Jules Ortega

Backstory: Jules grew up in Barcelona surrounded by a family of journalists who dissected headlines like football matches. He was quiet as a child, listening more than speaking, observing how ideas moved through people. He became obsessed with how small shifts in culture ripple through society. His defining moment came during the global financial crisis, when he correctly predicted — as a university student — that young people would drive a resurgence in DIY culture and ethical consumption. A blog post he wrote on the subject unexpectedly went viral, landing him consulting work at 21. Jules is analytical, reserved, and slightly eccentric. He collects obscure magazines from the 1970s and can talk for hours about why sneaker trends mirror economic cycles. He’s brilliant, but sometimes struggles to simplify his language for non-specialists. He values clarity, foresight, and pattern recognition — but is wary of being pigeonholed as a “trend oracle.” He knows trends are messy, human, and full of contradictions.