Today, major luxury brands are competing with innovation to increase their market share, transformed by a triple revolution: the predominance of China (24% of the global luxury market), digitalization, and the rejuvenation of consumers.
Prestigious brands must adapt to new consumption patterns characterizing the luxury sector, particularly by responding to the demand of increasingly younger and more connected Chinese consumers.
To achieve this, brands are using social media and influencers, reinventing new customer experiences.
Luxury brands have clearly understood that children, pre-teens, and young adults are a prime target due to their direct influence on their parents' purchasing decisions. To attract these new consumers, brands are turning to influencers or brand ambassadors, replacing models with figures from the worlds of film and sports, such as Kylian Mbappé, who became a Dior ambassador. Young people are becoming increasingly wealthy thanks to new careers in influence and the arts, such as in music and contemporary art. Marketing must therefore reinvent itself: it is enriching photos with videos and using formats popularized by social media platforms like TikTok, a veritable goldmine for fashion houses.
Fast fashion, ultra-fast fashion and, more recently, luxury brands, notably Prada, are using TikTok to speak to their younger, more connected consumers who are willing to buy online.
In an era of distrust towards brands, influencers bring real added value: they are sometimes followed by millions of subscribers and have succeeded in building a relationship of trust with their audience. Subscribers prefer to follow the advice of people who seem authentic.
Media content is transforming into art, and illustrations are merging with fashion. Artist Kehinde Wiley recently presented a series of portraits of the former president and other prominent figures in African American culture, which was showcased by Gucci at the LACMA museum in Los Angeles for the Art+Film Gala. Content is diversifying, and clothing is becoming a true work of art, as seen in the Louis Vuitton Fall/Winter 2021-2022 menswear show where bags were transformed into airplanes.
To generate more sales and engagement, brands are joining forces to create a single entity. Collaborations have been constantly emerging, such as the 2021 Fendi and Versace collaboration that gave birth to Fendace, or the Gucci x Balenciaga partnership. We can expect to see partnerships between luxury brands and young designers in 2022. Established labels could sponsor up-and-coming names… To be continued.
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Flora Di Carlo