride digital platforms like the new silk roads. The most sophisticated art and science of commerce is not just about moving products; it’s about moving culture.
Chapter I: The Heritage Compass — Translating Legacy into Digital Language
Wine as a Social Sacrament
Before a brand can translate its culture, it must first understand it.
Wine, for instance, has never been just a beverage. It is a medium for ritual, a symbol of status, and a cornerstone of social bonding and diplomacy throughout Western history. When Berry Bros. & Rudd was established in 1698, London was ascending as a global hub of commerce. The shop at 3 St. James's Street was more than a retail location; it was a physical centre for a specific subsection of the cultural elite. A place where business, politics, and social life intertwined. Its cellars held centuries of stories and relationships, contained in bottles of wine.
Despite this rich heritage, Berry Bros. & Rudd faced a daunting challenge: scaling something that felt so unscalable, especially in the digital age.
In a conversation with Emily, the product owner of the brand’s digital storefront, she articulated the core mission of their transformation project: translating the brand’s rich, highly tactile heritage into a modern digital experience.
“It was exciting because you don’t get to transform a 300-year-old business every day. The challenge was translating the brand’s rich heritage into a modern digital experience.”
This is the existential dilemma for all heritage brands: How does one convert a 300-year-old legacy of trust, sensory experience, and human expertise into the flat, highly compact dimensions of a digital screen?
The challenge is equally technical and cultural. Heritage brands must navigate the delicate balance between honoring tradition and embracing innovation, a process that often requires a fundamental shift in a company culture that has evolved over decades.
The website should not just be an online store with regimented lines of product SKUs. It should be a digital embassy of the brand's culture. It must exude the same air of exclusivity, quality, and curated expertise as the historic physical location.
This requires a strategy that goes beyond standard eCommerce practices, creating a high-touch, personalized journey for each customer.
Chapter II: The Zeitgeist Weave and How On-Screen Moments Become Off-Screen Movements
The New Cultural Accelerator
Cultural transmission channels have shifted, with consumers primarily using social platforms like Facebook and Instagram as sources of discovery. Short-form video platforms like TikTok and YouTube have amplified these trends rapidly, bringing product and brand discovery into a rich canvas crafted through unique voices and rich media. This dynamic tapestry doesn’t just reflect culture, it accelerates it.
Sleeper and the "Comfortcore" Symbiosis
Ukrainian apparel brand Sleeper exemplifies product-zeitgeist fit. The brand rose with the cultural shift toward domesticity and casual luxury post-COVID by embracing the pivot toward “comfortcore” fashion and organically integrating into shows like Ted Lasso, And Just Like That, and Barbie, which were defining media tentpoles of the era’s culture.
Kateryna Zubarieva, co-founder of Sleeper, describes the brand as a premium women’s wear label that embodies timeless comfort and style. But it also represents something much more significant: the broader cultural shift toward domesticity and casual luxury.
“Sleeper exists in mass culture not just through media but, crucially, through cinema. In America especially, film isn’t just entertainment — it’s a tool of identity formation. Post-COVID, with work-from-home culture, the home has become a public-facing space. Our clothes are about bridging that new duality.”
Sleeper’s integration into mainstream media moments felt natural, not commercial. The characters embodied the same reality as viewers, allowing Sleeper to become the uniform of a generation, turning consumers’ screen time into social momentum.
This is a great example of how brands can tap into changing culture. By riding the ebbs and flows of society, brands have a unique opportunity to embrace a new position in their market.
Cultnaked and Authenticity as a Resonant Frequency
Cultnaked was founded by Mary Furtas based on her personal frustration with ill-fitting luxury clothing. The brand's aesthetic predates the return of Y2K and Indie Sleaze, proving that authenticity, not trend-chasing, is the real asset for longlasting brands.
Born in Lviv, Ukraine, Mary was immersed in fashion from a young age. She started as a fashion photographer shooting for Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, but her entrepreneurial drive soon took over. “I realized my entrepreneurial side was stronger than my artistic one,” she explained.
Cultnaked’s distinctiveness lies in its confident sensuality and bold aesthetic. In Mary’s view, the fashion industry often misrepresents sensuality, an issue she used as a creative accelerant as she built the brand:
“A lot of what’s considered sexy in fashion actually borders on vulgar. Cultnaked is about something else — about the fit and the comfort. That’s what makes people feel sexy.”
With just 25 team members, Cultnaked has become a cultural force, worn by stars like SZA, Doja Cat, and Dua Lipa. Mary attributes this celebrity support to the brand being a direct expression of her taste, personality, and evolution. It’s this authenticity that resonates.
Up to 88% of consumers say authenticity influences how they select which brands to buy from. Cultnaked’s genuine voice gave it standout power — even with a small team. And while modern media amplifies brands already in tune with cultural frequencies, you can’t manufacture resonance. You have to live it first. This is how a culturally relevant brand founded by a single person and created by a small team can scale on the global level.
