1. Millennials Say Lab Diamonds Shine Just Like the Real Thing: Younger shoppers are driving growth across consumer goods, and they are more concerned about factors such as a brand’s purpose and a product’s cost to the planet than previous generations were at their age. – Read More on Bloomberg

2. On the flip side: Diamond Trade Is Roaring Back Thanks to Stuck-at-Home Shoppers. Annual diamond jewelry demand had been stagnant at about $80 billion for the past five years and the sector’s middlemen were struggling to turn a profit. However, a sales boost is feeding through to surging demand for polished diamonds, with rough diamond prices generally have recovered back to pre-pandemic levels, while polished prices are slightly higher. – Read More on Bloomberg

3. Japan’s Muji Appeals to China by Advertising Use of Xinjiang Cotton: The Japanese chain has publicly sided with the Chinese government in a way that many Western and Japanese companies won’t. Muji says it uses cotton from the Xinjiang region–where the U.S. State Department says mostly Muslim Uyghurs are forced to labor in internment camps—and doesn’t see a problem with advertising that fact. – Read More on the WSJ

4. RELATED READ: Business in the Wake of Boycotts: How Companies Are Faring Amid the Fallout in China. With the dust starting to settle from the height of consumer rage in late March, how are brands faring? Has the cancel-culture moment put a significant dent in brands’ operations? The results appear to be mixed, and for some brands, far-reaching. – Read More on TFL

5. The pandemic-fueled sneaker boom: Similar to the Robinhood effect on stock trading, sneaker apps gamified and streamlined buying, while social media added community. Sneaker trading has long been lucrative, but the pandemic brought more people — with more idle time — into the game. – Read More on Axois