Christopher Sanderson is the CEO and co-founder of The Future Laboratory, where he is responsible for delivering the company’s extensive global roster of conferences, media events, in-house briefings, consumer insight, trend forecasting and brand strategy. Clients include Louis Vuitton, Design Hotels, the Ministry for Tourism, Australia, and Women’s Wear Daily’s CEO Summits.

The Future Laboratory is a UK consultancy specialising in analysing new and emerging trends and lifestyle markets most likely to have an impact on how we live, eat, shop and think. Projects he has worked on include directing Futurescape, a series of short films about the future for Channel Four television. Chris has a monthly column in UK luxury industry bible, The Luxury Briefing. He is a regular writer on style and design for British and international publications, and was contributing style editor at British Esquire. Chris has also worked as a freelance creative director on strategic planning for fashion brands. Born in the UK, he trained as a theatre director and designer at Goldsmiths’ College, London. He has also worked in the UK and Spain as a Director in Residence at the Palau de la Musica, Valencia. Subsequent career changes saw him work as UK communications director for surfwear brand Quiksilver, and as lecturer in visual communication at the London Institute. He is a regular speaker and consultant for the British Council, projects include setting up magazines in India and Estonia and overviewing the growth of the creative industries in Scandinavia. He also served on the advisory panel for the British Council’s Creative Industries Unit. He also sits on Heimtextil’s Trend Table, one of the world’s principal panels for forecasting key trends in the global textile industry. Chris also presented Channel Four's trends and technology show, ‘Home of the Future’.

The Future Laboratory

The Company was established in November 2001 and is recognised for its innovative approach to forecasting, using ethnographic research tools and a creative, qualitative outlook to help programmers, brands retailers, designers and marketing departments gain better insights into market directions and future products. It also offers lifestyle analysis, brand development and consumer network building. The company aims to provide inspirational, thought-provoking presentations which will ignite, invigorate and provoke debate; these are supported by documentation and additional material which are designed to have more general usage.

Viewpoint

An award-winning, internationally renowned bi-annual trends, ideas, brands, and consumer forecasting journal, Viewpoint magazine is one of a number of publications, reports and Trend Briefing seminars edited or produced by the Future Laboratory team and its 2,500-strong network of global creatives, academics, designers, architects, marketers, and fashion, lifestyle and interiors analysts.