Chapter III: The Urban Canteen and Designing for Our Innate Need to Connect
The Human Need for a "Third Place"
Sociologist Ray Oldenburg’s "Third Place" theory defines three types of spaces: home, work, and a neutral space for connection, such as cafes, canteens, parks. These third places are essential for civic life and social cohesion. This is how Starbucks was created, for example.
Slava Balbek’s Urban Canteen exemplifies third-place design. His lesson: visual appeal isn’t enough. A space must speak the user’s language to succeed. The project succeeded because it stripped the concept down to intuitive simplicity. A canteen for the modern city that is accessible and unpretentious.
“For me, cultural relevance isn’t a trend or a manipulation tool,” he said. “It’s basic human respect for the context you’re working in. If you create something new without understanding what it’s built on or what it resonates with, it won’t endure.”
Slava didn’t arrive at this conclusion academically. He discovered it through experience. “In restaurant design, we learned fast: you can create a visually stunning space, but if it doesn’t speak the same language as its visitors, it will soon be empty.”
Epilogue: The Modern Agora — Where Culture and Commerce Coalesce
From ancient caravans to TikTok, physical storefronts to cultural TV moments, one truth persists: Commerce shapes culture and culturally relevant brands scale.
The agora of ancient Greece was a marketplace — and the center of public life. Today’s agoras are digital, narrative, architectural, rooted in our unique and shared experiences.
The future of brand-building isn’t about funnels or impressions. It’s about building modern agoras; intentional spaces where culture and commerce meet, and where brands don’t just sell, they mean something.
To build a brand is to build a bridge that connects not just markets, but meaning.
Prologue: From the Silk Road to Social Feeds
It’s 2017 and I’m in Bratislava on a business trip. After scoffing down a coffee and a croissant, I make my way to the office. I listen to an audiobook: Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. As I’m trudging along the city streets, the narrator details the Mongol and Ottoman trade caravans, the sprawling merchant routes that connected vast lands through commerce.
These were economic enterprises that served as primary vectors for transmitting ideas, technologies, and cultural norms across Eurasia. Gunpowder and philosophical traditions traveled alongside silk and spices. These caravans didn't just connect markets; they stitched disparate societies into an interconnected, early prototype for what we now call globalization.
That moment eight years ago activated my imagination, conjuring an image of merchants not merely trading goods but bridging cultures. I realized that the field I work in, eCommerce, is rooted in those same caravans that once crossed steppes, deserts, and forests. The fundamental principle of connection through exchange remains unchanged. PlayStation taught me more about Japanese culture than any textbook, and Nike shaped my earliest ideas of what American culture looked like.
Let’s reframe this idea around a specific example: have you ever been to Taiwan? Perhaps not. But have you heard of it? Almost certainly. The fact that your iPhone or Android contains a chip made in Taiwan has made the region more recognizable to the world than any traditional markers of culture ever could. The island’s role in supporting such a game-changing innovation has placed it firmly on the mental and cultural map of the Western world. As a result, we’re more aware of the complex relationship between China and Taiwan. And thanks to Taiwan’s commercial influence, the world now has a deeper appreciation for its distinct cultural identity.
If historical trade routes and manufacturing could place imprints on global consciousness, what is the equivalent for a consumer brand in 2025?
The most successful modern brands understand that cultural impact is no longer a passive byproduct of their operations; it is an active, engineered strategy. A tapestry woven over time. They construct identity through narrative, plug directly into the zeitgeist, and ride digital platforms like the new silk roads. The most sophisticated art and science of commerce is not just about moving products; it’s about moving culture.
Chapter I: The Heritage Compass — Translating Legacy into Digital Language
Wine as a Social Sacrament
Before a brand can translate its culture, it must first understand it.
Wine, for instance, has never been just a beverage. It is a medium for ritual, a symbol of status, and a cornerstone of social bonding and diplomacy throughout Western history. When Berry Bros. & Rudd was established in 1698, London was ascending as a global hub of commerce. The shop at 3 St. James's Street was more than a retail location; it was a physical centre for a specific subsection of the cultural elite. A place where business, politics, and social life intertwined. Its cellars held centuries of stories and relationships, contained in bottles of wine.
Despite this rich heritage, Berry Bros. & Rudd faced a daunting challenge: scaling something that felt so unscalable, especially in the digital age.
In a conversation with Emily, the product owner of the brand’s digital storefront, she articulated the core mission of their transformation project: translating the brand’s rich, highly tactile heritage into a modern digital experience.
“It was exciting because you don’t get to transform a 300-year-old business every day. The challenge was translating the brand’s rich heritage into a modern digital experience.”
This is the existential dilemma for all heritage brands: How does one convert a 300-year-old legacy of trust, sensory experience, and human expertise into the flat, highly compact dimensions of a digital screen?
The challenge is equally technical and cultural. Heritage brands must navigate the delicate balance between honoring tradition and embracing innovation, a process that often requires a fundamental shift in a company culture that has evolved over decades.
