What is luxury branding?
In today's consumer-centric world, luxury brands are all around us – from billboard and subway advertisements to social media worthy events like the Met Gala and even branded cafes like Ralph’s Coffee, a Ralph Lauren cafe in New York City. Luxury brands build awareness in a variety of innovative ways, which is critical for remaining relevant and desirable.
Luxury branding refers to the marketing practices and strategies employed by premium brands to create an image of exclusivity and desirability around their products or services. This involves carefully crafting and managing a brand’s identity to influence how consumers perceive the brand.
Some key aspects of luxury branding include:
Exclusivity and Scarcity
Luxury brands often create a sense of exclusivity by limiting production runs, using rare or high-quality materials, and maintaining high price points. This scarcity helps to reinforce the perception of the brand as exclusive and highly coveted.
Heritage and Craftsmanship
Many luxury brands emphasize their rich heritage, history, and tradition of exceptional craftsmanship. This helps reinforce the idea that their products are timeless and of the highest caliber.
Aspiration and Status
Luxury brands are often associated with aspirational lifestyles, success, and social status. Luxury marketing campaigns often tap into consumers’ desires to achieve an elevated lifestyle.
Premium Pricing
Most consumers are aware of the premium prices that luxury brands place on their products and services. This is typically the first aspect that comes to mind for most consumers when they think of luxury.
Luxury Brand and Art Collaborations
In today's brand-conscious world, luxury labels are looking beyond traditional marketing channels to reach consumers. Many luxury brands are embracing the art world through innovative collaborations that merge high-end fashion and art. These unique partnerships allow brands to connect with art enthusiasts while solidifying their status as the cultural stewards of high society.
“Luxury brand and art collaborations have increasingly promoted ‘cultural capital’ as a status badge for luxury consumers,” says Dr. Federica Carlotto, Program Director of MA Luxury Business at Sotheby’s Institute of Art and author of Luxury Brand and Art Collaborations: Postmodern Consumer Culture.
“In the past, the possession or access to luxury goods and experiences was exclusively based on the elites’ purchase power, which conveyed their economic and social capital. Collaborations with artists add a cultural layer to luxury consumption, providing consumers and audiences with a perceived sense of connoisseurship.”
Here are a few of the iconic luxury brand and art collaborations that have defined this new era of luxury branding.
Louis Vuitton
One of the most prominent examples is Louis Vuitton's long-standing collaborations with celebrated artists over the past two decades. In 2003, the brand commissioned the iconic Multicolore monogram design by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami that adorned handbags, accessories, and apparel. The vibrant, colorful pattern was a bold departure from Vuitton's classically understated branding.
In later years, Louis Vuitton continued to push creative boundaries through artist partnerships. In 2012, the brand collaborated with Yayoi Kusama, known for her signature polka dot motifs. Her dots proliferated over the brand's bags, shoes, apparel, and even a Beverly Hills storefront. The success of this campaign prompted the brand's second collaboration with Kusama in 2023, which included the viral rebranding of the Louis Vuitton flagship store in Paris, featuring a giant sculpture of the artist painting the storefront with her signature polka dots.
In 2017, Louis Vuitton commissioned American artist Jeff Koons, who recreated the brand's signature monograms using his famous mirrored Gazing Ball sculptural series. Vuitton's iconic trunks and bags became modern art canvases that sparked desire among the brand's loyal clientele and art collectors alike. By thoughtfully co-branding with popular contemporary artists, Louis Vuitton stays at the cutting edge while strengthening its brand equity among fashion and art insiders.
Dior
Not to be outdone, Dior has also fully embraced the art world in recent years. Since 2012, the brand has curated the Lady Dior Art series, which features one-of-a-kind handbags created by blue chip artists like Marc Quinn, Chris Martin, and Judy Chicago. The hand-crafted bags double as miniature artworks designed for collectors. For instance, Dior collaborated with American artist Hilary Pecis to reimagine the classic Lady Dior bag as a botanical scene featuring completely embroidered lilies and lilypads.
In 2021, Dior further cemented its art world ties by presenting the Designer of Dreams exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum's Costume Institute. The expansive collection brought together avant-garde artworks, iconic haute couture gowns, and the brand's recognizable fashion to tell the story of Dior's artistic influences and heritage as a luxury atelier.
Alexander McQueen
One of the most celebrated artistic partnerships in recent memory was the collaboration between the late, iconic designer Alexander McQueen and renowned British artist Damien Hirst for McQueen's Spring/Summer 2013 collection. Hirst was commissioned to create a series of exclusive printed silk scarves and chiffon gowns featuring his signature kaleidoscopic skull and entomology motifs.
The pieces debuted at McQueen's final runway show before his tragic passing in 2010. Models sported Hirst's colorful bugs and butterflies printed on flowing dresses, while dramatic skull face masks accompanied other skeleton-inspired creations. The collaboration perfectly melded McQueen's dark, romantic aesthetic with Hirst's bold takes on modern vanitas art. It exemplified the intersection of luxury, morbidity, beauty and art.
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Prada
Prada made a big artistic statement with its unconventional Double Club exhibit in 2008. The fashion house partnered with a roster of influential contemporary artists to create site-specific artworks and multimedia performances. The exhibits explored themes of "doubling" related to mirroring, cloning, and duality across art, film, sound, and design.
The London exhibition marked new ground by having the luxury brand directly curate and sponsor such an avant-garde, intellectually driven art experience. It allowed Prada to align itself with cutting-edge conceptual art while dissolving boundaries between fashion, art, and cultural events. Due to its initial success, Double Club has seen recent iterations in major cities like Los Angeles and Miami.
Schiaparelli
Looking back further, one of the earliest trailblazing luxury and art collaborations came in the 1930s between Spanish artist Salvador Dalí and Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli. Drawn to each other's bold Surrealist sensibilities, Schiaparelli used Dalí's bizarre imaginative concepts to create pieces like the infamous Lobster Dress, a printed silk evening gown featuring a realistic red lobster print across the skirt.
Other provocative creations included the Shoe Hat, a hat designed in the shape of a woman's lacquered high heel. Dalí's dream-like artwork merged with Schiaparelli's avant-garde styles to challenge traditional fashion norms. While highly controversial at the time, the fearless partnership predicted many future creative exchanges between the luxury and art realms.
BMW
Partnerships between luxury brands and art aren't just for handbags and haute couture either. Automaker BMW has a long tradition of commissioning leading artists and designers to create unique automotive artworks with its BMW Art Cars series dating back to 1975. Well-known artists like Frank Stella, Andy Warhol, and most recently John Baldessari have transformed race cars into whimsical four-wheeled art pieces.
For legacy luxury brands, these artistic tie-ins provide new avenues to reach affluent consumers who appreciate creative self-expression and collecting limited-edition works beyond traditional branding. It also bolsters their cultural cachet among art insiders and high society. The art world benefits not just from financial support through commissions and acquisitions, but far greater mainstream exposure by partnering with prominent fashion houses.
When executed thoughtfully and authentically, these collaborations unite luxury, art, and culture in a way that resonates with luxury brand lovers and art aficionados alike. While such avant-garde partnerships may not drive up sales numbers, they preserve and enhance luxury brands' exclusivity and edge. As brands face increased competition, expect more luxury houses to embrace the art world through ambitious artistic collaborations and exhibitions that solidify their cultural status.
Learn more about luxury branding in Dr. Federica Carlotto's book, Luxury Brand and Art Collaborations: Postmodern Consumer Culture.