Luxury at the era of co-branding
If luxury has never hidden its penchant for collaborations, the latest one has everything to please: Porsche x Olivier Rousteing, or the exclusive alliance of a car legend and a charismatic artistic director with an atypical background.
But then, ever more immersive and creative, what should we learn from these promising alliances and aesthetic influences? An analysis of a strategy that makes you dream, even if it means surprising you.
Massive seduction
Originality, exclusivity and especially rarity. We remember the ultimate collaboration between Louis Vuitton and Supreme in 2017, generating an unprecedented craze. Allowing the brand to expand its territory and accentuate its legitimacy among a younger clientele, it also illustrates the evolution of luxury in recent years: a streetwear turn, which frees itself from codes for a generation with new expectations. A field that allows for ever more surprising collaborations, where mixing codes and sharing values are the key words.
One example is the Henessy x NBA collaboration, which marks a real dialogue between French cognac and the United States. True to its philosophy of "Never Stop. Never Settle" philosophy, Henessy has become the first worldwide partner of the NBA (National Basketball Association) for spirits. Associations that were previously rather unlikely, like Balenciaga and Crocs, which had made headlines in 2018.
More subtle, we will also note the meeting between the brand Chloé and Fusalp, thus merging two worlds, with a common passion for beauty and the "French touch". A new field for Chloé, which explores the field of skiwear, with a retro sport-chic capsule, with a very 70' spirit. Or Cartier, who recently collaborated with Charlotte Le Bon to celebrate love. Through illustrations, but also exclusive services such as photographic portraits, handwritten engravings or an embossing of the famous red box, it is a whole universe full of emotions that has been shared.
Embodying the spirit of the times and relaying consistently on social networks, these associations are a great tool to strengthen the identity and image of the brand. Moreover, they are also an excellent way to reach customers in all their visual diversity and bring a new creativity to the biggest houses. A creative approach that seduces because, around co-branding, it is also a question of exception. Ultra limited and numbered models, endless waiting lists, everything is done to maintain an atmosphere of exclusivity, the signature of luxury.
When storytelling becomes storyliving
Luxury and emotion being inseparable, the limit can quickly be crossed and the enthusiasm generated by a collaboration evaporate.
Indeed, with the overflow of associations, it is essential that there is a significant cultural exchange.
As Thibault de La Rivière, director of Sup de Luxe, attests:
"The legitimacy of an alliance is made via the meeting of own universes, know-how and passion, necessary for the birth of a capital authenticity for the customers"
When Porsche chooses to collaborate with Olivier Rousteing, it is with the personal and exceptional history of the designer that it associates itself, thus exploiting all the diversity of this emotional ground.
A sharing therefore, interfering in our lives as a partner, and representing our lifestyle at every moment. A process that goes beyond the commercial purpose, and brings with it a powerful storyliving.
Another notable point of these strategies is that they push customers to physically go to the store. Bringing with them a whole concept to experience and a unique sharing of value, customers want to immerse themselves a little more in the spirit of this marriage, ephemeral of course, but terribly desirable.
So, who's next?