The website should not just be an online store with regimented lines of product SKUs. It should be a digital embassy of the brand's culture. It must exude the same air of exclusivity, quality, and curated expertise as the historic physical location.
This requires a strategy that goes beyond standard eCommerce practices, creating a high-touch, personalized journey for each customer.
Chapter II: The Zeitgeist Weave and How On-Screen Moments Become Off-Screen Movements
The New Cultural Accelerator
Cultural transmission channels have shifted, with consumers primarily using social platforms like Facebook and Instagram as sources of discovery. Short-form video platforms like TikTok and YouTube have amplified these trends rapidly, bringing product and brand discovery into a rich canvas crafted through unique voices and rich media. This dynamic tapestry doesn’t just reflect culture, it accelerates it.
Sleeper and the "Comfortcore" Symbiosis
Ukrainian apparel brand Sleeper exemplifies product-zeitgeist fit. The brand rose with the cultural shift toward domesticity and casual luxury post-COVID by embracing the pivot toward “comfortcore” fashion and organically integrating into shows like Ted Lasso, And Just Like That, and Barbie, which were defining media tentpoles of the era’s culture.
Kateryna Zubarieva, co-founder of Sleeper, describes the brand as a premium women’s wear label that embodies timeless comfort and style. But it also represents something much more significant: the broader cultural shift toward domesticity and casual luxury.
“Sleeper exists in mass culture not just through media but, crucially, through cinema. In America especially, film isn’t just entertainment — it’s a tool of identity formation. Post-COVID, with work-from-home culture, the home has become a public-facing space. Our clothes are about bridging that new duality.”
Sleeper’s integration into mainstream media moments felt natural, not commercial. The characters embodied the same reality as viewers, allowing Sleeper to become the uniform of a generation, turning consumers’ screen time into social momentum.
This is a great example of how brands can tap into changing culture. By riding the ebbs and flows of society, brands have a unique opportunity to embrace a new position in their market.
Cultnaked and Authenticity as a Resonant Frequency
Cultnaked was founded by Mary Furtas based on her personal frustration with ill-fitting luxury clothing. The brand's aesthetic predates the return of Y2K and Indie Sleaze, proving that authenticity, not trend-chasing, is the real asset for longlasting brands.
Born in Lviv, Ukraine, Mary was immersed in fashion from a young age. She started as a fashion photographer shooting for Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, but her entrepreneurial drive soon took over. “I realized my entrepreneurial side was stronger than my artistic one,” she explained.
Cultnaked’s distinctiveness lies in its confident sensuality and bold aesthetic. In Mary’s view, the fashion industry often misrepresents sensuality, an issue she used as a creative accelerant as she built the brand:
“A lot of what’s considered sexy in fashion actually borders on vulgar. Cultnaked is about something else — about the fit and the comfort. That’s what makes people feel sexy.”
With just 25 team members, Cultnaked has become a cultural force, worn by stars like SZA, Doja Cat, and Dua Lipa. Mary attributes this celebrity support to the brand being a direct expression of her taste, personality, and evolution. It’s this authenticity that resonates.
Up to 88% of consumers say authenticity influences how they select which brands to buy from. Cultnaked’s genuine voice gave it standout power — even with a small team. And while modern media amplifies brands already in tune with cultural frequencies, you can’t manufacture resonance. You have to live it first. This is how a culturally relevant brand founded by a single person and created by a small team can scale on the global level.
Chapter III: The Urban Canteen and Designing for Our Innate Need to Connect
The Human Need for a "Third Place"
Sociologist Ray Oldenburg’s "Third Place" theory defines three types of spaces: home, work, and a neutral space for connection, such as cafes, canteens, parks. These third places are essential for civic life and social cohesion. This is how Starbucks was created, for example.
Slava Balbek’s Urban Canteen exemplifies third-place design. His lesson: visual appeal isn’t enough. A space must speak the user’s language to succeed. The project succeeded because it stripped the concept down to intuitive simplicity. A canteen for the modern city that is accessible and unpretentious.
“For me, cultural relevance isn’t a trend or a manipulation tool,” he said. “It’s basic human respect for the context you’re working in. If you create something new without understanding what it’s built on or what it resonates with, it won’t endure.”
Slava didn’t arrive at this conclusion academically. He discovered it through experience. “In restaurant design, we learned fast: you can create a visually stunning space, but if it doesn’t speak the same language as its visitors, it will soon be empty.”
Epilogue: The Modern Agora — Where Culture and Commerce Coalesce
From ancient caravans to TikTok, physical storefronts to cultural TV moments, one truth persists: Commerce shapes culture and culturally relevant brands scale.
The agora of ancient Greece was a marketplace — and the center of public life. Today’s agoras are digital, narrative, architectural, rooted in our unique and shared experiences.
The future of brand-building isn’t about funnels or impressions. It’s about building modern agoras; intentional spaces where culture and commerce meet, and where brands don’t just sell, they mean something.
To build a brand is to build a bridge that connects not just markets, but meaning.
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