Why luxury brands are going back to the drawing board

Luxury has traditionally been defined as a state of great comfort and elegance, at great expense. This has worked for luxury brands for many years, but today consumers are looking for so much more than the product with the most zeros on its tag.

Relying on price, exclusivity, craftsmanship and shared symbols of wealth just doesn’t cut it anymore. While it still comes at a cost, that cost is now more closely aligned with knowledge, experiences and access. Consumers no longer want to simply own luxury items, they aspire to live, breathe and embody the brand’s identity. In short, it’s now about being, not buying.

Think of it like this, if money wasn’t an issue, any product could be in your hands at the click of a button. The one thing you can’t buy is original creativity. Which poses the question, can you be a successful luxury brand in 2024 without having original creativity at your core?

Prepared to be wow'ed

Breaking the conservative luxury codes is now a must and the brands brave enough to do so are reaping the benefits. Take Jacquemus for example. The french designer loves capturing the eyes of consumers through the concept of surrealism – a world of play. Whether it’s installing a 500-metre-long pink runway in a lavender field in a remote location in Provence for an invite-only event or pushing the bounds of opulent fantasy to create a 2000 square-foot fluffy Bambimou bag pop-up store in Seoul, the possibility for creativity feels endless for this brand.

Jacquemus pop-up store in Seoul (hypebeast.com)

Jacquemus 10th anniversary in Provence (elle.com)

Its most talked about campaign was back in Spring 2018, when viral images of oversized bags glided through the streets of Paris as the ‘La Chapeau Bomba’ came to life quite literally. Jacquemus’ larger-than-life campaign redefined surrealist branding, and its audacious experiential creativity has become the driving force behind soaring revenue and increasing consumer engagement levels.

Jacquemus 'Le Bambino' collection in streets of Paris (Jacquemus Instagram)

Double the creativity

For a while now, brands have been guilty of joining forces in a collaboration, simply to grab headlines. But now, luxury brands are looking for more powerful partnerships that can unlock immeasurable creativity, for them to bring to life through unmissable events and one-off products.

For Fendi’s AW24 menswear show in Milan, the fashion house decided to team up with MAD Architects founder Ma Yansong to create a range of accessories, from footwear to bags, that mirror the curvature and lines of his buildings. Going beyond just product, his work was “an extension of the experience of architecture and the city”, a truly innovative and unique collaboration. It’s one in a series of progressive partnerships from Fendi, designed to fuse fashion with diverse influences like architecture and beyond.

Fendi X MAD Architects (Designboom)

To notify consumers of upcoming brand collaborations you might be used to seeing a news article on a fashion site, a runway show or even a small teaser on Instagram. Last year at Milan Fashion Week, Moncler went one (or more like ten) steps further. To celebrate its new collection with Pharrell Williams, it threw a party to end all parties on night one of fashion week. In a star-studded line-up, and guest list of only 5,000, Pharrell Williams treated guests to a jaw-dropping musical performance, donning the new collection. Swapping a runway show or Instagram campaign for an expression of intentional yet unlimited creativity demonstrated Moncler’s ability to do what no one else is doing. And that’s true exclusivity.

Moncler X Pharrell Williams (Document Journal)

Making every moment count

Luxury travel has followed the fashion innovators. In a world where luxury is the norm, travel companies need to go the extra mile to position themselves as a different kind of travel partner. The best trip doesn’t simply mean the most expensive one; people are looking for experiences perfectly curated for them.

Highly bespoke, one-off experiences in some of the planet’s most remote corners is a mandatory offer for most luxury travel brands. Scott Dunn Private does this and some, with everything it does designed to provide its guests with a whole new level of service and value. We developed its brand to reflect the enriching life stories it creates for its community of guests, as well as its couture-level attention to detail. People don’t use Scott Dunn because they’re wealthy and time-poor, they use it because they want to do things that no one else has.

Scott Dunn Private (The Clearing)

The definition of luxury has ultimately changed for most brands. Quite simply, luxury is creativity without limits. In a world where distinguishing between products and brands has become increasingly difficult, luxury brands should be unleashing their creativity to develop sustainable competitive advantages and future-proof their brand. In a world where we have access to everything that already exists – true luxury is accessing something that’s never been done before.